Filings can be sent by hand or messenger delivery, by commercial overnight courier, or by firstclass or overnight U.S. Postal Service mail (although we continue to experience delays in receiving U.S. Postal Service mail). All filings must be addressed to the Commission's Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission.

People with Disabilities: To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), send an email to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 2024180530 (voice), 202 4180432 (tty).

By this document, the Bureau seeks comment on how the Federal Communications Commission should interpret and implement sections 106(h)(1) and 106(h)(2) of the Broadband Data Improvement Act of 2008.

Since 2000, the Commission has collected basic service information from broadband service providers using Form 477. In 2008, the Commission adopted revisions to the Form 477, which would result in the collection of more detailed and granular data. At the same time, the Commission issued a further notice of proposed rulemaking, which, among other things, sought comment on the issue of how to provide Form 477 information to other broadband initiatives, including those undertaken by state agencies and publicprivate partnerships, and on how to preserve confidentiality when sharing the information collected on Form 477. (See 2008 Broadband Data Gathering Order
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and Further NPRM, 23 FCC Rcd at 971112, para 39; 73 FR 37911, July 2, 2008 (``In this Further Notice, we seek comment on ways in which we can preserve confidentiality when sharing the information collected on Form 477, the voluntary registry, and other sources with agencies such as the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service and with publicprivate partnerships such as ConnectKentucky and similar ventures, for example by sharing the data in a less granular or aggregated form than the level at which it is collected.'') (footnotes omitted).) On October 10, 2008, the BDIA became law. Section 106(h)(1) of the BDIA requires the Commission to ``provide eligible entities access * * * to aggregate data collected by the Commission based on the Form 477 submissions of broadband service providers.'' (47 U.S.C. 1304(h)(1). Section 106(i)(2) of the BDIA defines ``eligible entity'' as: (A) An entity that is either (i) an agency or instrumentality of a State, or a municipality or other subdivision (or agency or instrumentality of a municipality or other subdivision) of a State; (ii) a nonprofit organization that is described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and that is exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of such Code; or (iii) an independent agency or commission in which an office of a State is a member on behalf of the State; and (B) is the single eligible entity in the State that has been designated by the State to receive a grant under this section. BDIA Sec. 106(i)(2); 47 U.S.C. 1304(i)(2).) Section 106(h)(2) of the BDIA imposes certain confidentiality requirements on eligible entities that receive the FCC Form 477 ``aggregate data.'' (Specifically, section 106(h)(2) provides that an eligible entity ``shall treat any matter that is a trade secret, commercial or financial information, or privileged or confidential, as a record not subject to public disclosure except as otherwise mutually agreed to by the broadband service provider and the eligible entity. BDIA section 106(h)(2); 47 U.S.C. 1304(h)(2).) In this document, we seek comment on how the Commission should implement these statutory provisions.

First, we seek comment on how we should interpret the term ``aggregate'' in section 106(h)(1). Particularly, to what extent does the adjective ``aggregate'' require the Commission to provide to eligible entities data that is more aggregated than the raw data submitted by Form 477 filers. We also seek comment on whether the confidentiality provisions of section 106(h)(2) indicate that the Commission should provide access to data that is more disaggregated than the Form 477 filingbased data that it makes available to the public in various periodic statistical reports released by the Bureau. (See, e.g., Federal Communications Commission, Wireline Competition Bureau, Industry Analysis and Technology Division, HighSpeed Services for Internet Access: Status as of December 31, 2007 (rel. Jan. 16, 2008), available at http://www.fcc.gov/wcb/iatd/comp.html.) More generally, we seek comment on how much the Commission should aggregate the data that it provides to eligible entities, and what factors it should consider in determining the appropriate level of aggregation.

We also seek comment on section 106(h)(2) of the BDIA, which requires eligible entities to treat ``any matter that is a trade secret, commercial or financial information, or privileged or confidential, as a record not subject to public disclosure except as otherwise mutually agreed to by the broadband service provider and the eligible entity.'' In particular, we seek comment on whether that section is selfeffectuating or whether the Commission should take any measures to ensure eligible entities' compliance with section 106(h)(2). If parties believe that the Commission should adopt safeguards to ensure compliance with section 106(h)(2), then we ask that they describe with specificity the nature of their proposed safeguards.

We recognize that the periods we are establishing for commenting on these issues are short but note also that the timeframes connected with the grant programs under BDIA require us to make the Form 477 information available in an expedited fashion. Furthermore, while the BDIA was enacted after the 2008 Broadband Data Gathering Order and Further NPRM was adopted, we note that the datasharing issues raised by section 106(h) of the BDIA clearly fall within the scope of the more general datasharing issues raised in the further NPRM, on which we previously received comment.

This matter shall be treated as a ``permitbutdisclose'' proceeding in accordance with the Commission's ex parte rules. See 47 CFR 1.1200, 1.1206. Persons making oral ex parte presentations are reminded that memoranda summarizing the presentations must contain summaries of the substance of the presentations and not merely a listing of the subjects discussed. More than a one or twosentence description of the views and arguments presented generally is required. See 47 CFR 1.1206(b). Other rules pertaining to oral and written ex parte presentations in permitbutdisclose proceedings are set forth in 1.1206(b) of the Commission's rules, 47 CFR 1.1206(b).
Federal Communications Commission.
Julie A. Veach,
Acting Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau.
[FR Doc. E917579 Filed 72209; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 671201P

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

Jeremy Miller, Industry Analysis and Technology Division, Wireline Competition Bureau at (202) 4180940.