DA 21-488 OMB Control No. 3060-1283 PUBLIC SAFETY AND HOMELAND SECURITY BUREAU ANNOUNCES OCTOBER 28, 2021 COMPLIANCE DATE FOR SUBMARINE CABLE OUTAGE REPORTING OBLIGATIONS GN DOCKET NO. 15-206 On July 12, 2016, the Commission released a Report and Order in GN Docket. No. 15-206 (Order) establishing rules requiring submarine cable licensees to report when submarine (or “undersea”) cable outages occur and when communications over those facilities are disrupted. Improving Outage Reporting for Submarine Cables and Enhanced Submarine Cable Outage Data, GN Docket No. 15-206, Report and Order, 31 FCC Rcd 7947 (2016). On December 20, 2019, the Commission adopted an Order on Reconsideration (Recon Order), modifying certain aspects of the required reporting to conform with how the Commission plans to use the reported information. Improving Outage Reporting for Submarine Cables and Enhanced Submarine Cable Outage Data, GN Docket No. 15-206, Order on Reconsideration, 34 FCC Rcd 13054 (2019) (Recon Order). On March 25, 2021, the Office of Management and Budget approved the information collection associated with the Order and Recon Order (OMB Control # 3060-1283). Under this new information collection, licensees must report specific unplanned outages greater than 30 minutes on a portion of the cable system between submarine line terminal equipment (SLTE) or greater than four hours when it affects a fiber pair. Id. at 13057-9, para. 11, 16-18. Today, the Commission published notice of this approval in the Federal Register, triggering the 6 month compliance with the rule provisions subject to OMB approval. Federal Communications Commission, Improving Outage Reporting for Submarine Cables and Enhanced Submarine Cable Outage Data, 86 Fed Reg. 22360 (Apr. 28, 2021); Recon Order, 34 FCC Rcd at 13067, para. 42. The compliance date of these rules is accordingly October 28, 2021. Licensees must submit this information using the FCC’s Network Outage Reporting System (NORS). Network Outage Reporting System (Feb. 3, 2021), https://www.fcc.gov/network-outage-reporting-system-nors. For further information regarding this proceeding, contact Scott Cinnamon at (202) 418-2319 or scott.cinnamon@fcc.gov or Charlene C. Goldfield at (202) 418-1372 or charlene.goldfield@fcc.gov, Attorney-Advisors of the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, Cybersecurity and Communications Reliability Division. 2