I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3146

To promote deployment of competitive video services and eliminate redundant 

and unnecessary regulation. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 30, 2005

Mrs. BLACKBURN (for herself and Mr. WYNN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL

To promote deployment of competitive video services and 

eliminate redundant and unnecessary regulation.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Video Choice Act of 

5 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF VIDEO CHOICE REGULATORY 

7 RELIEF. 

8 The Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et 

9 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

10 title: 
2

•HR 3146 IH 

1 ‘‘TITLE VIII—VIDEO CHOICE 

2 REGULATORY RELIEF 

3 ‘‘SEC. 801. DEFINITIONS. 

4 ‘‘(a) COMPETITIVE VIDEO SERVICES PROVIDER.—

5 For purposes of this title, the term ‘competitive video serv6 ices provider’ means any provider of video programming, 

7 interactive on-demand services, other programming serv8 ices, or any other video services, who has, pursuant to any 

9 Federal, State, or local law, any right, permission, or au10 thority to establish or use lines in or across public rights11 of-way, which right, permission or authority does not rely 

12 on, and is independent of, any cable franchise obtained 

13 pursuant to section 621. 

14 ‘‘(b) OTHER TERMS.—For the purposes of this title, 

15 any term used in this title that is defined by section 602 

16 has the meaning provided by that section. 

17 ‘‘SEC. 802. REGULATORY RELIEF. 

18 ‘‘(a) REDUNDANT FRANCHISES PROHIBITED.—Not19 withstanding any other provision of this Act, no competi20 tive video services provider may be required, whether pur21 suant to section 621 or to any other provision of Federal, 

22 State, or local law, to obtain a franchise, in order to pro23 vide any video programming, interactive on-demand serv24 ices, other programming services, or any other video serv25 ices in any geographic area if the provider has, pursuant 
3

•HR 3146 IH 

1 to any Federal, State, or local law, any right, permission, 

2 or authority to establish lines in or across public rights3 of-way in such geographic area, which right, permission 

4 or authority does not rely on, and is independent of, any 

5 cable franchise obtained pursuant to section 621. 

6 ‘‘(b) FEES.—

7 ‘‘(1) FEES PERMITTED.—Any competitive video 

8 services provider may be subject to the payment of 

9 fees to a local franchising authority, based on the 

10 gross revenues of the provider within the jurisdiction 

11 of such franchising authority, subject to the limita12 tions of paragraph (2). 

13 ‘‘(2) LIMITS ON FEES.—In determining the fees 

14 that may be required under paragraph (1)—

15 ‘‘(A) the rate at which fees are imposed 

16 shall not exceed—

17 ‘‘(i) the rate at which franchise fees 

18 are imposed on any cable operator pro19 viding cable service in the jurisdiction of 

20 the franchising authority, as determined in 

21 accordance with section 622 and any re22 lated regulations; or 

23 ‘‘(ii) in any jurisdiction in which no 

24 cable operator provides service, no more 

25 than the rate at which franchise fees could 
4

•HR 3146 IH 

1 be imposed rate on a cable operator in ac2 cordance with section 622 and any related 

3 regulations; and 

4 ‘‘(B) the only revenues that shall be con5 sidered are those attributable to services that 

6 would be considered in calculating franchise 

7 fees if the provider were deemed a cable oper8 ator for purposes of section 622 and any re9 lated regulations. 

10 ‘‘(3) ITEMIZED BILLING PERMITTED.—The 

11 competitive video services provider may designate 

12 that portion of the end user’s bill attributable to the 

13 fee under this subsection as a separate item on the 

14 bill. 

15 ‘‘(c) REGULATORY TREATMENT.—

16 ‘‘(1) OBLIGATIONS AND DUTIES.—Any competi17 tive video services provider shall—

18 ‘‘(A) be subject to the retransmission con19 sent provisions of section 325(b); 

20 ‘‘(B) carry, within each local franchise 

21 area, any public, educational, or governmental 

22 use channels that are carried by cable operators 

23 within such franchise area, and, in any fran24 chise area not served by a cable operator, pro-
5

•HR 3146 IH 

1 vide reasonable public, educational or govern2 mental access facilities pursuant to section 611; 

3 ‘‘(C) carry the signals of local commercial 

4 television stations as required by section 614; 

5 ‘‘(D) carry the signals of local noncommer6 cial educational television stations as required 

7 by section 615; 

8 ‘‘(E) not deny services to any group of po9 tential residential subscribers because of the in10 come of the residents of the local area in which 

11 such group resides; 

12 ‘‘(F) be entitled to the benefits and protec13 tion of section 628; 

14 ‘‘(G) protect the personally identifiable in15 formation of its subscribers in the same manner 

16 as is required of cable operators with respect to 

17 subscribers to cable services under section 631; 

18 ‘‘(H) comply with any consumer protection 

19 and customer service requirements promulgated 

20 by the Commission pursuant to section 632; 

21 ‘‘(I) be entitled to the benefits and protec22 tion of section 633; 

23 ‘‘(J) be subject to the requirements of sec24 tion 641; 
6 

•HR 3146 IH 

1 ‘‘(K) be subject to the prohibition on buy 

2 outs of or by the incumbent cable operator 

3 under section 652; and 

4 ‘‘(L) not be subject to any other provisions 

5 of title VI of this Act. 

6 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATIONS OF LOCAL SIGNALS.— 

7 For purposes of complying with paragraphs (1) (C) 

8 and (D), a competitive video service provider shall 

9 treat as local television stations with respect to a 

10 customer located within the jurisdiction of any fran11 chising authority the same stations that are treated 

12 as local television stations for a cable system located 

13 within such jurisdiction. 

14 ‘‘(d) OTHER REGULATION PROHIBITED.—Except to 

15 the extent expressly provided in this title, neither the Com16 mission nor any State or political subdivision thereof may 

17 regulate the rates, charges, terms, or conditions for, entry 

18 into, exit from, deployment or provision of, or any other 

19 aspect of the services provided by a competitive video serv20 ices provider. 

21 ‘‘(e) STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUTHOR22 ITY.—Except as provided in subsection (a), nothing in this 

23 section affects the authority of a State or local government 

24 to manage the public rights-of-way.’’. 
7

•HR 3146 IH 

1 SEC. 3. REGULATION OF COMMON CARRIERS. 

2 Section 651(a)(3) of the Communications Act of 

3 1934 (47 U.S.C. 571(a)(3)) is amended—

4 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph 

5 (A); 

6 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub7 paragraph (B) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

8 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub9 paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(C) if such carrier is a competitive video 

11 services provider providing video programming 

12 pursuant to title VIII of this Act, such carrier 

13 shall not be subject to the requirements of this 

14 title except as provided in title VIII.’’.

Æ