II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2256 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to ensure the availability to 

all Americans of high-quality, advanced telecommunications and 

broadband services, technologies, and networks at just, reasonable, and 

affordable rates, and to establish a permanent mechanism to guarantee 

specific, sufficient, and predictable support for the preservation and advancement of universal service, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 8, 2006 

Mr. BURNS 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 

availability to all Americans of high-quality, advanced 

telecommunications and broadband services, technologies, 

and networks at just, reasonable, and affordable rates, 

and to establish a permanent mechanism to guarantee 

specific, sufficient, and predictable support for the preservation and advancement of universal service, and for 

other purposes. 

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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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Internet and Universal 

3 Service Act of 2006’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) The concept that all Americans, no matter 

7 where they live, should have access to high-quality 

8 communication services at affordable rates has been 

9 a hallmark of Federal policy for over a century. 

10 (2) A national communication and information 

11 policy must foster innovation, encourage investment, 

12 create jobs, improve productivity, and increase con13 sumer benefits. 

14 (3) A national policy is needed to accelerate the 

15 private sector deployment of advanced communica16 tion infrastructure to all Americans as rapidly as 

17 possible. 

18 (4) The preservation and advancement of uni19 versal service is a fundamental goal of the Commu20 nications Act of 1934 and the Telecommunications 

21 Act of 1996, and must remain the foundation of fu22 ture communications policy. 

23 (5) Maintaining a sustainable universal service 

24 fund requires recipients to be accountable for how 

25 support is used. 
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1 (6) Universal service support mechanisms 

2 should be used to support the deployment and ad3 vancement of a robust communications infrastruc4 ture so all Americans can enjoy new and exciting 

5 communication services regardless of where they live 

6 or the technology used. 

7 (7) Any universal service support funding mech8 anism should be equitable, nondiscriminatory, com9 petitively neutral, and ensure affordable communica10 tions services for all Americans. 

11 (8) Universal service support should be used to 

12 provide incentives for continued investment into the 

13 public network and to increase the availability of 

14 broadband service to all Americans. 

15 (9) Since 1998 the Federal Communications 

16 Commission has committed more than 

17 $13,000,000,000 to help schools and libraries ac18 quire Internet and telecommunications services. 

19 (10) Recently allegations of waste, fraud, and 

20 abuse have surfaced, and as steward of the Schools 

21 and Libraries Program, the Federal Communica22 tions Commission must ensure that participants use 

23 program funds appropriately. 

24 (11) Promoting telemedicine helps link rural 

25 health care facilities to urban medical centers. 
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1 (12) Many people in remote communities would 

2 not have access to health care without use of the 

3 Internet, an important issue in rural communities 

4 since many lack a physician. 

5 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to de6 velop a national telecommunications and information pol7 icy that fosters innovation, encourages investment, creates 

8 jobs, improves productivity, and increases consumer bene9 fits by— 

10 (1) ensuring that the United States becomes a 

11 world leader in broadband deployment by ensuring 

12 that consumers have access to high-capacity 

13 broadband services and facilities; 

14 (2) updating and advancing the definition of 

15 universal service to ensure appropriate incentives 

16 through the Federal universal service support fund 

17 are used to accelerate the deployment of advanced 

18 communications and information services and tech19 nologies, including broadband services, for the ben20 efit of all Americans; 

21 (3) eliminating economic and technical barriers 

22 to investment by eligible telecommunications carriers 

23 in rural and high-cost areas, as contemplated in sec24 tion 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 

25 U.S.C. 157 note); 
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1 (4) targeting universal service support specifi2 cally to high cost areas to ensure that communica3 tions services and broadband facilities are made 

4 available throughout all of the States in a fair and 

5 equitable manner; 

6 (5) ensuring universal service support contribu7 tions and distributions are— 

8 (A) assessed and distributed in a fair, eq9 uitable, and competitively neutral manner; and 

10 (B) based upon a methodology to assess 

11 contributions that effectuates the principles ref12 erenced in this Act; 

13 (6) guaranteeing the integrity the methods used 

14 to calculate and distribute universal service support 

15 in a manner consistent with sections 214 and 254 

16 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 214 

17 and 254); 

18 (7) ensuring that all providers that use the net19 work and facilities of another provider fully com20 pensate each provider for the use of its network and 

21 facilities; 

22 (8) ensuring the integrity of the Schools and 

23 Libraries Program to deter waste, fraud, and abuse, 

24 by strengthening the Federal Communications Com25 mission’s management and oversight, including im-
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1 posing sanctions on applicants and vendors who re2 peatedly and knowingly violate significant program 

3 rules; and 

4 (9) improving the effectiveness of the Rural 

5 Health Care Program. 

6 SEC. 3. ADVANCED TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUC7 TURE INVESTMENT INCENTIVES. 

8 (a) REMOVAL OF BARRIERS TO ADVANCED INFRA9 STRUCTURE INVESTMENT.—Section 706 of the Tele10 communications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 157 note) is 

11 amended by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(d) ADVANCED TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRA13 STRUCTURE INVESTMENT INCENTIVES.—The Commission 

14 shall ensure that eligible telecommunications carriers have 

15 sufficient incentives, through the use of Federal universal 

16 service support mechanisms, to invest and deploy network 

17 facilities necessary to provide broadband service and 

18 broadband voice service for the benefit of all Americans 

19 in rural, insular, and high-cost areas.’’. 

20 (b) EFFECTUATION OF INVESTMENT INCENTIVES.— 

21 (1) RULEMAKING.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

23 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

24 the Federal Communications Commission shall 

25 complete a rulemaking to define advanced tele-
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1 communications infrastructure and broadband 

2 service. 

3 (B) REQUIRED CONTENT.—In the rule4 making required under subparagraph (A), the 

5 definition of advanced telecommunications in6 frastructure and broadband service shall in7 clude— 

8 (i) network facilities and capabilities 

9 that enable 2-way transmission of informa10 tion using Internet protocol or any suc11 cessor protocol, and the associated capa12 bilities and functionalities, services, and 

13 applications provided over an Internet pro14 tocol platform or for which an Internet 

15 protocol capability is an integral compo16 nent; and 

17 (ii) service facilities and equipment 

18 and applications that enable an end-user to 

19 receive communications in Internet pro20 tocol format, regardless of whether the 

21 such communications are voice, data, 

22 video, or any other form at a download re23 ceiving rate of not lower than 1 megabit 

24 per second. 
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1 (2) ADVANCED TELECOMMUNICATIONS CAPA2 BILITY RULEMAKING.—Not later than 3 years after 

3 the date of enactment of this Act, and every 3 years 

4 thereafter, the Federal Communications Commission 

5 shall complete a study to review the definition of ad6 vanced telecommunications infrastructure and 

7 broadband service, as such term is defined under the 

8 rulemaking required in paragraph (1), taking into 

9 account prevailing standards of technical and eco10 nomic feasibility and acceptance in the marketplace. 

11 (3) DEPLOYMENT OF NEXT GENERATION NET12 WORKS.—Not later than 180 days after the date of 

13 enactment of this Act, and every 3 years thereafter, 

14 the Federal Communications Commission shall com15 plete a study to identify economic and technical bar16 riers to the deployment of next generation advanced 

17 telecommunications and information networks, serv18 ices, and technologies, including high-capacity trans19 mission and distribution networks capable of deliv20 ering 20 megabytes per second capacity, for the ben21 efit of all Americans in rural, insular, and high-cost 

22 areas. 
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1 SEC. 4. ENSURING INTEGRITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN 

2 THE DISTRIBUTION OF UNIVERSAL SERVICE. 

3 (a) CONTROLLING THE GROWTH OF UNIVERSAL

4 SERVICE SUPPORT.—Section 214(e) of the Communica5 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 214(e)) is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

7 (A) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as 

8 subparagraph (E); 

9 (B) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘; 

10 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; and 

11 (C) by inserting the following after sub12 paragraph (A): 

13 ‘‘(B) offer any calling plan, approved by 

14 the State, as meeting the definition of afford15 able service, at rates, terms, and conditions 

16 comparable to those offered by the eligible tele17 communications carrier that is the incumbent 

18 local exchange carrier for such service area; 

19 ‘‘(C) offer such services and perform such 

20 functions as may be required of the eligible tele21 communications carrier that is the incumbent 

22 local exchange carrier for such service area 

23 under applicable Federal and State law to pro24 tect customers and promote public health, safe25 ty, and welfare, including promoting the quality 
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1 and reliability of the telecommunications serv2 ices and infrastructure of the nation; 

3 ‘‘(D) offer such services substantially over 

4 its own facilities, excluding unbundled network 

5 elements, and further commit to use any sup6 port received to achieve facilities-based coverage 

7 of the entire service area within 2 years of such 

8 date of designation; and’’; 

9 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

10 (A) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘, 

11 in the case of an area served by a rural tele12 phone company, and shall, in the case of all 

13 other areas,’’; and 

14 (B) in the last sentence, by striking ‘‘for 

15 an area served by a rural telephone company’’; 

16 and 

17 (3) by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the 

18 following: 

19 ‘‘(5) SERVICE AREA DEFINED.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘service 

21 area’ means the entire study area of an incum22 bent local exchange carrier for which such car23 rier is designated as an eligible telecommuni24 cations carrier. 
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1 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON SIZE.—No carrier 

2 may be designated an eligible telecommuni3 cations carrier under this section for any area 

4 smaller than the entire study area of an incum5 bent local exchange carrier.’’. 

6 (b) ELIGIBLE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIER DES7 IGNATION DISCIPLINE.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 214(e) of the Com9 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 214(e)) is 

10 amended by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(7) CALCULATION OF SUPPORT.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

13 calculate the amount of support payable to any 

14 eligible telecommunications carrier based on a 

15 prior showing of the actual costs of providing, 

16 maintaining, and upgrading of facilities and 

17 services in the service area for which such sup18 port is intended of each such carrier. 

19 ‘‘(B) ELECTION.—An eligible telecommuni20 cations carrier may elect to have the Commis21 sion calculate the amount of support payable to 

22 it on the basis of the forward looking costs of 

23 such carrier.’’. 

24 (2) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 270 days 

25 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commis-
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1 sion shall complete a rulemaking to implement sec2 tion 214(e)(7) of the Communications Act of 1934, 

3 including establishing competitively neutral criteria 

4 for demonstrating actual costs as required by such 

5 section for eligible telecommunications carriers not 

6 currently submitting cost data under subparagraph 

7 (B) of such section. 

8 (c) OVERSIGHT OF USE OF UNIVERSAL SERVICE

9 SUPPORT.—Section 254 of the Communications Act of 

10 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254) is amended by adding at the end 

11 the following: 

12 ‘‘(m) ACCOUNTABILITY OF ELIGIBLE TELECOMMUNI13 CATIONS CARRIERS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall re15 quire each eligible telecommunications carrier receiv16 ing support under this section to certify annually to 

17 the Commission that such carrier is using such sup18 port in compliance with subsection (e) and section 

19 214(e), including establishing with specificity that 

20 such support is being used for the provision, mainte21 nance, and upgrading of facilities and services for 

22 which such support is intended. 

23 ‘‘(2) COMPETITIVELY NEUTRAL CRITERIA.— 

24 The Commission shall establish competitively neutral 

25 criteria for the annual certifications described in 
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1 paragraph (1) that impose substantially similar bur2 dens of substantiation on each eligible telecommuni3 cations carrier.’’. 

4 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE; TRANSITION PERIOD FOR AU5 THORIZED ELIGIBLE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CAR6 RIERS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—This section and the amend8 ments made by this section shall take effect on the 

9 expiration of the date which is 1 year after the date 

10 of enactment of this Act. 

11 (2) COMPLIANCE WITH THIS SECTION FOR CAR12 RIERS ALREADY DESIGNATED AS ELIGIBLE.— 

13 (A) COMPLIANCE REQUIRED.—Each tele14 communications carrier designated as an eligi15 ble telecommunications carrier under section 

16 214(e) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

17 U.S.C. 214(e)) prior to the date of enactment 

18 of this Act shall comply with the provisions of 

19 this section on or after the date described in 

20 paragraph (1). 

21 (B) PENALTY FOR NONCOMPLIANCE.—Any 

22 telecommunications carrier designated as an eli23 gible telecommunications carrier under section 

24 214(e) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

25 U.S.C. 214(e)) prior to the date of enactment 
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1 of this Act, who fails to comply with the provi2 sions of subparagraph (A) shall have such des3 ignation revoked by the Commission. 

4 SEC. 5. STABILIZATION OF UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUNDING. 

5 (a) ENSURING AN EQUITABLE CONTRIBUTION BASE

6 FOR UNIVERSAL SERVICE.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 254(d) of the Com8 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(d)) is 

9 amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(d) UNIVERSAL SERVICE SUPPORT CONTRIBU11 TIONS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATION OF UNIVERSAL SERVICE

13 PROGRAMS.—In administering Federal universal 

14 service funding mechanisms, and developing a con15 tribution methodology for support for rural, insular, 

16 and high cost areas the Commission shall ensure— 

17 ‘‘(A) that Federal universal service funding 

18 mechanisms are specific, predictable, and suffi19 cient— 

20 ‘‘(i) to preserve and advance universal 

21 service and to enable access to advanced 

22 telecommunications infrastructure and 

23 broadband services, as that term is defined 

24 under section 3(b)(1) of the Internet and 

25 Universal Service Act of 2006; and 
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1 ‘‘(ii) to effectuate the principles set 

2 forth in subsection (b); and 

3 ‘‘(B) that contributions to such funding 

4 mechanisms are specific, predictable, and suffi5 cient to sustain the funding of networks used to 

6 preserve and advance universal service. 

7 ‘‘(2) NON-DISCRIMINATORY CONTRIBUTION

8 MECHANISM.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each provider of tele10 communications, broadband service, or 

11 broadband voice service shall contribute to the 

12 Federal universal service funding mechanisms 

13 established under this section. 

14 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—The Commission 

15 shall ensure that the contributions required 

16 under subparagraph (A) shall be— 

17 ‘‘(i) equitable and non-discriminatory 

18 among different types of providers; 

19 ‘‘(ii) applied as broadly as possible to 

20 all types of providers; and 

21 ‘‘(iii) competitively and technologically 

22 neutral, excluding no class of providers 

23 from the obligation to contribute. 

24 ‘‘(3) DE MINIMIS EXCEPTION.—The Commis25 sion may exempt a provider of telecommunications, 
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1 broadband service, or broadband voice service or any 

2 class of such providers from the requirements of this 

3 subsection if the communications activities of such 

4 provider are limited to such an extent that the level 

5 of contributions of such provider to the preservation 

6 and advancement of universal service would be de 

7 minimis. 

8 ‘‘(4) CONTRIBUTION ASSESSMENT FLEXI9 BILITY.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may 

11 employ any methodology to assess contributions 

12 to effectuate the principles referenced in this 

13 section, including— 

14 ‘‘(i) revenues; 

15 ‘‘(ii) working telephone numbers; or 

16 ‘‘(iii) any other current or successor 

17 identifier protocols or connections to the 

18 network. 

19 ‘‘(B) USE OF MORE THAN 1 METHOD20 OLOGY.—If no 1 methodology employed under 

21 subparagraph (A) effectuates the principles de22 scribed under this subsection, the Commission 

23 may employ a combination of any such meth24 odologies. 
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1 ‘‘(C) REVENUE BASED METHODOLOGY.— 

2 Notwithstanding paragraph (2)(B)(ii), if the 

3 Commission determines that a revenues based 

4 methodology, by itself or in combination with 

5 another methodology or methodologies, effec6 tuates the principles described under this sub7 section, the Commission may assess the inter8 state, intrastate, and international revenues of 

9 a provider of telecommunications, broadband 

10 service, or broadband voice service. 

11 ‘‘(D) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this sub12 section precludes a State from establishing 

13 funding mechanisms to preserve and advance 

14 universal service within that State pursuant to 

15 subsection (f). 

16 ‘‘(5) NON-DISCRIMINATORY ELIGIBILITY RE17 QUIREMENT.—A provider of telecommunications, 

18 broadband service, or broadband voice service is not 

19 exempted from the requirements of this subsection 

20 solely on the basis that such provider is not eligible 

21 to receive support under this section. 

22 ‘‘(6) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 180 days 

23 after the date of enactment of the Internet and Uni24 versal Service Act of 2006, the Commission shall 
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1 complete a rulemaking proceeding to effectuate the 

2 provisions of this subsection. 

3 ‘‘(7) BILLING STATEMENT.—A contributor to 

4 universal service mechanisms under this section 

5 shall— 

6 ‘‘(A) be entitled, but not required, to place 

7 on any bill of a customer a separate line item 

8 charge that does not exceed the percentage that 

9 such contributor is required to contribute under 

10 this section; and 

11 ‘‘(B) label such line item charge ‘Federal 

12 Universal Service Fee’. 

13 ‘‘(8) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

14 ‘‘(A) BROADBAND SERVICE.—The term 

15 ‘broadband service’ means any service used for 

16 transmission of information of a user’s choosing 

17 with a transmission speed of at least 200 kilo18 bits per second in at least 1 direction, regard19 less of the transmission medium or technology 

20 employed, for a fee directly— 

21 ‘‘(i) to the public; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) to such classes of users as to be 

23 effectively available directly to the public, 

24 including— 
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1 ‘‘(I) digital subscriber line serv2 ice; 

3 ‘‘(II) cable modem service; 

4 ‘‘(III) spectrum based broadband 

5 service; or 

6 ‘‘(IV) any service providing such 

7 transmission speed that uses advanced 

8 telecommunications capability, as that 

9 term is defined in section 706(c) of 

10 the Telecommunications Act of 1996. 

11 ‘‘(B) BROADBAND VOICE SERVICE.—The 

12 term ‘broadband voice service’ means a 2-way 

13 voice service used for transmission of informa14 tion of a user’s choosing that is— 

15 ‘‘(i) interconnected with a public 

16 switched network; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) transmitted, in whole or in part, 

18 over the Internet, as that term is defined 

19 in section 231(e)(3), or over any successor 

20 protocol.’’. 

21 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

22 254(b)(4) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

23 U.S.C. 254(b)(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘tele24 communications services’’ and inserting ‘‘tele-
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1 communications, broadband service, or broadband 

2 voice service’’. 

3 (b) PROPER ACCOUNTING OF UNIVERSAL SERVICE

4 CONTRIBUTIONS.— 

5 (1) FROM ALL BUDGETS.—Notwithstanding any 

6 other provision of law, the receipts and disburse7 ments of the universal service contributions collected 

8 by the Federal Communications Commission under 

9 section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

10 U.S.C. 254) shall not be counted as new budget au11 thority, outlays, receipts, or deficit or surplus for 

12 purposes of— 

13 (A) the budget of the United States Gov14 ernment as submitted by the President; 

15 (B) the congressional budget; 

16 (C) the Balanced Budget and Emergency 

17 Deficit Control Act of 1985; or 

18 (D) any other statute requiring budget se19 questers. 

20 (2) ADDITIONAL EXEMPTIONS.—Section 1341, 

21 subchapter II of chapter 15, and sections 3302, 

22 3321, 3322, and 3325 of title 31, United States 

23 Code, shall not apply to the— 
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1 (A) collection and receipt of universal serv2 ice contributions, including the interest earned 

3 on such contributions; or 

4 (B) disbursement or other obligation of 

5 such contributions authorized by the Commis6 sion under section 254 of the Communications 

7 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254). 

8 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section, and the amend9 ments made by this section, shall apply to all universal 

10 service contribution obligations due on or after the date 

11 of enactment of this Act. 

12 SEC. 6. NETWORK TRAFFIC ACCOUNTABILITY STANDARDS. 

13 (a) NETWORK TRAFFIC IDENTIFICATION ACCOUNT14 ABILITY RULES.—Section 251 of the Communications Act 

15 of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 251) is amended by adding at the end 

16 the following: 

17 ‘‘(j) IDENTIFICATION OF TRAFFIC.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days 

19 after the date of enactment of the Internet and Uni20 versal Service Act of 2006, the Commission shall 

21 issue and adopt rules to require each carrier to prop22 erly identify the traffic that such carrier originates 

23 or transmits in such a manner as to enable a termi24 nating carrier to properly identify, measure, and 

25 charge for such traffic. 
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1 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED CONTENT.— 

2 ‘‘(A) TRANSMISSION RULES.—Any rule 

3 adopted under paragraph (1) shall require all 

4 carriers— 

5 ‘‘(i) originating traffic to transmit in6 formation identifying the originating car7 rier, jurisdiction, and party from which 

8 such traffic originates; 

9 ‘‘(ii) to transmit such identifying in10 formation without alteration or deletion; 

11 ‘‘(iii) except originating carriers to 

12 transmit records identifying the originating 

13 carrier; and 

14 ‘‘(iv) to route traffic in accordance 

15 with the local exchange routing guide es16 tablished by the industry to ensure traffic 

17 is routed on trunk groups appropriate to 

18 the jurisdictional status of such carrier. 

19 ‘‘(B) ALTERNATE ROUTING ARRANGE20 MENTS.—In fulfilling any requirement under 

21 subparagraph (A), a carrier may, if approved in 

22 writing by the terminating carrier, use alternate 

23 routing arrangements. 

24 ‘‘(C) PROCESS RULES.—Notwithstanding 

25 subparagraph (A), any rule adopted under 
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1 paragraph (1) shall also require the Commis2 sion to establish— 

3 ‘‘(i) an expedited informal complaint 

4 process for the enforcement of such rule; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(ii) such remedies as may be appro7 priate to be imposed on carriers found to 

8 be in violation of such rule. 

9 ‘‘(D) AVAILABLE REMEDIES.—A remedy 

10 described under subparagraph (C)(ii) may in11 clude— 

12 ‘‘(i) the imposition of damages in ac13 cordance with section 209; 

14 ‘‘(ii) the imposition of a forfeiture in 

15 accordance with section 501; 

16 ‘‘(iii) permitting the terminating car17 rier that receives telecommunications traf18 fic not accompanied by the information re19 quired in this subsection to bill the carrier 

20 that delivered the traffic to the terminating 

21 carrier the charges that would have applied 

22 if the Commission finds that the failure of 

23 such carrier to provide such information 

24 caused or contributed to the inability of 
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1 the terminating carrier to bill the proper 

2 carrier; or 

3 ‘‘(iv) such other remedy as the Com4 mission determines appropriate. 

5 ‘‘(3) DEFINITION OF CARRIER.—As used in this 

6 section, the term ‘carrier’ means any telecommuni7 cations carrier including any broadband, broadband 

8 voice, CMRS provider, and any other entity that di9 rectly or indirectly obtains telephone numbers, or 

10 any successor identifier, from the numbering admin11 istrator, or any successor administrator, established 

12 under this section.’’. 

13 (b) SEPARATIONS FREEZE.—All separations alloca14 tions for telecommunications carriers authorized under 

15 section 410(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

16 U.S.C. 410(c)) shall be frozen until such time as the Com17 mission completes a rulemaking under this subsection es18 tablishing a comprehensive system of intercarrier com19 pensation for all telecommunications and information 

20 services carried on the network of more than 1 carrier. 

21 SEC. 7. ENSURING INTEGRITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN 

22 THE SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES PROGRAM. 

23 Title IV of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

24 U.S.C. 401 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 

25 following: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 417. UNIVERSAL SERVICE ADMINISTRATOR. 

2 ‘‘(a) APPOINTMENT OF USAC AS PERMANENT AD3 MINISTRATOR.—The Universal Service Administrative 

4 Company is appointed the permanent Administrator of the 

5 universal service support mechanisms established under 

6 section 254. 

7 ‘‘(b) OVERSIGHT.—The Administrator shall be sub8 ject to oversight by the Commission. 

9 ‘‘(c) DUTIES OF THE ADMINISTRATOR.—The Com10 mission shall define the duties and responsibilities of the 

11 Administrator. 

12 ‘‘(d) ACCOUNTABILITY AND ENFORCEMENT.—The 

13 Commission, in consultation with the Administrator, 

14 shall— 

15 ‘‘(1) ensure the integrity and accountability of 

16 all programs established under section 254(h); and 

17 ‘‘(2) not later than 180 days after the date of 

18 enactment of the Internet and Universal Service Act 

19 of 2006, establish rules— 

20 ‘‘(A) identifying appropriate fiscal controls 

21 and accountability standards that apply to the 

22 Schools and Libraries Program under section 

23 254(h); 

24 ‘‘(B) including a memorandum of under25 standing, or including contractual relationships, 

26 as the Commission determines appropriate, de-
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1 fining the administrative structure and proc2 esses by which the Universal Service Adminis3 trative Company administers the Schools and 

4 Libraries Program under section 254(h); 

5 ‘‘(C) creating performance goals and meas6 ures for the Schools and Libraries Program 

7 under section 254(h), such goals and measures 

8 shall be used by the Commission to determine— 

9 ‘‘(i) how efficiently and cost-effectively 

10 funds are spent in supporting the tele11 communications needs of schools and li12 braries; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) areas for improved operations; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(D) establishing appropriate enforcement 

16 actions, including imposition of sanctions on ap17 plicants and vendors who repeatedly and know18 ingly violate program rules set forth in section 

19 254(h), such as debarment from the program 

20 for individuals convicted of crimes or held civilly 

21 liable for actions taken in connection with the 

22 Schools and Libraries Program.’’. 
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1 SEC. 8. IMPROVING EFFECTIVENESS OF RURAL HEALTH 

2 CARE SUPPORT MECHANISM. 

3 Section 254(h) of the Communications Act of 1934 

4 (47 U.S.C. 2549h)) is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking subparagraph 

6 (A) and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(A) HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS FOR

8 RURAL AREAS.— 

9 ‘‘(i) DISCOUNTS.—A telecommuni10 cations carrier, or other provider of com11 munications services shall, upon receiving a 

12 bona fide request, provide telecommuni13 cations services which are necessary for the 

14 provision of health care services in a State, 

15 including instruction relating to such serv16 ices, to any public or nonprofit health care 

17 provider in that State at a discounted rate 

18 that is 25 percent of the lowest rate avail19 able in that State. 

20 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—The discount re21 quired under clause (i) shall be available 

22 only to a public or nonprofit health care 

23 provider located in a rural area. 

24 ‘‘(iii) DEFINITION.—For purposes of 

25 this subparagraph, the term ‘rural area’ 

26 means— 
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1 ‘‘(I) any incorporated or unincor2 porated area in the United Sates, or 

3 in the territories or insular possession 

4 of the United States, including any 

5 area within the Federated States of 

6 Micronesia, the Republic of the Mar7 shall Islands, and the Republic of 

8 Palau, that has not more than 20,000 

9 inhabitants based on the most recent 

10 available population statistics pub11 lished in the most recent decennial 

12 census issued by the Census Bureau; 

13 ‘‘(II) any area located outside the 

14 boundaries of any incorporated or un15 incorporated city, village, or borough 

16 that has more than 20,000 inhab17 itants based on the most recent avail18 able population statistics published in 

19 the most recent decennial census 

20 issued by the Census Bureau; or 

21 ‘‘(III) any area that qualified as 

22 a rural area under the rules of the 

23 Commission in effect on December 1, 

24 2004.’’; and 

25 (2) in paragraph (7)— 
29 

•S 2256 IS

1 (A) in clause (vi), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 

2 inserting a semicolon; and 

3 (B) by striking clause (vii) and inserting 

4 the following: 

5 ‘‘(vii) not-for-profit nursing homes or 

6 skilled nursing facilities; 

7 ‘‘(viii) critical access hospitals; 

8 ‘‘(ix) emergency medical services fa9 cilities; 

10 ‘‘(x) hospice providers; 

11 ‘‘(xi) rural dialysis facilities; 

12 ‘‘(xii) tribal health clinics; 

13 ‘‘(xiii) not-for-profit dental offices; 

14 ‘‘(xiv) school health clinics; 

15 ‘‘(xv) residential treatment facilities; 

16 ‘‘(xvi) consortia of health care pro17 viders consisting of 1 or more entities de18 scribed in clauses (i) through (xv); and 

19 ‘‘(xvii) any other entity the Commis20 sion determines— 

21 ‘‘(I) eligible to receive discounted 

22 telecommunications service under 

23 paragraph (1)(A); and 
30 

•S 2256 IS

1 ‘‘(II) essential to the health, edu2 cation, or safety of the public.’’. 

Æ