National Public Telecommunications Infrastructure Act of 1994

Summary: National Public Telecommunications Infrastructure Act of 1994 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to require owners and operators of telecommunications networks to reserve, for public uses, capacity on such networks for use free-of-charge by eligible entities.  Considers the reserved capacity as public property subject to disposition. Provides that the owner or operator of any affected telecommunication network shall not have control over, or liability for, the communications content of such capacity. 
Prohibits telecommunications networks from being required to reserve in excess of 20 percent of their capacity for public use. Allows the FCC to temporarily reduce such required reserved capacity by the unused portion. 
Requires the quality of telecommunications capacity reserved for public uses to be equivalent to the best quality of available capacity of the affected telecommunications network. 
Authorizes the FCC to reduce or eliminate such imposed obligations upon a telecommunications network that ensures that economic and technological barriers to access by eligible entities are eliminated. 
Includes as eligible entities:  (1) State, local, and tribal governments and their agencies; (2) accredited educational institutions open to enrollment by the public; (3) public telecommunications entities; (4) public and nonprofit libraries; and (5) nonprofit organizations that are formed to provide nondiscriminatory public access to noncommercial educational, informational, cultural, civic, or charitable services. 
Specifies the terms and conditions of such access. 
Directs the FCC to establish a Public Telecommunications Infrastruture Fund to provide eligible entities with economic support to use the capacity reserved on telecommunications networks to provide noncommercial governmental, educational, informational, cultural, civil, and charitable services for the public.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Public Telecommunications 
Infrastructure Act of 1994''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The United States Government has consistently 
        encouraged the development and dissemination of public 
        telecommunications services in broadcast and nonbroadcast 
        technologies through, among other things, the Public 
        Broadcasting Act of 1967, the Public Telecommunications 
        Financing Act of 1978, and the Public Telecommunications Act of 
        1992, wherein Congress found that ``it is in the public 
        interest for the Federal Government to ensure that all citizens 
        of the United States have access to public telecommunications 
        services through all appropriate available telecommunications 
        distribution technologies. . . ''.
            (2) The Government has a compelling interest in ensuring 
        that all citizens of the United States have access to 
        noncommercial governmental, educational, informational, 
        cultural, civic, and charitable services through all 
        appropriate telecommunications networks.
            (3) New telecommunications technologies will enhance the 
        ability of schools, libraries, local governments, public 
        broadcast institutions, and nonprofit organizations to deliver 
        and receive noncommercial governmental, educational, 
        informational, cultural, civic, and charitable services 
        throughout the United States.
            (4) It is in the public interest that these entities be 
        granted access to capacity on telecommunications networks for 
        the purpose of disseminating and receiving noncommercial 
        governmental, educational, informational, cultural, civic, and 
        charitable services throughout the United States.
            (5) It is necessary and appropriate that these entities 
        have access, without charge, to the capacity on 
        telecommunications networks to enable the public to have 
        affordable access to the governmental, educational, 
        informational, cultural, civic, and charitable services 
        provided by such entities.
            (6) Telecommunications services, including cable television 
        programming, basic telephone service, and telecommunications 
        services not yet available, are likely to become an 
        increasingly pervasive presence in the lives of all Americans.
            (7) Most Americans are currently served by 
        telecommunications networks that lack sufficiently open 
        architecture, sufficient capacity, and adequate 
        nondiscriminatory access terms necessary to provide open access 
        to a diversity of voice, video, and data communications.
            (8) Private telecommunications carriers are likely to 
        control access to telecommunications networks that lack 
        sufficiently open architecture, sufficient capacity, and 
        adequate nondiscriminatory access terms. Without narrowly 
        tailored governmental intervention, the existence of these 
        private ``gatekeepers'' is likely to restrict access to these 
        networks.
            (9) Private telecommunications carriers respond to 
        marketplace forces, and therefore are most likely to exclude 
        those members of the public and institutions with the fewest 
        financial resources, including but not limited to small town 
        and rural residents, low income people, minorities, individuals 
        with disabilities, the elderly, and noncommercial organizations 
        such as schools, libraries, public broadcasters, and nonprofit 
        community and civic organizations.
            (10) To facilitate widespread public discourse on a range 
        of public concerns between and among all Americans, the 
        Government has a compelling interest in providing broad access 
        to telecommunications networks for a diversity of voices, 
        viewpoints, and cultural perspectives, including access for 
        members of the public whose voices are most likely to be 
        excluded by private telecommunications carriers.
            (11) Assuring access to a diversity of voices, viewpoints, 
        and cultural perspectives over telecommunications networks 
        benefits all members of the public who use telecommunications 
        networks to disseminate or receive information.
            (12) Government support and encouragement of a diversity of 
        voices, viewpoints, and cultural perspectives over 
        telecommunications networks furthers a compelling governmental 
        interest in improving democratic self-governance, and improving 
        and facilitating local government services and communication 
        between citizens and elected and unelected public officials.
            (13) Telecommunications networks make substantial use of 
        public rights-of-way in real property and in spectrum 
        frequencies.
            (14) Because of the Government's compelling interest in 
        ensuring broad and diverse access to telecommunications 
        networks for the purposes of disseminating and receiving 
        noncommercial educational and informational services, and in 
        exchange for the use of public rights-of-way accorded 
        telecommunications networks, it is appropriate for Congress 
        (through the assertion of concurrent Federal jurisdiction over 
        rights-of-way held or controlled by State or local governments) 
        to require that owners and operators of telecommunications 
        networks reserve capacity on such networks for public use.
            (15) The least restrictive means to ensure that those 
        members of the public whose voices are most likely to be 
        excluded from telecommunications networks can access those 
        networks is to require those networks to reserve a portion of 
        their capacity for that access.
            (16) It is in the public interest that reserved network 
        capacity for public use be accompanied by funding to facilitate 
        use of such capacity to provide noncommercial governmental, 
        educational, informational, cultural, civic, and charitable 
        services for the public.

SEC. 3. PUBLIC RIGHTS-OF-WAY.

    Title VII of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 714. PUBLIC RIGHTS-OF-WAY.

    ``(a) Definitions.--As used in this section:
            ``(1) The term `telecommunications network' means any group 
        of facilities that has been granted the right to occupy any 
        public right-of-way to transmit or carry telecommunications for 
        the public, and provides the consumer or end user the 
        opportunity to choose from a range of telecommunications that 
        are available contemporaneously to the public. A terrestrial 
        radio or television broadcast station licensed pursuant to 
        Title III shall not be considered a telecommunications network 
        by reason of its use of its assigned spectrum.
            ``(2) The term `public right-of-way' means any right-of-
        way, including use of the electromagnetic spectrum, that is 
        held or otherwise controlled by Federal, State, or local 
        governments on behalf of the public, and is used in the 
        transmission or carriage of telecommunications.
            ``(3) The term `telecommunications' means communications of 
        any form transmitted or carried by any means, including analog 
        or digital electromagnetic signals.
    ``(b) Requirement for Reserved Capacity.--Within 365 days after the 
date of enactment of this section, the Commission shall promulgate 
regulations to require owners and operators of telecommunications 
networks to reserve, for public uses, capacity on such networks for use 
free-of-charge by eligible entities. The reserved capacity shall be 
considered public property subject to disposition pursuant to 
regulations promulgated by the Commission, and the owner or operator of 
any affected telecommunications network shall have no control over, and 
no liability for, the communications content of such capacity.
    ``(c) Reservation of Capacity.--
            ``(1) Amount of capacity to be reserved.--The Commission 
        shall presume that a reservation under this section of 20 
        percent of the capacity of a telecommunications network is 
        appropriate, but may require a reservation of a lower amount or 
        an amount to be phased-in not exceeding 20 percent, upon 
        consideration of the type of technology used by the network, 
        barriers to accessing the network, and such other factors as 
        the Commission considers appropriate. Telecommunications 
        networks shall not be required to reserve public capacity in 
        excess of that required under this paragraph.
            ``(2) Temporary reductions.--If the Commission determines 
        that any portion of the amount of public capacity that a 
        telecommunications network is required to reserve under this 
        section will go unused, the Commission may temporarily reduce 
        the reserved amount by such unused portion. During the period 
        when the reserved public capacity of a telecommunications 
        network is temporarily reduced, an eligible entity described in 
        subsection (d) may request use of any of the portion by which 
        such reserved capacity was reduced and the Commission shall, 
        within 30 days after the request, provide sufficient capacity 
        to meet the request.
            ``(3) Quality.--The quality of telecommunications capacity 
        reserved for public uses under this section shall be equivalent 
        to the best quality of available capacity of the affected 
        telecommunications network in all respects, including 
        accessibility, channel positioning, interconnection access 
        rights, network capabilities, and such other factors as the 
        Commission considers appropriate.
            ``(4) Reduction or elimination of obligations.--The 
        Commission may reduce or eliminate obligations upon a 
        telecommunications network imposed under this subsection, if 
        the Commission determines on the record after notice and 
        opportunity for comment, that, throughout its entire service 
        area, such network has clearly sufficient open architecture, 
        capacity, and nondiscriminatory access terms to ensure that 
        economic and technological barriers to access by eligible 
        entities describe in subsection (d) are eliminated.
            ``(5) Effect on franchise fee collection.--Nothing in this 
        section is intended to affect the power of any franchising 
        authority to collect a franchise fee authorized under section 
        622.
    ``(d) Allocation of Capacity.--
            ``(1) Eligible entities.--The following entities are the 
        entities eligible for access to the public capacity reserved 
        under this section:
                    ``(A) State, local, and tribal governments and 
                their agencies.
                    ``(B) Accredited educational institutions open to 
                enrollment by the public.
                    ``(C) Public telecommunications entities.
                    ``(D) Public and nonprofit libraries.
                    ``(E) Nonprofit organizations described under 
                section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
                that are formed for the purpose of providing 
                nondiscriminatory public access to noncommercial 
                educational, informational, cultural, civic, or 
                charitable services.
            ``(2) Terms and conditions of access.--Such eligible 
        entities shall have access to such public capacity at no charge 
        (for installation or service) if using such capacity only for 
        the provision of educational, informational, cultural, civic, 
        or charitable services directly to the public without charge 
        for such services. Telecommunications capacity allocated 
        pursuant to this section shall not be sold, resold, or 
        otherwise transferred in consideration for money or any other 
        thing of value.
            ``(3) Allocation.--The Commission shall determine 
        appropriate mechanisms and guidelines for allocating such 
        public capacity. In so doing, the Commission shall establish 
        block allocations to State, local, or tribal governments for 
        redistribution among eligible entities pursuant to 
        telecommunications plans submitted by State, local, or tribal 
        governments, and ensure that the intent of Congress, as 
        expressed in section 396(a), is served.
            ``(4) Transition.--The Commission, as telecommunications 
        network capacity expands, shall provide for a transition within 
        a reasonable period of time from requirements under sections 
        335, 611, and 615 to requirements under this section.
    ``(e) Public Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--Within 365 days after the date of 
        enactment of this section, the Commission shall promulgate 
        regulations to establish a Public Telecommunications 
        Infrastructure Fund to provide eligible entities described in 
        subsection (d) with economic support to use the capacity 
        reserved on telecommunications networks under this section to 
        provide noncommercial governmental, educational, informational, 
        cultural, civil, and charitable services for the public. Such 
        regulations shall provide a mechanism for financing the Public 
        Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund by means of--
                    ``(A) contributions, on a competitively neutral 
                basis, by owners and operators of telecommunications 
                networks (including those regulated under titles II, 
                III and VI, except that nothing in this subsection may 
                be construed as affecting the power of any franchising 
                authority to collect a franchise fee authorized under 
                section 622);
                    ``(B) contributions from a designated portion of 
                any universal service fund, as may be established under 
                this Act;
                    ``(C) contributions from such other sources as the 
                Commission may determine to be sufficient and 
                appropriate for such purposes; or
                    ``(D) any combination of the contributions 
                described in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C).
            ``(2) Content of regulations.--The regulations promulgated 
        under this subsection shall--
                    ``(A) provide that contributions to the Public 
                Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund shall begin no 
                later than 365 days after promulgation of the 
                regulations;
                    ``(B) determine appropriate mechanisms and 
                guidelines for allocating the funds collected pursuant 
                to this subsection to such State, local, or tribal 
                governments as the Commission considers appropriate;
                    ``(C) establish guidelines for the distribution of 
                such funds by State, local, or tribal governments to 
                provide eligible entities described in subsection (d) 
                with sufficient economic support to use the network 
                capacity reserved under this section to provide 
                noncommercial governmental, educational, informational, 
                cultural, civic, and charitable services for the 
                public; and
                    ``(D) require that each State, local, or tribal 
                government authorized to distribute funds pursuant to 
                subparagraph (C) establish a public advisory commission 
                that--
                            ``(i) shall be composed of members 
                        representing the interests of eligible entities 
                        described in subsection (d); and
                            ``(ii) shall ensure that the funds are 
                        distributed to a broad cross section of 
                        eligible entities in accordance with the 
                        guidelines established pursuant to subparagraph 
                        (C).''.