Significant Step in FCC Back Up Power Reporting Requirements December 2nd, 2008
Glenn Reynolds

This week saw another significant milestone in USTelecom’s long-running effort relating to the extremely burdensome reporting requirements imposed by the FCC concerning network back-up power capabilities.  The Office of Management and Budget has released a one page letter rejecting the FCC’s analysis of the burden that this information collection would impose on the industry, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. USTelecom filed with the OMB in October urging them to reject the PRA analysis.

Last year, the Commission issued an Order imposing back-up power requirements and standards on critical network facilities.  The original requirements were extraordinarily costly and burdensome, and USTelecom was able to work with the Commission to have those obligations reduced. These obligations are currently stayed pending resolution of an appeal to the DC Circuit.  At the same time, however, the FCC has sought to move forward with very detailed data reporting requirements concerning existing back-up power standards in the industry.  As we explained in the OMB filing, the FCC’s analysis of the burden that would be imposed on companies to comply with this data collection was extremely understated.  For these reasons, OMB has now rejected the FCC’s analysis.

We will keep you informed as we learn additional information on how the FCC intends to proceed with this matter.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008 at 11:23 am and is filed under FCC Actions, Industry News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.