Public Information Collection Requirement Submitted to OMB for Review

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Public Information Collection Requirement Submitted to OMB for

Review

November 13, 1995.

SUMMARY: The Federal Communications Commission, as part of its

continuing effort to reduce paperwork burden invites the general public

and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the

following information collections, as required by the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1980, (44 U.S.C. 3507). Comments concerning the

Commission's need for this information, the accuracy of the provided

burden estimates, and any suggested methods for minimizing respondent

burden, including the use of automated information techniques, are

requested. The Commission has requested an emergency OMB review of the

Form 1240 with an approval by December 8, 1995.

DATES: Persons wishing to comment on this information collection should

submit comments on or before December 8, 1995.

ADDRESS: Direct all comments to Timothy Fain, Office of Management and

Budget, Room 10236 NEOB, Washington, DC 20503, (202) 395-3561 or via

internet at [email protected], and Dorothy Conway, Federal

Communications, Room 234, 1919 M St., NW., Washington, DC 20554 or via

internet to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information or copies

of the information collections contact Dorothy Conway at 202-418-0217

or via internet at [email protected]. Copies may also be obtained via fax

by contacting the Commission's Fax on Demand System. To obtain fax

copies call 202-418-0177 from the handset on your fax machine, and

enter the document retrieval number indicated below, when prompted.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On September 22, 1995, the Commission

released a Thirteenth Order on Reconsideration (``Benchmark Cleanup

Order''), FCC 95-397, MM Docket No. 92-266, Implementation of Sections

of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of

1992. In the ``Benchmark Cleanup Order'', the Commission adopts a new

optional rate adjustment methodology where cable operators will be

permitted to make annual rate changes to their BSTs and CPSTs.

Operators that elect to use this new methodology will adjust their

rates once per year to reflect reasonably certain and reasonably

quantifiable changes in external costs, inflation, and the number of

regulated channels that are projected for the 12 months following the

rate change. Because operators will be permitted to estimate cost

changes that will occur in the 12 months following the rate filing, we

expect that this methodology will limit delays in recovering costs that

operators may experience under the current system. Any incurred cost

that is underestimated or overestimated may be accrued with interest

and added to rates at a later time. If actual and projected costs are

different during the rate year, a ``true up'' mechanism is available to

correct estimated costs with actual cost changes. The ``true up''

requires

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operators to decrease their rates or alternatively, permits them to

increase their rates to make adjustments for over- or under-

estimations of these cost changes. Operators would not lose the right

to make a rate increase at a later date if they choose not to implement

a rate adjustment at the beginning of the next rate year. Finally, in

order that operators not feel compelled to make rate filings or

increase rates when they otherwise would not, we will eliminate the

``use or lose'' requirement for operators that elect this methodology.

Filing Instructions for the Form 1240

If this is your first time filing Form 1240 (assuming your

franchise area is already subject to regulation), and if your most

recent Form 1210 does not incorporate changes through June 30, 1995,

there are two circumstances under which you must file a Form 1210 which

records the changes in your system's costs which have occurred between

the last Form 1210 and June 30, 1995. The first is if you moved any

channels between regulated tiers in this time period. The second is if

you have added channels to your regulated tier(s) during this time

period and you wish to claim Caps Method or Markup Method adjustments

for these channels. Any Form 1210 you file to meet these two conditions

should not be treated as a separate filing, but rather as an attachment

to your Form 1240. If your most recent Form 1210 does incorporate

changes through June 30, 1995, you do not have to perform this first

step.

If this is your first time filing Form 1240 and you have never been

subject to CPST regulation, in order to meet your burden of showing

that your CPST rate is not unreasonable, you may have to provide

details about your previous increases.

If your local franchising authority becomes certified to regulate

the basic service tier (``BST'', see the General Instructions section

for a full definition), you are required to follow the Commission's

existing rules and file a Form 1200, a Form 1205, and a Form 1210. Once

those have been filed, you may switch to the annual filing system.

The Commission's rules recognize seven categories of external

costs: retransmission consent fees, copyright fees, programming costs,

certain cable specific taxes, franchise-related costs, franchise fees

and Commission regulatory fees. You may adjust your maximum permitted

rate for changes in these categories of costs except for franchise

fees, which are not included in your permitted rates but rather are

simply added to them.

Form 1240 must be filed with your local franchising authority at

least 90 days before you plan to implement a change in your basic rates

if your local franchising authority is certified to regulate basic

rates. You must notify your local franchising authority of the annual

filing date prior to filing Form 1240.

If the Commission found your cable programming service rates to be

unreasonable less than one year ago, or if a complaint about a CPST

rate is pending before the Commission, and you now wish to increase

your CPST rates, you must submit FCC Form 1240 to the Commission at

least 30 days before raising your rates.

The Commission's mailing address for Form 1240 filings is: Federal

Communications Commission, Form 1240, P.O. Box 18658, Washington, DC

20036.

OMB Approval Number: New Collection.

Title: Annual Updating of Maximum Permitted Rates for Regulated

Cable Services.

Form No.: FCC Form 1240.

Type of Review: New Collection.

Respondents: Business or other for-profit; State, Local or Tribal

Governments.

Number of Respondents: 5,850.

Estimated Time Per Response: 15 hours.

Total Annual Burden: 116,438 hours.

Needs and Uses: The Commission has created the FCC Form 1240 Annual

Updating of Maximum Permitted Rates for Regulated Cable Services as a

filing alternative to the FCC Form 1210, which is filed quarterly. The

Form 1240, like the Form 1210, is filed by cable operators seeking to

adjust maximum permitted rates for regulated services to reflect

changes in external costs. Cable operators will submit the Form 1240 to

their respective local franchising authorities upon certification to

regulate basic service tier rates and associated equipment; or with the

Commission (in situations where the Commission has assumed

jurisdiction). The Form 1240 will also be filed with the Commission

when responding to a complaint filed with the Commission about cable

programming service rates and associated equipment. The data will be

used by the Commission and local franchising authorities to adjudicate

permitted rates for regulated cable services and equipment, for the

addition of new programming tiers and to account for the addition and

deletion of channels and the allowance for pass throughs of external

costs and costs due to inflation.

Fax Document Retrieval Number: 601240.

Federal Communications Commission.

William F. Caton,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 95-28468 Filed 11-21-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712-01-F