I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4700

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit unjust enrichment

in the award of licenses by means of pioneer preferences.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 30, 1994

Mr. DINGELL (for himself, Mr. MOORHEAD, Mr. MARKEY, and Mr. SABO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on

Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit unjust enrichment in the award of licenses by means of

pioneer preferences.

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 ‘‘Pioneer Preference Re5 form Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. PIONEER PREFERENCES.

7 (a) RECOVERY OF VALUE OF PUBLIC SPECTRUM.—
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1 (1) AMENDMENT.—Section 309(j)(6)(G) of the

2 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.

3 309(j)(6)(G)) is amended to read as follows:

4 ‘‘(G) be construed to prevent the Commis5 sion from awarding licenses to those persons

6 who make significant contributions to the devel7 opment of a new telecommunications service or

8 technology, except that—

9 ‘‘(i) the Commission shall prevent un10 just enrichment of any such person and

11 shall recover for the public a portion of the

12 value of the public spectrum resource made

13 available to such person by requiring such

14 person to pay a sum equal to not less than

15 90 percent of highest bid for a license

16 (awarded under this subsection) that is

17 most reasonably comparable in terms of

18 bandwidth, area designation, usage restric19 tions, and other technical characteristics to

20 the license awarded to such person; and

21 ‘‘(ii) the authority of the Commission

22 to provide preferential treatment in licens23 ing procedures (by precluding the filing of

24 mutually exclusive applications) to persons

25 who make significant contributions to the
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1 development of a new service or to the de2 velopment of new technologies that sub3 stantially enhance an existing service shall

4 expire on September 30, 1998; or’’.

5 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made

6 by paragraph (1) of this subsection shall apply to

7 any licenses issued on or after June 3, 1994, by the

8 Federal Communications Commission pursuant to

9 any licensing procedure that provides preferential

10 treatment (by precluding the filing of mutually ex11 clusive applications) to persons who make significant

12 contributions to the development of a new service or

13 to the development of new technologies that substan14 tially enhance an existing service.

15 (b) RULEMAKING REQUIRED.—The Federal Commu16 nications Commission shall prescribe regulations specify17 ing the procedures and criteria by which the Commission

18 will evaluate applications for preferential treatment in its

19 licensing processes (by precluding the filing of mutually

20 exclusive applications) for persons who make significant

21 contributions to the development of a new service or to

22 the development of new technologies that substantially en23 hance an existing service. Such regulations shall—

24 (1) specify the procedures and criteria by which

25 the significance of such contributions will be deter-
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1 mined, after an opportunity for review by experts in

2 the radio sciences drawn from among persons who

3 are not employees of the Commission or by any ap4 plicant for such preferential treatment;

5 (2) require the duplication of an applicant’s test

6 results by independent parties;

7 (3) include such other procedures as may be

8 necessary to prevent unjust enrichment by ensuring

9 that the value of any such contribution justifies any

10 reduction in the amounts paid for comparable li11 censes under section 309(j) of the Communications

12 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)); and

13 (4) be prescribed not later than 6 months after

14 the date of enactment of this section.

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