S. 96 

One Hundred Fifteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and eighteen 

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. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

and Reliability Act of 2017’’. 

SEC. 2. ENSURING THE INTEGRITY OF VOICE COMMUNICATIONS. 

Part II of title II of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

U.S.C. 251 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘SEC. 262. ENSURING THE INTEGRITY OF VOICE COMMUNICATIONS. 

‘‘(a) REGISTRATION AND COMPLIANCE BY INTERMEDIATE PROVIDERS.—An intermediate provider that offers or holds itself out 

as offering the capability to transmit covered voice communications 

from one destination to another and that charges any rate to 

any other entity (including an affiliated entity) for the transmission 

shall— 

‘‘(1) register with the Commission; and 

‘‘(2) comply with the service quality standards for such 

transmission to be established by the Commission under subsection (c)(1)(B). 

‘‘(b) REQUIRED USE OF REGISTERED INTERMEDIATE PROVIDERS.— 

A covered provider may not use an intermediate provider to 

transmit covered voice communications unless such intermediate 

provider is registered under subsection (a)(1). 

‘‘(c) COMMISSION RULES.— 

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

‘‘(A) REGISTRY.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

of enactment of this section, the Commission shall promulgate rules to establish a registry to record registrations 

under subsection (a)(1). 

‘‘(B) SERVICE QUALITY STANDARDS.—Not later than 1 

year after the date of enactment of this section, the 

Commission shall promulgate rules to establish service 

quality standards for the transmission of covered voice 

communications by intermediate providers. 

‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—In promulgating the rules required 

by paragraph (1), the Commission shall— 
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‘‘(A) ensure the integrity of the transmission of covered 

voice communications to all customers in the United States; 

and 

‘‘(B) prevent unjust or unreasonable discrimination 

among areas of the United States in the delivery of covered 

voice communications. 

‘‘(d) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF REGISTRY.—The Commission shall 

make the registry established under subsection (c)(1)(A) publicly 

available on the website of the Commission. 

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

shall apply regardless of the format by which any communication 

or service is provided, the protocol or format by which the transmission of such communication or service is achieved, or the regulatory classification of such communication or service. 

‘‘(f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall 

be construed to affect the regulatory classification of any communication or service. 

‘‘(g) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in this section shall 

be construed to preempt or expand the authority of a State public 

utility commission or other relevant State agency to collect data, 

or investigate and enforce State law and regulations, regarding 

the completion of intrastate voice communications, regardless of 

the format by which any communication or service is provided, 

the protocol or format by which the transmission of such communication or service is achieved, or the regulatory classification of 

such communication or service. 

‘‘(h) EXCEPTION.—The requirement under subsection (a)(2) to 

comply with the service quality standards established under subsection (c)(1)(B) shall not apply to a covered provider that— 

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

of enactment of this section, has certified as a Safe Harbor 

provider under section 64.2107(a) of title 47, Code of Federal 

Regulations, or any successor regulation; and 

‘‘(2) continues to meet the requirements under such section 

64.2107(a). 

‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

‘‘(1) COVERED PROVIDER.—The term ‘covered provider’ has 

the meaning given the term in section 64.2101 of title 47, 

Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor thereto. 

‘‘(2) COVERED VOICE COMMUNICATION.—The term ‘covered 

voice communication’ means a voice communication (including 

any related signaling information) that is generated— 

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

using a North American Numbering Plan resource or a 

call placed to a connection using such a numbering 

resource; and 

‘‘(B) through any service provided by a covered provider. 

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

‘‘(A) enters into a business arrangement with a covered 

provider or other intermediate provider for the specific 

purpose of carrying, routing, or transmitting voice traffic 

that is generated from the placement of a call placed— 

‘‘(i) from an end user connection using a North 

American Numbering Plan resource; or 
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‘‘(ii) to an end user connection using such a numbering resource; and 

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

with an affiliate, serve as a covered provider in the context 

of originating or terminating a given call.’’. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.