115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 96 

AN ACT 

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, 
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†S 96 ES

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Rural Call 

3 Quality and Reliability Act of 2017’’. 

4 SEC. 2. ENSURING THE INTEGRITY OF VOICE COMMUNICA5 TIONS. 

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

7 (47 U.S.C. 251 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 262. ENSURING THE INTEGRITY OF VOICE COMMU10 NICATIONS. 

11 ‘‘(a) REGISTRATION AND COMPLIANCE BY INTER12 MEDIATE PROVIDERS.—An intermediate provider that of13 fers or holds itself out as offering the capability to trans14 mit covered voice communications from one destination to 

15 another and that charges any rate to any other entity (in16 cluding an affiliated entity) for the transmission shall— 

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

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

19 for such transmission to be established by the Com20 mission under subsection (c)(1)(B). 

21 ‘‘(b) REQUIRED USE OF REGISTERED INTER22 MEDIATE PROVIDERS.—A covered provider may not use 

23 an intermediate provider to transmit covered voice com24 munications unless such intermediate provider is reg25 istered under subsection (a)(1). 

26 ‘‘(c) COMMISSION RULES.— 
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†S 96 ES

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

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

3 after the date of enactment of this section, the 

4 Commission shall promulgate rules to establish 

5 a registry to record registrations under sub6 section (a)(1). 

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

8 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 

9 this section, the Commission shall promulgate 

10 rules to establish service quality standards for 

11 the transmission of covered voice communica12 tions by intermediate providers. 

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

14 rules required by paragraph (1), the Commission 

15 shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) ensure the integrity of the trans17 mission of covered voice communications to all 

18 customers in the United States; and 

19 ‘‘(B) prevent unjust or unreasonable dis20 crimination among areas of the United States 

21 in the delivery of covered voice communications. 

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

23 Commission shall make the registry established under sub24 section (c)(1)(A) publicly available on the website of the 

25 Commission. 
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†S 96 ES

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

2 this section shall apply regardless of the format by which 

3 any communication or service is provided, the protocol or 

4 format by which the transmission of such communication 

5 or service is achieved, or the regulatory classification of 

6 such communication or service. 

7 ‘‘(f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec8 tion shall be construed to affect the regulatory classifica9 tion of any communication or service. 

10 ‘‘(g) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in this sec11 tion shall be construed to preempt or expand the authority 

12 of a State public utility commission or other relevant State 

13 agency to collect data, or investigate and enforce State 

14 law and regulations, regarding the completion of intra15 state voice communications, regardless of the format by 

16 which any communication or service is provided, the pro17 tocol or format by which the transmission of such commu18 nication or service is achieved, or the regulatory classifica19 tion of such communication or service. 

20 ‘‘(h) EXCEPTION.—The requirement under sub21 section (a)(2) to comply with the service quality standards 

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

23 a covered provider that— 

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

25 the date of enactment of this section, has certified 
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1 as a Safe Harbor provider under section 64.2107(a) 

2 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any suc3 cessor regulation; and 

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

5 such section 64.2107(a). 

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

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

8 provider’ has the meaning given the term in section 

9 64.2101 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or 

10 any successor thereto. 

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

12 term ‘covered voice communication’ means a voice 

13 communication (including any related signaling in14 formation) that is generated— 

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

16 connection using a North American Numbering 

17 Plan resource or a call placed to a connection 

18 using such a numbering resource; and 

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

20 covered provider. 

21 ‘‘(3) INTERMEDIATE PROVIDER.—The term ‘in22 termediate provider’ means any entity that— 

23 ‘‘(A) enters into a business arrangement 

24 with a covered provider or other intermediate 

25 provider for the specific purpose of carrying, 
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1 routing, or transmitting voice traffic that is 

2 generated from the placement of a call placed— 

3 ‘‘(i) from an end user connection 

4 using a North American Numbering Plan 

5 resource; or 

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

7 such a numbering resource; and 

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

9 conjunction with an affiliate, serve as a covered 

10 provider in the context of originating or termi11 nating a given call.’’. 

Passed the Senate August 3, 2017. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 96 

AN ACT 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to enof such communications. among areas of the United States in the delivery prevent unjust or unreasonable discrimination sure the integrity of voice communications and to