FCC Still Obsessed with Pay Phone Paperwork? Seriously?
Published Date: 12/22/2025
Notice
Summary
The FCC is checking in on some paperwork rules to make sure they’re useful and not too much work, especially for small businesses. They want your thoughts by February 20, 2026, on how to keep things clear and easy while still getting the info they need. This review affects about 400 businesses who spend a few hours reporting on pay telephone rules every now and then.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 2 costs, 0 mixed.
Pole-Attachment Paperwork Burden
The FCC counts 1,359 business respondents for pole-attachment collections, producing 185,584 responses with an estimated 0.25 to 5 hours per response. The Commission reports a total annual burden of 146,264 hours and a total annual cost of $1,800 for this information collection.
Payphone Reporting Burden on Businesses
If you run a payphone business, the FCC counts 400 business respondents who must file about 16,820 responses. Each response takes about 2.66 hours on average, for a total annual burden of 44,700 hours and a total annual cost of $832,000; responding is required to obtain or retain benefits.
New Pole-Attachment Process Rules and Timelines
The FCC adopted rules that change pole-attachment processes: attachers must give written advance notice for large orders (for orders exceeding 300 poles or 0.5% of a utility's poles in a state up to the lesser of 3,000 poles or 5%, and for larger brackets up to the lesser of 6,000 poles or 10%), a meet-and-confer is required for certain large orders, and the Commission set new timelines and 15-day notification requirements when parties cannot meet survey or make-ready deadlines. The Order also adds a limited self-help remedy for make-ready estimates, prohibits utility limits that restrict application size or frequency, and requires utilities to respond to requests to add contractors within 30 days.
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Key Dates
Department and Agencies
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