SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The FCC may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid control number. No person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information subject to the PRA that does not display a valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number.

OMB Control Number: 3060-1247.

Title: Part 32 Uniform System of Accounts.

Form Number: N/A.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities.

Number of Respondents and Responses: 854 respondents; 1,696 responses.

Estimated Time per Response: 20-40 hours.

Frequency of Response: On occasion, and annual reporting requirements; recordkeeping requirements.

Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. Statutory authority for this information collection is contained in sections 10, 201, 219-220, 224, and 403 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended; 47 U.S.C. 160, 201,219-220, 224, and 403.

Total Annual Burden: 51,360 hours.

Total Annual Cost: No cost.

Needs and Uses: On February 24, 2017, the Commission released the Part 32 Order, WC Docket No. 14-130, CC Docket No. 80-286, FCC 17-15, which minimized the compliance burdens imposed by the Uniform System of Accounts (USOA) on price cap and rate-of-return telephone companies, while ensuring that the Commission retains access to the information it needs to fulfill its regulatory duties. The Commission consolidated Class A and Class B accounts by eliminating the current classification of carriers, which divides incumbent LECS into two classes for accounting purposes based on annual revenues. Carriers subject to Part 32's USOA are now only required to keep Class B accounts.

Pursuant to the Part 32 Order, price cap carriers may elect to use generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for all regulatory accounting purposes if they: (1) Establish an “Implementation Rate Difference” (IRD) which is the difference between pole attachment rates calculated under Part 32 and under GAAP as of the last full year preceding the carrier's initial opting out of Part 32 accounting requirements; and (2) adjust their annually-computed GAAP-based pole attachment rates by the IRD for a period of 12 years after the election. Alternatively, price cap carriers may elect to use GAAP accounting for all purposes other than those associated with pole attachment rates and continue to use the Part 32 accounts and procedures applicable to pole attachment rates for up to 12 years. A price cap carrier may be required to submit pole attachment accounting data to the Commission for three years following the effective date of the rule permitting a price cap carrier to elect GAAP accounting. If a pole attacher informs the Commission of a suspected problem with pole attachment rates, the Commission will require the price cap carrier to file its pole attachment data for the state in question. This requirement may be extended for an additional three years, if necessary.

The Commission reduced the accounting requirements for telephone companies with a continuing obligation to comply with Part 32 in a number of areas. Telephone companies may: (1) Carry an asset at its purchase price when it was acquired, even if its value has increased or declined when it goes into regulated service; (2) reprice an asset at market value after a merger or acquisition consistent with GAAP; (3) use GAAP principles to determine Allowance-for-Funds-Used-During Construction; and (4) employ the GAAP standard of materiality. Rate-of-return carriers receiving cost-based support must determine materiality consistent with the general materiality guidelines promulgated by the Auditing Standards Board. Price cap carriers with a continuing Part 32 accounting obligation must maintain continuing property records necessary to track substantial assets and investments in an accurate, auditable manner. The carriers must make such property information available to the Commission upon request. Carriers subject to Part 32 must continue to comply with the USOA's depreciation procedures and its rules for cost of removal-and-salvage accounting.

Pursuant to the October 24, 2018 Rate-of-Return Business Data Services Report and Order, WC Docket No. 17-144, FCC 18-146, rate-of-return carriers currently receiving model-based or other fixed high-cost support may voluntarily elect to transition their business services offerings from rate-of-return to incentive regulation. Thus, electing carriers that choose to use GAAP instead of the Uniform System of Accounts are relieved of virtually all of the filing and recordkeeping requirements of the Uniform System of Accounts, with the sole exception of the same data provisioning requirements for the calculation of pole attachment rates as price cap carriers.

91 FR 25359