Telecommunications Services Enhancement Act of 1994

Summary: Telecommunications Services Enhancement Act of 1994 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit any State or local governmental entity, statute, or regulation from:  (1) prohibiting the ability of an entity to provide interstate or intrastate telecommunications services; or (2) unreasonably discriminating among telecommunications carriers. 
Authorizes a Bell operating company or its affiliate to engage in the provision of interLATA (local access and transport areas) telecommunications services when the barriers to entry for the provision of interstate or intrastate telecommunications services have been removed. 
Prohibits a cable operator from providing telephone exchange service or telephone exchange access service in the geographic area where it provides video programming so long as the local exchange carrier (LEC) for such area is prohibited from providing video programming directly to its subscribers. 
Requires the Federal Communications Commission to promulgate regulations ensuring that all providers of competitive telecommunications services are subject to equivalent regulation. 
Authorizes (current law prohibits) an LEC to:  (1) provide video programming to its subscribers either directly or through an affiliate; and (2) provide channels of communication or pole line, conduit space, or other rental arrangements to an entity directly owned, operated, or controlled by the LEC to be used to provide video programming directly to subscribers.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Telecommunications Services 
Enhancement Act of 1994''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) competition in telecommunications and cable services 
        will encourage infrastructure development, have beneficial 
        effects on the price, universal availability, variety and 
        quality of telecommunications services, and improve our 
        economy, our culture, and our political system;
            (2) all telecommunications and information services markets 
        should be open to competition and all providers of 
        telecommunications services should be able to provide such 
        services and be subject to equivalent regulation when offering 
        such services;
            (3) all providers of telecommunications and information 
        services should be subject to equivalent regulation;
            (4) if all providers of telecommunications services do not 
        have the opportunity to provide all telecommunications and 
        information services, it would not be in the public interest to 
        remove barriers to entry to intrastate telecommunications 
        services such as telephone exchange service, intrastate 
        intraLATA telecommunications services, and telephone exchange 
        access services;
            (5) when barriers to entry to intrastate telecommunications 
        services such as telephone exchange service, intrastate 
        intraLATA toll telecommunications services, and exchange access 
        services are removed, all restrictions on the lines of business 
        in which they may engage should be eliminated for existing 
        providers of these services;
            (6) the elimination of the restraints on the lines of 
        business will result in the creation of a substantial number of 
        new jobs;
            (7) if the removal of the restrictions on the lines of 
        business are delayed, the job creation resulting from the 
        removal of these constraints will also be delayed;
            (8) advanced telecommunications services can enhance the 
        quality of life and promote economic development, job creation, 
        and international competitiveness;
            (9) advancements in the nation's telecommunications 
        infrastructure will enhance the public welfare by helping to 
        speed the delivery of services such as telemedicine, distance 
        learning, remote medical services, and distribution of health 
        information;
            (10) services such as telemedicine will promote the 
        provision of health care to all Americans and reduce the cost 
        of providing health care;
            (11) improvements in the telecommunications infrastructure 
        will be greatly enhanced if all providers of telecommunications 
        services are permitted to offer these services on the same 
        basis and subject to equivalent regulatory requirements;
            (12) rural and sparsely populated areas will not receive 
        the benefits of advanced telecommunications services unless all 
        providers of telecommunications services have eliminated the 
        restrictions on the lines of business in which they may engage;
            (13) existing regulatory devices no longer work, and the 
        regulatory asymmetries that exist today are inconsistent with 
        competitive marketplaces; and
            (14) oversight of the telecommunications industry should be 
        conducted from the perspective of the Antitrust Laws by the 
        Department of Justice and from the regulatory perspective by 
        the Commission for interstate telecommunications services and 
        the States for intrastate telecommunications services.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934.

    (a) Definitions.--Section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 153) is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new 
definitions:
    ``(hh) `Local exchange carrier' means any person that is engaged in 
the provision of telephone exchange service or telephone exchange 
access service; such term does not include a person insofar as such 
person is engaged in the provision of a commercial mobile service under 
section 332(c), except to the extent that the Commission finds that 
such service as provided by such person in a State is a replacement for 
a substantial portion of the wireline telephone exchange service within 
such State.
    ``(ii) `Telephone exchange access service' means the offering of 
telephone exchange services or facilities for the purpose of the 
origination or termination of interexchange telecommunications services 
to or from an exchange area.
    ``(jj) `Telecommunications service' means the offering for profit 
to the public or to such classes and eligible users as to be 
effectively available to a substantial portion of the public of--
            ``(1) telecommunications facilities that (A) are owned or 
        controlled by a provider of telephone exchange service or (B) 
        interconnect with the network of a provider of telephone 
        exchange service; or
            ``(2) telecommunications by means of such 
        telecommunications facilities.
Such term does not include information services.
    ``(kk) `Bell operating company' means any of the companies listed 
in Appendix A of the Modification of Final Judgment, and includes any 
successor or assign of any such company, but does not include any 
affiliate of any such company.
    ``(ll) `Modification of Final Judgment' means the decree entered 
August 24, 1982, in United States v. Western Electric, Civil Action No. 
82--0192 (United States District Court, District of Columbia).
    ``(mm) `Telecommunications' means the transmission, between or 
among points specified by the user, of information of the user's 
choosing, without change in the form or content of the information as 
sent and received, by means of electromagnetic transmission medium, 
including all instrumentalities, facilities, apparatus, and services 
(including the collection, storage, forwarding, switching, and delivery 
of such information) essential to such transmission; such term does not 
include cable or information services.''.
    (b) Amendment to Title II.--Title II of the Communications Act of 
1934 (47 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end thereof 
the following new sections:

``SEC. 230. REMOVAL OF ENTRY BARRIERS.

    ``Subject to the provisions of section 301 of this Act, 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this section, no State or local statute 
or regulation, or other State or local legal requirement, shall 
prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting the ability of any entity to 
provide interstate or intrastate telecommunications services. No State 
or local governmental entity may unreasonably discriminate among 
telecommunications carriers.

``SEC. 231. INTERLATA TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES.

    ``(a) Authority.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law or any 
restriction or obligation imposed before the date of enactment of this 
section pursuant to section II(D) of the Modification of Final 
Judgment, a Bell operating company or affiliate may engage in the 
provision of interLATA telecommunications services when the barriers to 
entry to provide any interstate or intrastate telecommunications 
services have been removed pursuant to Section 230 or 1 year after the 
date of enactment of this section, whichever is earlier.
    ``(b) Definition.--As used in this section, the term `LATA' means 
the local access and transport areas as defined in United States v. 
Western Electric Co., 569 F. Supp. 990 (United States District Court, 
District of Columbia) and subsequent judicial orders relating thereto.

``SEC. 232. REGULATORY PARITY.

    ``(a) Cable Service.--No cable operator shall provide telephone 
exchange service or telephone exchange access service in the geographic 
area where it provides video programming so long as the local exchange 
carrier for that geographic area is prohibited from providing video 
programming directly to subscribers.
    ``(b) Competitive Services.--The Commission shall, within eighteen 
months after the enactment of this section, promulgate regulations that 
ensure that all providers of competitive telecommunications services 
are subject to equivalent regulation and notwithstanding any other 
provision of this Act, the Commission shall have authority to conform 
any aspect of its scheme of regulation in order to reflect a 
competitive telecommunications environment.
    ``(c) Definition.--For the purposes of this section, the term 
`competitive telecommunications services' means a substitutable service 
offered by an unaffiliated entity at comparable or better rates, terms, 
and conditions.''.
    (c) Amendment to Title VI.--Section 613(b) of the Communications 
Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 533(b)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(b) A local exchange carrier subject in whole or in part to title 
II of this Act may--
            ``(1) provide video programming directly to subscribers, 
        either through its own facilities or through an affiliate 
        owned, operated, or controlled by, or under common control 
        with, the local exchange carrier; and
            ``(2) provide channels of communication or pole line, 
        conduit space, or other rental arrangements to any entity which 
        is directly or indirectly owned, operated, or controlled by, or 
        under common control with the local exchange carrier, to be 
        used for, or in connection with, the provision of video 
        programming directly to subscribers.''.

SEC. 4. JURISDICTION.

    Section 2 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 152) is 
amended by inserting in subsection (b) ``and sections 230, 231, and 
232'' immediately after ``sections 223 through 227, inclusive''.