II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 96 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to ensure the integrity of voice 

communications and to prevent unjust or unreasonable discrimination 

among areas of the United States in the delivery of such communications. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 11, 2017 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mr. THUNE, and Mr. TESTER) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to ensure the 

integrity of voice communications and to prevent unjust 

or unreasonable discrimination among areas of the 

United States in the delivery of such communications. 

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 ‘‘Improving Rural Call 

5 Quality and Reliability Act of 2017’’. 


smartinez on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 96 IS

1 SEC. 2. ENSURING THE INTEGRITY OF VOICE COMMUNICA2 TIONS. 

3 Part II of title II of the Communications Act of 1934 

4 (47 U.S.C. 251 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 262. ENSURING THE INTEGRITY OF VOICE COMMU7 NICATIONS. 

8 ‘‘(a) REGISTRATION AND COMPLIANCE BY INTER9 MEDIATE PROVIDERS.—An intermediate provider that of10 fers or holds itself out as offering the capability to trans11 mit covered voice communications from one destination to 

12 another and that charges any rate to any other entity (in13 cluding an affiliated entity) for the transmission shall— 

14 ‘‘(1) register with the Commission; and 

15 ‘‘(2) comply with the service quality standards 

16 for such transmission to be established by the Com17 mission under subsection (c)(1)(B). 

18 ‘‘(b) REQUIRED USE OF REGISTERED INTER19 MEDIATE PROVIDERS.—A covered provider may not use 

20 an intermediate provider to transmit covered voice com21 munications unless such intermediate provider is reg22 istered under subsection (a)(1). 

23 ‘‘(c) COMMISSION RULES.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

25 ‘‘(A) REGISTRY.—Not later than 180 days 

26 after the date of enactment of this section, the 


smartinez on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 96 IS

1 Commission shall promulgate rules to establish 

2 a registry to record registrations under sub3 section (a)(1). 

4 ‘‘(B) SERVICE QUALITY STANDARDS.—Not 

5 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 

6 this section, the Commission shall promulgate 

7 rules to establish service quality standards for 

8 the transmission of covered voice communica9 tions by intermediate providers. 

10 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—In promulgating the 

11 rules required by paragraph (1), the Commission 

12 shall— 

13 ‘‘(A) ensure the integrity of the trans14 mission of covered voice communications to all 

15 customers in the United States; and 

16 ‘‘(B) prevent unjust or unreasonable dis17 crimination among areas of the United States 

18 in the delivery of covered voice communications. 

19 ‘‘(d) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF REGISTRY.—The 

20 Commission shall make the registry established under sub21 section (c)(1)(A) publicly available on the website of the 

22 Commission. 

23 ‘‘(e) SCOPE OF APPLICATION.—The requirements of 

24 this section shall apply regardless of the format by which 

25 any communication or service is provided, the protocol or 


smartinez on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 96 IS

1 format by which the transmission of such communication 

2 or service is achieved, or the regulatory classification of 

3 such communication or service. 

4 ‘‘(f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec5 tion shall be construed to affect the regulatory classifica6 tion of any communication or service. 

7 ‘‘(g) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in this sec8 tion shall be construed to preempt or expand the authority 

9 of a State public utility commission or other relevant State 

10 agency to collect data, or investigate and enforce State 

11 law and regulations, regarding the completion of intra12 state voice communications, regardless of the format by 

13 which any communication or service is provided, the pro14 tocol or format by which the transmission of such commu15 nication or service is achieved, or the regulatory classifica16 tion of such communication or service. 

17 ‘‘(h) EXCEPTION.—The requirement under sub18 section (a)(2) to comply with the service quality standards 

19 established under subsection (c)(1)(B) shall not apply to 

20 a covered provider that— 

21 ‘‘(1) on or before the date that is 1 year after 

22 the date of enactment of this section, has certified 

23 as a Safe Harbor provider under section 64.2107(a) 

24 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any suc25 cessor regulation; and 


smartinez on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 96 IS

1 ‘‘(2) continues to meet the requirements under 

2 such section 64.2107(a). 

3 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) COVERED PROVIDER.—The term ‘covered 

5 provider’ has the meaning given the term in section 

6 64.2101 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or 

7 any successor thereto. 

8 ‘‘(2) COVERED VOICE COMMUNICATION.—The 

9 term ‘covered voice communication’ means a voice 

10 communication (including any related signaling in11 formation) that is generated— 

12 ‘‘(A) from the placement of a call from a 

13 connection using a North American Numbering 

14 Plan resource or a call placed to a connection 

15 using such a numbering resource; and 

16 ‘‘(B) through any service provided by a 

17 covered provider. 

18 ‘‘(3) INTERMEDIATE PROVIDER.—The term ‘in19 termediate provider’ means any entity that— 

20 ‘‘(A) enters into a business arrangement 

21 with a covered provider or other intermediate 

22 provider for the specific purpose of carrying, 

23 routing, or transmitting voice traffic that is 

24 generated from the placement of a call placed— 


smartinez on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 96 IS

1 ‘‘(i) from an end user connection 

2 using a North American Numbering Plan 

3 resource; or 

4 ‘‘(ii) to an end user connection using 

5 such a numbering resource; and 

6 ‘‘(B) does not itself, either directly or in 

7 conjunction with an affiliate, serve as a covered 

8 provider in the context of originating or termi9 nating a given call.’’. 

Æ 


smartinez on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS