II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4201 

To direct the Federal Communications Commission to take certain actions 

to accelerate the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 2, 2020 

Mr. PORTMAN (for himself, Mr. BROWN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. BRAUN, and Mr. 

JONES) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To direct the Federal Communications Commission to take 

certain actions to accelerate the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. ACCELERATION OF RURAL DIGITAL OPPOR4 TUNITY FUND PHASE I AUCTION. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE.— 

7 The term ‘‘broadband internet access service’’ has 

8 the meaning given the term in section 8.1(b) of title 


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1 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor 

2 regulation). 

3 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

4 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

5 (3) COVERED REPORT AND ORDER.—The term 

6 ‘‘covered report and order’’ means the Report and 

7 Order in the matter of Rural Digital Opportunity 

8 Fund and Connect America Fund adopted by the 

9 Commission on January 30, 2020 (FCC 20–5). 

10 (4) GIGABIT BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS

11 SERVICE.—The term ‘‘gigabit broadband internet ac12 cess service’’ means broadband internet access serv13 ice with a downstream speed of not less than 1 gig14 abit per second. 

15 (5) PHASE I AUCTION; PHASE II AUCTION.— 

16 The terms ‘‘Phase I auction’’ and ‘‘Phase II auc17 tion’’ mean the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund 

18 Phase I auction and the Rural Digital Opportunity 

19 Fund Phase II auction, respectively, provided for in 

20 the covered Report and Order. 

21 (6) PHASE I SUPPORT; PHASE II SUPPORT.— 

22 The terms ‘‘Phase I support’’ and ‘‘Phase II sup23 port’’ mean support awarded under the Phase I auc24 tion or Phase II auction, respectively. 

25 (b) MODIFICATION OF AUCTION FRAMEWORK.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall mod2 ify the framework for the Phase I auction adopted 

3 in the covered report and order in accordance with 

4 this subsection. 

5 (2) LONG-FORM APPLICATIONS.—Before the 

6 Phase I auction, during a period beginning not ear7 lier than the date that is 30 days after the date on 

8 which the Commission begins accepting short-form 

9 applications and ending on September 15, 2020, the 

10 Commission shall accept long-form applications from 

11 applicants that are willing to commit to the schedule 

12 described in paragraph (4)(C) for deployment of net13 works capable of providing gigabit broadband inter14 net access service. 

15 (3) AREAS WITH ONLY ONE WILLING AND

16 QUALIFIED APPLICANT.—If the long-form applica17 tions accepted under paragraph (2) indicate that, for 

18 any census block or census block group that, as of 

19 July 31, 2020, was identified on the List of Eligible 

20 Areas maintained by the Commission, there is only 

21 1 qualified applicant willing to commit to provide 

22 gigabit broadband internet access service in accord23 ance with the schedule described in paragraph 

24 (4)(C), the Commission shall, not later than the earVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:43 Jul 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4201.IS S4201

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1 lier of October 15, 2020, or 14 days before the start 

2 of the Phase I auction— 

3 (A) award to the applicant Phase I support 

4 for that census block or census block group, at 

5 100 percent of the reserve price (in this para6 graph referred to as the ‘‘award’’); 

7 (B) remove the census block or census 

8 block group from the Phase I auction; and 

9 (C) reduce the budget for— 

10 (i) the Phase I auction by 50 percent 

11 of the amount of the award; and 

12 (ii) the Phase II auction by 50 per13 cent of the amount of the award. 

14 (4) REQUIRED DEMONSTRATIONS AND COMMIT15 MENT.—The Commission shall require an applicant 

16 that submits a long-form application under para17 graph (2), in order for the application to be consid18 ered complete— 

19 (A) to demonstrate project readiness by 

20 providing a network design for a fiber optic 

21 cable or hybrid fiber optic and coaxial cable net22 work (which may include other technology used 

23 in conjunction with the foregoing solely on an 

24 ancillary basis) to be deployed to provide gig25 abit broadband internet access service to locaVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:43 Jul 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4201.IS S4201

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1 tions in each census block or census block 

2 group covered by the application, except that an 

3 applicant that has offered gigabit broadband 

4 internet access service (despite consumer equip5 ment limitations) for not less than 2 years be6 fore the date on which the application is sub7 mitted shall be presumed to have demonstrated 

8 project readiness; 

9 (B) to demonstrate financial stability by 

10 providing a letter of commitment from a bank 

11 or other documentation to establish that suffi12 cient credit would be available to the applicant 

13 if the applicant becomes a winning bidder and 

14 is awarded support; and 

15 (C) to commit to— 

16 (i) begin construction not later than 

17 180 days after the date on which the Com18 mission authorizes funding for the appli19 cant; and 

20 (ii) begin to make gigabit broadband 

21 internet access service available in not less 

22 than 1 awarded census block not later than 

23 1 year after the date on which the Com24 mission authorizes funding for the appli25 cant. 


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1 (5) OPPORTUNITY TO CURE DEFICIENCIES.—A 

2 recipient of an award of support under paragraph 

3 (3)(A) shall have a reasonable opportunity, of not 

4 less than 90 days after the date on which the award 

5 of support is made, to cure any deficiencies in a 

6 long-form application submitted under paragraph 

7 (2). 

8 (6) REVOCATION OF AWARD.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara10 graph (B), if a recipient of an award of support 

11 under paragraph (3)(A) for a census block or 

12 census block group fails to meet the deployment 

13 schedule to which the recipient committed 

14 under paragraph (4)(C), the Commission shall 

15 revoke the award of support and include that 

16 census block or census block group for competi17 tive bidding in the Phase II auction. 

18 (B) EXTENSION.—The Commission may 

19 extend the deployment schedule to which a re20 cipient committed under paragraph (4)(C) for 

21 good cause, due to extenuating circumstances 

22 outside the control of the recipient, if the Com23 mission finds that the recipient is making good 

24 faith efforts to overcome those circumstances. 


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1 (7) ELIGIBLE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIER

2 DESIGNATION NOT REQUIRED.—Notwithstanding 

3 any other provision of law, the Commission shall not 

4 require any short-form or long-form applicant to be 

5 designated as an eligible telecommunications carrier 

6 under section 214(e) of the Communications Act of 

7 1934 (47 U.S.C. 214(e)) in order to receive Phase 

8 I support or Phase II support. 

9 SEC. 2. ENSURING THE FCC CREATES ACCURATE SERVICE 

10 MAPS. 

11 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Title 

12 VIII of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 641 

13 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 807. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

15 ‘‘There is authorized to be appropriated to the Com16 mission to carry out this title— 

17 ‘‘(1) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2020; and 

18 ‘‘(2) $9,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 

19 through 2027.’’. 

20 (b) DEADLINE FOR CREATION OF MAPS.—Section 

21 802(c)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

22 642(c)(1)) is amended, in the matter preceding subpara23 graph (A), by striking ‘‘create’’ and inserting ‘‘create, not 

24 later than October 1, 2020’’. 

Æ 


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