Supporting Statement OMB 3060-1095 July 2024

Surrenders of Authorizations for International OMB Control No. 3060-1095

Carrier, Space Station and Earth Station Licensees July 2024

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

1. The Federal Communications Commission (“Commission”) is requesting that the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) approve an extension of the information collection titled, “Surrenders of Authorizations for International Carrier, Space Station and Earth Station Licensees.” A surrender of authorization is the licensee’s voluntary cancellation of a license (or authorization) to provide international telecommunications services, such as discontinuing the operation of a space station.

Background Information

This information collection was initiated as a result of the Commission’s release of a Public Notice (DA 06-569) on March 15, 2006 titled, “International Bureau Announces New and Improved Filing Modules Within Its IBFS Electronic Filing System: Surrender of Authorization and Improved Space Station Milestone Filing.” The Public Notice announced the International Bureau’s launching of an electronic (“e-filing”) module for surrendering authorizations and an improved milestone filing module for satellite space stations within its IBFS consolidated licensing and electronic filing system. (Note: The OMB approved the electronic filing of milestones under OMB Control No. 3060-0678).

Before IBFS was modified to include the e-filing module, licensees notified the Commission of surrenders of authorizations by letter. This was a time-consuming process for Commission staff because numerous surrenders of authorization may be included in one letter and, therefore, required careful review by the staff to ensure that all surrenders of authorizations were announced to the public via Public Notice. Furthermore, the Commission has experienced periodic disruptions of regular mail delivery due to the threat of contamination. These disruptions caused delays up to fourteen days in the processing of applicants’ mailed filings.

E-filing eliminates the problems associated with the Commission’s delayed receipt of surrenders of authorizations by mail.

E-filing has numerous benefits for licensees, Commission staff and the general public.

For instance, the e-filing module allows licensees to make filings more rapidly and efficiently than the paper filing option. E-filing eliminates the delays associated with manual processing for Commission staff. The information is available immediately to Commission staff and members of the public without the need for staff to scan or otherwise convert paper filings into computerized form. Furthermore, e-filing through IBFS makes applications almost immediately available to interested parties and the general public over the Internet. The availability of this information 24 hours a day and 7 days a week is important to keep the public informed of the discontinuance of international telecommunications services.

There are no specific Commission rules pertaining to surrenders of authorizations because it is voluntary on the part of the licensee. However, the Commission established policies for processing surrenders of authorizations electronically as stated in the Public Notice (DA 06-569). Additionally, 47 CFR 1.1006 pertains to electronic filing of applications in the International Bureau Filing System (IBFS).

47 CFR 63.20 and 47 CFR 63.53 address electronic filing of Section 214-related applications.

The statutory authority for this information collection is contained in 47 U.S.C. Sections 154(i), 157(a), 161, 303(c), 303(f), 303(g) and 303(r).

ow

This information collection does not affect individuals or households; thus there are no impacts under Privacy Act.

2. Licensees file surrenders of authorizations with the Commission on a voluntary basis. This information is used by Commission staff to issue Public Notices to announce the surrenders of authorization to the general public. The Commission’s release of Public Notices is critical to keeping the general public abreast of the licensees’ discontinuance of telecommunications services.

3. This Supporting Statement reflects that a total of 95 percent of all licensees file surrenders of authorization with the Commission electronically in the IBFS electronic filing system. Approximately 5 percent of surrenders of authorization are filed with the Commission in paper form.

4. The agency does not impose similar information collection requirements on the respondents.

5. In conformance with the PRA, the Commission is making an effort to minimize the burden on all respondents, regardless of size. The Commission has limited the information collection requirements to those that are absolutely necessary for evaluating and processing surrenders of authorizations. This information collection does not have a substantial impact on small entities.

6. Without this collection of information, licensees would be required to submit surrenders of authorizations to the Commission by letter which is more time consuming than submitting such requests to the Commission electronically. In addition, Commission staff would spend an extensive amount of time processing surrenders of authorizations received by letter. The collection of information saves time for both licensees and Commission staff since they are received in IBFS electronically and include only the information that is essential to process the requests in a timely manner. Furthermore, the e-filing module expedites the Commission staff’s announcement of surrenders of authorizations via Public Notice.

7. The information collection does not propose any new or amended information collection requirements that are not consistent with the general information collection guidelines in 5 CFR § 1320.

8. On May 1, 2024, the Commission published a 60-day notice in the Federal Register (89 FR 35094) in order to solicit comments from the public on the information collection requirements contained in this collection. No comments were received from the public.

9. The respondents will not receive any payments or gifts.

10. There is no need for confidentiality with this information collection.

11. This information collection does not address any matters of a private or sensitive nature.

12. Total Estimate of Annual Respondents and Annual Burden Hours:

This Supporting Statement reflects 8 respondents¹ and 8 Section 214 surrenders of authorization filings.

Explanation of Burden Estimate	Number of Responses	Frequency of Response	Time Per Response	Total Annual Burden Hours
Section 214 surrenders of authorization	8	1 On occasion	1 ouHhkkkkHour	8
Totals:	8	1 On occasion	1 Hour	8

13. Estimate of the Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents:

There are no applications fees since the surrenders of authorizations are voluntary on the part of the licensees. There are no outside legal or engineering fees associated with filing the requests. Therefore, the total annual cost burden to respondents is zero ($0).

14. Total estimate of Annualized Cost to the Federal Government

The total estimated annualized cost to the Federal government is $297.20. Please see the chart below for details.

Staff Member	Estimated Number of Surrenders/ Responses Processed Annually	Frequency of Response	Staff Member Hourly Salary	Time Per Response	Total Annual Costs
(1) GS-9/Step 5 Industry Analyst @ $37.15 per hour (8 Section 214 surrenders processed annually)	8 surrenders	1 On occasion (As received in IBFS)	$37.15//hr.	1 ouHhkkkkHour	$297.20
Total:		1 On occasion		1 Hour	$297.20

15. There are no program changes or adjustments in this information collection.

16. The data will not be published for statistical use.

17. We are not seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection.

18. There are no exceptions to the certification statement.

B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods:

No statistical methods are employed.

1 This collection of information continues to need OMB approval because they make up the majority of their universe of respondents.

4