I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1650 

To require the Federal Communications Commission to study the current 

and projected demands on rural broadband networks associated with 

services offered by edge providers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 8, 2021 

Mr. MULLIN (for himself, Mr. LUCAS, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr. HERN, Mr. BAIRD, 

Mr. LATURNER, Mr. MEUSER, Mrs. BICE of Oklahoma, and Mr. COLE) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To require the Federal Communications Commission to study 

the current and projected demands on rural broadband 

networks associated with services offered by edge providers, 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. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

6 means the Federal Communications Commission. 


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1 (2) EDGE PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘edge pro2 vider’’— 

3 (A) means an entity that provides 

4 (through, but as a separate product from, the 

5 broadband internet service of a user) a service 

6 or content— 

7 (i) for which the entity requires the 

8 user to subscribe or establish an account in 

9 order to use the service; 

10 (ii) through which the user purchases, 

11 downloads, or accesses content, applica12 tions, or services from the entity without a 

13 subscription or account; 

14 (iii) by which a program searches for 

15 and identifies items in a database that cor16 respond to keywords or characters speci17 fied by the user, used especially for finding 

18 particular sites on the World Wide Web; or 

19 (iv) by which the user divulges sen20 sitive information of the user; 

21 (B) includes an entity that provides a serv22 ice described in subparagraph (A) through a 

23 software program, including a mobile applica24 tion; and 


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1 (C) does not include an entity that solely 

2 provides broadband internet service. 

3 (3) EDGE PROVIDER DATA.—The term ‘‘edge 

4 provider data’’ means data associated with services 

5 or content offered by edge providers. 

6 (4) HIGH-COST RURAL AREA.—The term ‘‘high7 cost rural area’’ means an area of the United States 

8 that— 

9 (A) is not contained within an incorporated 

10 city or town; and 

11 (B) has a population of fewer than 20,000 

12 inhabitants. 

13 (5) QUALIFYING BROADBAND SERVICE.—The 

14 term ‘‘qualifying broadband service’’ means broad15 band internet service with measurable speeds of not 

16 less than the speeds required for the Commission to 

17 determine the service is advanced telecommuni18 cations capability, as that term is defined in section 

19 706(d) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 

20 U.S.C. 1302(d)). 

21 (6) RURAL BROADBAND NETWORK.—The term 

22 ‘‘rural broadband network’’ means the plant, equip23 ment, components, facilities, hardware, and software 

24 used by a rural broadband provider to provide quali25 fying broadband service in a high-cost rural area. 


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1 (7) RURAL BROADBAND PROVIDER.—The term 

2 ‘‘rural broadband provider’’ means an entity that— 

3 (A) provides qualifying broadband service 

4 in a high-cost rural area using any technology, 

5 including a fixed or mobile wireless or wireline 

6 network; and 

7 (B) provides qualifying broadband service 

8 to fewer than 250,000 customers. 

9 SEC. 2. RURAL BROADBAND NETWORK ADVANCEMENT 

10 STUDY. 

11 (a) PROCEEDING BY FCC.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

13 (A) INITIATION.—Not later than 1 year 

14 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

15 Commission shall initiate a proceeding to ana16 lyze the demands that have been or will be 

17 placed on rural broadband networks during the 

18 covered period that are associated with edge 

19 provider data transmitted over such networks, 

20 including internet browsing data and data asso21 ciated with video streaming services. 

22 (B) CONCLUSION.—Not later than 1 year 

23 after initiating the proceeding under subpara24 graph (A), the Commission shall conclude the 

25 proceeding. 


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1 (2) MATTERS FOR ANALYSIS.—The analysis 

2 conducted under paragraph (1) shall include the fol3 lowing: 

4 (A) ESTIMATION OF EDGE PROVIDER

5 DATA.—An estimation of the quantity of edge 

6 provider data that has been or will be trans7 mitted over rural broadband networks during 

8 the covered period. 

9 (B) CALCULATION OF COSTS.—A calcula10 tion of the costs to rural broadband providers 

11 during the covered period associated with trans12 mission by such providers of edge provider data 

13 over the rural broadband network that are not 

14 already recovered through— 

15 (i) user rates that are reasonably com16 parable to user rates in urban areas; or 

17 (ii) Federal programs aimed at pro18 moting rural broadband deployment or sus19 taining rural broadband networks, includ20 ing Federal universal service support pro21 grams established under section 254 of the 

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

23 254). 


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1 (3) COSTS DESCRIBED.—The categories of costs 

2 to be calculated under paragraph (2)(B) shall in3 clude costs associated with— 

4 (A) the initial deployment of rural broad5 band networks; 

6 (B) the operation and maintenance of 

7 rural broadband networks; and 

8 (C) the delivery of services to users over 

9 rural broadband networks, including the trans10 mission of data between high-cost rural areas 

11 and urban or suburban interconnection points. 

12 (4) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.— 

13 (A) USE OF DATA.—To analyze the de14 mands described under paragraph (1), the 

15 Commission shall— 

16 (i) use any existing commercial or 

17 government data or estimate concerning 

18 the covered time period; and 

19 (ii) collect data concerning the covered 

20 time period from edge providers or rural 

21 broadband providers. 

22 (B) REQUIREMENT TO SUBMIT INFORMA23 TION.—In any case in which the Commission 

24 determines that it is necessary to collect data 

25 under subparagraph (A)(ii) from an edge proVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:59 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1650.IH H1650

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1 vider or a rural broadband provider, such edge 

2 provider or rural broadband provider shall pro3 vide any information necessary for the Commis4 sion to complete the proceeding under para5 graph (1). 

6 (5) COVERED PERIOD DEFINED.—In this sub7 section, the term ‘‘covered period’’ means the 6-year 

8 period that— 

9 (A) begins on the date that is 3 years be10 fore the date on which the proceeding under 

11 paragraph (1) is initiated; and 

12 (B) ends on the date that is 3 years after 

13 the date on which the proceeding is initiated. 

14 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 120 days 

15 after concluding the proceeding under subsection (a)(1), 

16 the Commission shall publish on its website and submit 

17 to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor18 tation of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and 

19 Commerce of the House of Representatives a report on 

20 the findings of the proceeding. 

Æ 


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