I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3636

To promote a national communications infrastructure to encourage deployment of advanced communications services through competition, and for

other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 22, 1993

Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. FIELDS of Texas, Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. OXLEY,

Mr. HALL of Texas, Mr. MOORHEAD, Mr. BRYANT, Mr. BARTON of

Texas, Mr. LEHMAN, Mr. HASTERT, Mr. RICHARDSON, Mr. GILLMOR,

and Ms. SCHENK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Energy and Commerce

FEBRUARY 10, 1994

Additional sponsors: Mr. MOAKLEY, Mr. STUDDS, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. LEVY, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. OLVER, Mr. FRANKS of Connecticut,

Mr. MACHTLEY, Mr. BLUTE, and Mr. MCHUGH

A BILL

To promote a national communications infrastructure to encourage deployment of advanced communications services

through competition, 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 ‘‘National Communica3 tions Competition and Information Infrastructure Act of

4 1993’’.

5 TITLE I—TELECOMMUNI6 CATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE

7 AND COMPETITION

8 SEC. 101. POLICY; DEFINITIONS.

9 (a) POLICY.—Section 1 of the Communications Act

10 of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151) is amended—

11 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ after ‘‘SECTION 1.’’; and

12 (2) by adding at the end thereof the following

13 new subsection:

14 ‘‘(b) The purposes described in subsection (a), as

15 they relate to common carrier services, include—

16 ‘‘(1) to preserve and enhance universal tele17 communications service at affordable rates;

18 ‘‘(2) to encourage the continued development

19 and deployment of advanced and reliable capabilities

20 and services in telecommunications networks;

21 ‘‘(3) to ensure that the costs of such networks

22 and services are allocated equitably among users and

23 are constrained by competition whenever possible;

24 ‘‘(4) to ensure a seamless and open nationwide

25 telecommunications network through joint planning,
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1 coordination, and service arrangements between and

2 among carriers; and

3 ‘‘(5) to ensure that common carriers’ networks

4 function at a high standard of quality in delivering

5 advances in network capabilities and services.’’.

6 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3 of such Act (47 U.S.C.

7 153) is amended by adding at the end thereof the follow8 ing new subsections:

9 ‘‘(hh) ‘Information service’ means the offering of a

10 capability for generating, acquiring, storing, transforming,

11 processing, retrieving, utilizing, or making available infor12 mation via telecommunications, and includes electronic

13 publishing, but does not include any use of any such capa14 bility for the management, control, or operation of a tele15 communications system or the management of a tele16 communications service.

17 ‘‘(ii) ‘Equal access’ means to afford, to any person

18 seeking to provide an information service or a competing

19 telecommunications service, reasonable and nondiscrim20 inatory access—

21 ‘‘(1) to databases, signaling systems, poles,

22 ducts, conduits, and rights-of-way owned or con23 trolled by a local exchange carrier, or other facilities

24 or information (including customer numbers) inte-
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1 gral to the transmission, routing, or other provision

2 of telephone exchange services;

3 ‘‘(2) that is at least equal in type and quality

4 to the access which the carrier affords to itself or to

5 any other person; and

6 ‘‘(3) that is sufficient to ensure the full inter7 operability of the equipment and facilities of the car8 rier and of the person seeking such access.

9 ‘‘(jj) ‘Open platform service’ means a switched, end10 to-end digital telecommunications service, subject to title

11 II of this Act, which (1) provides subscribers with suffi12 cient network capability to access multimedia information

13 services, (2) is widely available throughout each State, (3)

14 is provided based on accepted standards, and (4) is avail15 able to all customers on a single line basis upon reasonable

16 request.

17 ‘‘(kk) ‘Local exchange carrier’ means any person that

18 is engaged in the provision of telephone exchange service

19 or telephone exchange access service.

20 ‘‘(ll) ‘Telephone exchange access service’ means the

21 offering of telephone exchange services or facilities for the

22 purpose of the origination or termination of interexchange

23 telecommunications services to or from an exchange area.

24 ‘‘(mm) ‘Telecommunications’ means the trans25 mission, between or among points specified by the cus-
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1 tomer, of information of the customer’s choosing, without

2 change in the form or content of the information as sent

3 and received, by means of an electromagnetic transmission

4 medium, including all instrumentalities, facilities, appara5 tus, and services (including the collection, storage, for6 warding, switching, and delivery of such information) es7 sential to such transmission.

8 ‘‘(nn) ‘Telecommunications service’ means the offer9 ing, on a common carrier or other basis, of telecommuni10 cations facilities, or of telecommunications by means of

11 such facilities. Such term does not include an information

12 service.’’.

13 SEC. 102. EQUAL ACCESS AND NETWORK FUNCTIONALITY

14 AND QUALITY.

15 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 201 of the Communica16 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 201) is amended by adding

17 at the end thereof the following new subsections:

18 ‘‘(c) EQUAL ACCESS.—

19 ‘‘(1) OPENNESS AND ACCESSIBILITY OBLIGA20 TIONS.—

21 ‘‘(A) COMMON CARRIER OBLIGATIONS.—

22 The duty of a common carrier under subsection

23 (a) to furnish communications service includes

24 the duty to furnish that service in accordance

25 with such regulations with respect to the open-
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1 ness and accessibility of common carrier net2 works as the Commission may prescribe as nec3 essary or desirable in the public interest pursu4 ant to this subsection.

5 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL OBLIGATIONS OF LOCAL

6 EXCHANGE CARRIERS.—The duty under such

7 subsection of a local exchange carrier includes

8 the duty—

9 ‘‘(i) to provide, in accordance with the

10 regulations prescribed under paragraph

11 (2), equal access to and interconnection

12 with the facilities of the carrier’s networks

13 to any other carrier or person providing

14 telecommunications services reasonably re15 questing such equal access and inter16 connection, so that the networks are fully

17 interoperable; and

18 ‘‘(ii) to offer unbundled features,

19 functions, and capabilities in accordance

20 with requirements prescribed by the Com21 mission pursuant to this subsection and

22 other laws.

23 ‘‘(2) EQUAL ACCESS AND INTERCONNECTION

24 REGULATIONS.—
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1 ‘‘(A) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—The

2 Commission shall, within 1 year after the date

3 of enactment of this subsection, establish regu4 lations that provide reasonable and nondiscrim5 inatory equal access to and interconnection with

6 the facilities of a local exchange carrier’s net7 work at any technically feasible and economi8 cally reasonable point within the carrier’s net9 work on reasonable terms and conditions, to

10 any other carrier or person providing tele11 communications services requesting such access.

12 The Commission shall establish such regula13 tions after consultation with the Joint Board

14 established pursuant to subparagraph (D).

15 Such regulations shall provide for actual col16 location of equipment necessary for interconnec17 tion at the premises of a local exchange carrier,

18 except that the regulations shall provide for vir19 tual collocation where the local exchange carrier

20 demonstrates that actual collocation is not prac21 tical for technical reasons or because of space

22 limitations.

23 ‘‘(B) COMPENSATION.—The Commission

24 shall establish rules, within 1 year after the

25 date of enactment of this subsection, for the
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1 just and reasonable compensation to the ex2 change carrier providing such interconnection

3 and equal access pursuant to subparagraph (A).

4 ‘‘(C) EXEMPTIONS AND MODIFICATIONS.—

5 Notwithstanding any other provision of this

6 subsection, a local exchange carrier in a rural

7 area shall not be required to provide equal ac8 cess and interconnection to another local ex9 change carrier. The Commission may modify

10 the requirements of this paragraph for any local

11 exchange carrier that has, in the aggregate na12 tionwide, fewer than 500,000 subscriber lines

13 installed, to the extent that the Commission de14 termines that compliance with such require15 ments would be unduly economically burden16 some, technologically infeasible, or otherwise

17 not in the public interest.

18 ‘‘(D) JOINT BOARD ON EQUAL ACCESS AND

19 INTERCONNECTION STANDARDS.—Within 30

20 days after the date of enactment of this sub21 section, the Commission shall convene a Fed22 eral-State Joint Board under section 410(c) for

23 the purpose of preparing a recommended deci24 sion for the Commission with respect to the
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1 equal access and interconnection regulations re2 quired by this paragraph.

3 ‘‘(E) ENFORCEMENT OF EXISTING REGU4 LATIONS.—Nothing in this section shall be con5 strued to prohibit the Commission from enforc6 ing regulations prescribed prior to the date of

7 enactment of this section in fulfilling the re8 quirements of this subsection to the extent that

9 such regulations are consistent with the provi10 sions of this subsection.

11 ‘‘(3) STATE PREEMPTION.—Notwithstanding

12 section 2(b), no State or local government may, after

13 one year after the date of enactment of this sub14 section—

15 ‘‘(A) effectively prohibit any provider of

16 any telecommunication services from providing

17 that or any other such service, or impose any

18 restrictions on entry into the business of provid19 ing any such service that is inconsistent with

20 this subsection or any other provision of this

21 Act, or any regulation thereunder;

22 ‘‘(B) prohibit any carrier or other person

23 providing telecommunications services from ex24 ercising the access and interconnection rights

25 provided under this subsection; or
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1 ‘‘(C) impose any limitation on the exercise

2 of such rights that is inconsistent with this sub3 section or the regulations prescribed under this

4 subsection.

5 ‘‘(4) TARIFFS.—

6 ‘‘(A) GENERALLY.—A local exchange car7 rier shall, within 18 months after the date of

8 enactment of this subsection, prepare and file

9 tariffs in accordance with this Act with respect

10 to the services or elements offered to comply

11 with the equal access and interconnection regu12 lations required under this subsection. The

13 costs that a carrier incurs in providing such

14 services or elements of exchange services shall

15 be borne solely by the users of the features and

16 functions comprising such services or which

17 uses or includes such service element. The Com18 mission shall review such tariffs to ensure

19 that—

20 ‘‘(i) the charges for such services or

21 elements of exchange services are cost22 based; and

23 ‘‘(ii) the terms and conditions con24 tained in such tariffs do not bundle to-
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1 gether any separable elements, features, or

2 functions.

3 ‘‘(B) SUPPORTING INFORMATION.—A local

4 exchange carrier shall submit supporting infor5 mation with its tariffs for equal access and

6 interconnection that is sufficient to enable the

7 Commission and the public to determine the re8 lationship between the proposed charges and

9 the costs of providing such services or elements

10 of exchange services. The submission of such

11 information shall be pursuant to rules adopted

12 by the Commission to ensure that similarly sit13 uated carriers provide such information in a

14 uniform fashion.

15 ‘‘(5) PRICING FLEXIBILITY.—(A) Within 270

16 days after the date of enactment of this subsection,

17 the Commission, by regulation, shall establish cri18 teria for determining—

19 ‘‘(i) whether a telecommunications service

20 or provider of such service has become, or is

21 reasonably certain imminently to become, sub22 ject to competition, either within a geographic

23 area or within a class or category of service;

24 ‘‘(ii) whether such competition will effec25 tively prevent rates for such service that are un-
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1 just or unreasonable or that are unjustly or un2 reasonably discriminatory; and

3 ‘‘(iii) appropriate flexible pricing proce4 dures that can be used in lieu of the filing of

5 tariff schedules, or in lieu of other pricing pro6 cedures established by the Commission, and

7 that are consistent with the public interest, con8 venience, and necessity.

9 ‘‘(B) The Commission, with respect to rates for

10 interstate or foreign communications, and State

11 commissions, with respect to rates for intrastate

12 communications, shall, upon application—

13 ‘‘(i) render determinations in accordance

14 with the criteria established under clauses (i)

15 and (ii) of subparagraph (A) concerning the

16 services or providers that are the subject of

17 such application; and

18 ‘‘(ii) upon a proper showing, establish an

19 appropriate flexible pricing procedure consistent

20 with the criteria established under clause (iii) of

21 such subparagraph.

22 The Commission shall approve or reject any such ap23 plication within 180 days after its submission.

24 ‘‘(6) JOINT BOARD TO PRESERVE UNIVERSAL

25 SERVICE.—
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1 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT; FUNCTIONS.—

2 Within 30 days after the date of enactment of

3 this subsection, the Commission shall convene a

4 Federal-State Joint Board under section 410(c)

5 for the purpose of recommending actions to the

6 Commission and State commissions for the

7 preservation of universal service. As a part of

8 preparing such recommendations, the Joint

9 Board shall survey providers of telephone ex10 change service and consult with State commis11 sions in order to determine the pecuniary dif12 ference between the cost of providing universal

13 service and the prices determined to be appro14 priate for such service. In making such rec15 ommendations, the Joint Board shall base poli16 cies for the preservation of universal service on

17 the following principles:

18 ‘‘(i) A plan adopted by the Commis19 sion and the States should ensure the con20 tinued viability of universal service by

21 maintaining quality services at affordable

22 prices.

23 ‘‘(ii) Such plan should define the na24 ture and extent of the services encom25 passed within carriers’ universal service ob-
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1 ligations and should seek to promote ac2 cess to advanced telecommunications serv3 ices for all Americans by including ad4 vanced telecommunications services in the

5 definition of universal service, while main6 taining affordable rates.

7 ‘‘(iii) Such plan should establish spe8 cific and predictable mechanisms to pro9 vide adequate and sustainable support for

10 universal service.

11 ‘‘(iv) All providers of telecommuni12 cations services should make an equitable

13 and nondiscriminatory contribution to

14 preservation of universal service.

15 ‘‘(B) REPORT; COMMISSION RESPONSE.—

16 The Joint Board convened pursuant to sub17 paragraph (A) shall report its recommendations

18 within 270 days after the date of enactment of

19 this subsection. The Commission shall complete

20 any proceeding to implement such recommenda21 tions within one year after such date of enact22 ment. A State may adopt regulations to imple23 ment the Joint Board’s recommendations, ex24 cept that such regulations shall not, after 18

25 months after such date of enactment, be incon-
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1 sistent with regulations prescribed by the Com2 mission to implement such recommendations.

3 ‘‘(7) RESALE.—The resale or sharing of tele4 phone exchange service (or unbundled elements of

5 such service) in conjunction with the furnishing of a

6 telecommunications service or any information serv7 ice shall not be prohibited nor subject to unreason8 able conditions by the carrier, the Commission, or

9 any State.

10 ‘‘(8) REVIEW OF STANDARDS AND REQUIRE11 MENTS.—At least once every three years, the Com12 mission shall—

13 ‘‘(A) conduct a proceeding in which inter14 ested parties shall have an opportunity to com15 ment on whether the standards and require16 ments established by or under this subsection

17 have opened the networks of carriers to reason18 able and nondiscriminatory access by providers

19 of telecommunications services and information

20 services;

21 ‘‘(B) review the definition of universal

22 service and evaluate the extent to which univer23 sal service has been protected and access to ad24 vanced services has been facilitated pursuant to
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1 this subsection and the plans and regulations

2 thereunder; and

3 ‘‘(C) submit to the Congress a report con4 taining a statement of the Commission’s find5 ings pursuant to such proceeding, and including

6 an identification of any defects or delays ob7 served in attaining the objectives of this sub8 section and a plan for correcting such defects

9 and delays.

10 ‘‘(9) STUDY OF RURAL PHONE SERVICE.—No

11 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this

12 subsection, the Commission shall initiate an inquiry

13 to examine the effects of competition in the provision

14 of telephone exchange access and telephone exchange

15 service on the availability and rates for telephone ex16 change access and telephone exchange service fur17 nished by rural exchange carriers.

18 ‘‘(d) NETWORK FUNCTIONALITY AND QUALITY.—

19 ‘‘(1) FUNCTIONALITY AND RELIABILITY OBLI20 GATIONS.—The duty of a common carrier under

21 subsection (a) to furnish communications service in22 cludes the duty to furnish that service in accordance

23 with such regulations of functionality and reliability

24 as the Commission may prescribe as necessary or de-
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1 sirable in the public interest pursuant to this sub2 section.

3 ‘‘(2) COORDINATED PLANNING FOR INTEROPER4 ABILITY AND OTHER PURPOSES.—The Commission

5 shall establish—

6 ‘‘(A) procedures for the conduct of coordi7 nated network planning by common carriers

8 and other providers of telecommunications or

9 information services, subject to Commission su10 pervision, for the effective and efficient inter11 connection and interoperability of public and

12 private networks; and

13 ‘‘(B) procedures for the development, sub14 ject to Commission supervision, of—

15 ‘‘(i) standards for the interconnection

16 and interoperability of such networks;

17 ‘‘(ii) standards for the design of such

18 networks that promote access to network

19 capabilities and services by individuals with

20 disabilities; and

21 ‘‘(iii) standards to ensure that the de22 sign of such networks does not impede ac23 cess to information services by subscribers

24 to telephone exchange service furnished by

25 a rural exchange carrier.
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1 ‘‘(3) OPEN PLATFORM SERVICE.—

2 ‘‘(A) STUDY.—No later than 90 days after

3 the enactment of this subsection, the Commis4 sion shall initiate an inquiry to consider the

5 rules and policies necessary to make open plat6 form service available to all subscribers at rea7 sonable rates based on the reasonably identifi8 able costs of providing such services, utilizing

9 existing facilities to the maximum extent fea10 sible and economically practicable. The inquiry

11 required under this paragraph shall be com12 pleted within 120 days after initiation.

13 ‘‘(B) REGULATIONS.—On the basis of the

14 results of the inquiry required under subpara15 graph (A), the Commission shall prescribe and

16 make effective such regulations as are necessary

17 to implement the inquiry’s conclusions. Such

18 regulations may require a local exchange carrier

19 to file, in the appropriate jurisdiction, tariffs

20 for the origination and termination of open

21 platform service as soon as such service is eco22 nomically and technically feasible. In establish23 ing any such regulations, the Commission shall

24 take into account the proximate and long-term

25 deployment plans of local exchange carriers,
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1 and may establish a procedure to delay for a

2 reasonable period of time any requirement of

3 open platform service if a petition from a local

4 exchange carrier demonstrates that compliance

5 with such requirement would significantly delay

6 the deployment of a more advanced technology.

7 Any such regulations shall provide for the allo8 cation of all costs of facilities jointly used to

9 provide open platform service and telephone ex10 change service. Nothing in this subsection shall

11 be construed to limit a State’s authority to con12 tinue to regulate any services subject to State

13 jurisdiction under this Act.

14 ‘‘(C) CONTINUING OVERSIGHT.—Com15 mencing not later than 2 years after the date

16 of enactment of this subsection, the Commis17 sion shall conduct an inquiry on the progress of

18 open platform service deployment. The Commis19 sion shall submit a report to the Congress on

20 the results of such inquiry within 90 days after

21 the commencement of such inquiry and annu22 ally thereafter for the succeeding 5 years.

23 ‘‘(4) ACCESSIBILITY REGULATIONS.—

24 ‘‘(A) REGULATIONS.—The Commission

25 shall, within 1 year after enactment of this sec-
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1 tion, prescribe such regulations as are necessary

2 to ensure that advances in network services de3 ployed by local exchange carriers shall be acces4 sible and usable by individuals with disabilities,

5 including individuals with functional limitations

6 of hearing, vision, movement, manipulation,

7 speech and interpretation of information, unless

8 the cost of making the services accessible and

9 usable would result in an undue burden or ad10 verse competitive impact. Such regulations shall

11 seek to permit the use of both standard and

12 special equipment, and seek to minimize the

13 need of individuals to acquire additional devices

14 beyond those used by the general public to ob15 tain such access.

16 ‘‘(B) COMPATIBILITY.—Such regulations

17 shall require that whenever an undue burden or

18 adverse competitive impact would result from

19 the requirements in subparagraph (A), the local

20 exchange carrier that deploys the network serv21 ice shall ensure that the network service in

22 question is compatible with existing peripheral

23 devices or specialized customer premises equip24 ment commonly used by persons with disabil25 ities to achieve access, unless doing so would re-
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1 sult in an undue burden or adverse competitive

2 impact.

3 ‘‘(C) UNDUE BURDEN.—The term ‘undue

4 burden’ means significant difficulty or expense.

5 In determining whether the activity necessary

6 to comply with the requirements of this para7 graph would result in an undue burden, the fac8 tors to be considered include:

9 ‘‘(i) The nature and cost of the activ10 ity.

11 ‘‘(ii) The impact on the operation of

12 the facility involved in the deployment of

13 the network service.

14 ‘‘(iii) The financial resources of the

15 local exchange carrier.

16 ‘‘(iv) The type of operations of the

17 local exchange carrier.

18 ‘‘(D) ADVERSE COMPETITIVE IMPACT.—In

19 determining whether the activity necessary to

20 comply with the requirements of this paragraph

21 would result in adverse competitive impact, the

22 following factors shall be considered:

23 ‘‘(i) whether such activity would raise

24 the cost of the network service in question

25 beyond the level at which there would be
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1 sufficient consumer demand by the general

2 population to make the network service

3 profitable; and

4 ‘‘(ii) whether such activity would, with

5 respect to the network service in question,

6 put the local exchange carrier at a com7 petitive disadvantage. This factor may be

8 considered so long as competing network

9 service providers are not held to the same

10 obligation with respect to access by per11 sons with disabilities.

12 ‘‘(E) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The regulations

13 required by this paragraph shall become effec14 tive 18 months after the date of enactment of

15 this subsection.

16 ‘‘(5) QUALITY RULES.—(A) The Commission

17 shall designate or otherwise establish network reli18 ability and quality performance measures or bench19 marks for common carriers for the purpose of ensur20 ing the continued maintenance and evolution of com21 mon carrier facilities and service. Not later than 180

22 days after the date of enactment of this subsection,

23 the Commission shall initiate a rulemaking proceed24 ing to establish performance measures or bench-
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1 marks for maintaining common carrier network

2 quality.

3 ‘‘(B) Such rules and regulations shall include—

4 ‘‘(i) quantitative network reliability and

5 service quality performance measures or bench6 marks;

7 ‘‘(ii) procedures to monitor and evaluate

8 common carrier efforts to increase network reli9 ability and service quality; and

10 ‘‘(iii) procedures to resolve network reli11 ability and service quality complaints.

12 ‘‘(C) Throughout the process of developing net13 work reliability and service quality performance

14 measures or benchmarks, as required by subpara15 graph (A), the Commission shall coordinate and con16 sult with service and equipment providers and users

17 and State regulatory bodies to ensure their concerns

18 and interests are given full consideration in such

19 process.

20 ‘‘(6) RURAL EXEMPTION.—The Commission

21 may modify, or grant exemptions from, the require22 ments of this subsection in the case of a common

23 carrier providing telecommunications services in a

24 rural area.’’.
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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 2(b) of the

2 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.152(b)) is amend3 ed by inserting ‘‘201(c) and (d),’’ after ‘‘Except as pro4 vided in sections’’.

5 SEC. 103. DISCRIMINATORY INTERCONNECTION.

6 Section 208 of the Communications Act of 1934 is

7 amended by adding at the end thereof the following new

8 subsection:

9 ‘‘(c) EXPEDITED REVIEW OF CERTAIN COM10 PLAINTS.—The Commission shall issue a final order with

11 respect to any complaint arising from alleged violations

12 of the rules and orders prescribed pursuant to section

13 201(c) within 180 days after such complaint is filed.’’.

14 SEC. 104. EXPEDITED LICENSING OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES

15 AND SERVICES.

16 Section 7 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

17 U.S.C. 157) is amended by adding at the end thereof the

18 following new subsection:

19 ‘‘(c) LICENSING OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES.—

20 ‘‘(1) EXPEDITED RULEMAKING.—Within 24

21 months after making a determination under sub22 section (b) that a technology or service related to the

23 furnishing of telecommunications services is in the

24 public interest, the Commission shall, with respect to

25 any such service requiring a license or other author-
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1 ization from the Commission, adopt and make effec2 tive rules for—

3 ‘‘(A) the provision of such technology or

4 service; and

5 ‘‘(B) the filing of applications for the li6 censes or authorizations necessary to offer such

7 technology or service to the public, and shall act

8 on any such application within 24 months after

9 it is filed.

10 ‘‘(2) REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS.—Any applica11 tion filed by a carrier under this subsection for the

12 construction or extension of a line shall also be sub13 ject to section 214 and to any necessary approval by

14 the appropriate State commissions.’’.

15 SEC. 105. NEW OR EXTENDED LINES.

16 Section 214 of the Communications Act of 1934 is

17 amended by adding at the end the following new sub18 section:

19 ‘‘(e) Any application filed under this section by a pro20 vider of telephone exchange service for authority to con21 struct or extend a line shall address the means by which

22 such construction or extension will meet the network ac23 cess needs of individuals with disabilities.’’.
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1 TITLE II—COMMUNICATIONS

2 COMPETITIVENESS

3 SEC. 201. CABLE SERVICE PROVIDED BY TELEPHONE COM4 PANIES.

5 (a) GENERAL REQUIREMENT.—

6 (1) AMENDMENT.—Section 613(b) of the Com7 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 533(b)) is

8 amended to read as follows:

9 ‘‘(b)(1) Subject to the requirements of part V and

10 the other provisions of this title, any common carrier sub11 ject in whole or in part to title II of this Act may, either

12 through its own facilities or through an affiliate owned

13 by, operated by, controlled by, or under common control

14 with the common carrier, provide video programming di15 rectly to subscribers in its telephone service area.

16 ‘‘(2) Subject to the requirements of part V and the

17 other provisions of this title, any common carrier subject

18 in whole or in part to title II of this Act may provide chan19 nels of communications or pole, line, or conduit space, or

20 other rental arrangements, to any entity which is directly

21 or indirectly owned by, operated by, controlled by, or

22 under common control with such common carrier, if such

23 facilities or arrangements are to be used for, or in connec24 tion with, the provision of video programming directly to

25 subscribers in its telephone service area.’’.
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1 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 602

2 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 531)

3 is amended—

4 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (18) and

5 (19) as paragraphs (19 and (20) respectively;

6 and

7 (B) by inserting after paragraph (17) the

8 following new paragraph:

9 ‘‘(18) the term ‘telephone service area’ when

10 used in connection with a common carrier subject in

11 whole or in part to title II of this Act means the

12 area within which such carrier provides telephone ex13 change service as of November 20, 1993, but if any

14 common carrier after such date transfers its ex15 change service facilities to another common carrier,

16 the area to which such facilities provide telephone

17 exchange service shall be treated as part of the tele18 phone service area of the acquiring common carrier

19 and not of the selling common carrier.

20 (b) PROVISIONS FOR REGULATION OF CABLE SERV21 ICE PROVIDED BY TELEPHONE COMPANIES.—Title VI of

22 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 521 et seq.)

23 is amended by adding at the end the following new part:
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1 ‘‘PART V—CABLE SERVICE PROVIDED BY

2 TELEPHONE COMPANIES

3 ‘‘SEC. 651. DEFINITIONS.

4 ‘‘For purposes of this part—

5 ‘‘(1) the term ‘affiliated video programming’

6 means any video programming which is (A) owned

7 or controlled by, or under common control with, a

8 common carrier, and (B) provided by the common

9 carrier or an affiliate directly to subscribers in its

10 telephone service area;

11 ‘‘(2) the term ‘control’ means—

12 ‘‘(A) an ownership interest in which an en13 tity has the right to vote more than 50 percent

14 of the outstanding common stock or other own15 ership interest; or

16 ‘‘(B) actual working control, as defined in

17 the order of the Commission entitled ‘‘Imple18 mentation of Sections 11 and 13 of the Cable

19 Television Consumer Protection and Competi20 tive Act of 1992—Horizontal and Vertical Own21 ership Limits, Cross-Ownership Limitations,

22 and Anti-Trafficking Provisions’’, MM Docket

23 92–264, adopted September 23, 1993, if no sin24 gle entity directly or indirectly has the right to

25 vote more than 50 percent of the outstanding

26 common stock or other ownership interest;
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1 ‘‘(3) the term ‘video platform’ has the same

2 meaning as the term ‘basic platform’ in the order of

3 the Commission entitled ‘Telephone Company-Cable

4 Television Cross-Ownership Rules, Sections 63.54–

5 63.58’, CC Docket No. 87–266, adopted July 16,

6 1992; and

7 ‘‘(4) the term ‘rural area’ means a geographic

8 area that does not include either—

9 ‘‘(A) any incorporated or unincorporated

10 place of 10,000 inhabitants or more, or any

11 part thereof; or

12 ‘‘(B) any territory, incorporated or unin13 corporated, included in an urbanized area.

14 ‘‘SEC. 652. SEPARATE VIDEO PROGRAMMING AFFILIATE.

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection

16 (d) of this section, a common carrier subject to title II

17 of this Act shall not provide video programming directly

18 to subscribers in its telephone service area unless such

19 video programming is provided through a video program20 ming affiliate that is separate from such carrier.

21 ‘‘(b) BOOKS AND MARKETING.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A video programming affili23 ate of a common carrier shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) maintain books, records, and ac2 counts separate from such carrier which iden3 tify all transactions with such carrier;

4 ‘‘(B) carry out directly (or through any

5 nonaffiliate) its own promotion, except that in6 stitutional advertising carried out by such car7 rier shall be permitted so long as each party

8 bears its pro rata share of the costs; and

9 ‘‘(C) not own real or personal property in

10 common with such carrier.

11 ‘‘(2) INBOUND TELEMARKETING.—Notwith12 standing paragraph (1)(B), a common carrier may

13 provide inbound telemarketing or referral services

14 related to the provision of video programming by a

15 video programming affiliate of such carrier. If such

16 services are provided to a video programming affili17 ate, such services shall be made available to any

18 video programmer or cable operator on request, on

19 nondiscriminatory terms, at compensatory prices,

20 and subject to regulations of the Commission to en21 sure that the carrier’s method of providing

22 telemarketing or referral and its price structure do

23 not competitively disadvantage any video program24 mer or cable operator, regardless of size, including
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1 those which do not use the carrier’s telemarketing

2 services.

3 ‘‘(3) JOINT TELEMARKETING.—Notwithstand4 ing paragraph (1)(B), a common carrier may peti5 tion the Commission for permission to market video

6 programming directly, upon showing that a cable op7 erator or other entity directly or indirectly provides

8 telecommunications services and markets such serv9 ices jointly with video programming services. The

10 common carrier shall specify the geographic region

11 covered by the petition. Any such petition shall be

12 granted or denied within 180 days.

13 ‘‘(c) BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS WITH CARRIER SUB14 JECT TO REGULATION.—Any contract, agreement, ar15 rangement, or other manner of conducting business, be16 tween a common carrier and its video programming affili17 ate, providing for—

18 ‘‘(1) the sale, exchange, or leasing of property

19 between such affiliate and such carrier;

20 ‘‘(2) the furnishing of goods or services between

21 such affiliate and such carrier; or

22 ‘‘(3) the transfer to or use by such affiliate for

23 its benefit of any asset or resource of such carrier,

24 shall be pursuant to regulation prescribed by the Commis25 sion, shall be on a fully compensatory and auditable basis,
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1 shall be without cost to the telephone service ratepayers

2 of the carrier, shall be filed with the Commission, and

3 shall be in compliance with rules established by the Com4 mission which will be sufficient to enable the Commission

5 to assess the compliance of any transaction.

6 ‘‘(d) WAIVER.—

7 ‘‘(1) CRITERIA FOR WAIVER.—The Commission

8 may waive any of the requirements of this section

9 for small or rural telephone companies, and may, be10 ginning 5 years after the date of enactment of this

11 section, waive such requirements for any common

12 carrier, if the Commission determines, after notice

13 and comment, that—

14 ‘‘(A) such waiver will not affect the ability

15 of the Commission to ensure that all video pro16 gramming activity is carried out without any

17 support from telephone ratepayers;

18 ‘‘(B) the interests of telephone ratepayers

19 or cable subscribers will not be harmed if such

20 waiver is granted; and

21 ‘‘(C) such waiver otherwise is in the public

22 interest.

23 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR ACTION.—The Commission

24 shall act to approve or disapprove a waiver applica25 tion within 180 days after the date it is filed.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 653. ESTABLISHMENT OF VIDEO PLATFORM.

2 ‘‘(a) COMMON CARRIER OBLIGATIONS.—Any com3 mon carrier subject to title II of this Act and that pro4 vides, through a video programming affiliate, video pro5 gramming directly to subscribers in its telephone service

6 area, shall establish a video platform. The Commission,

7 together with the States, shall establish regulations to pro8 hibit a carrier from discriminating in favor of its video

9 programming affiliate in providing access to such platform

10 or with regard to rates, terms, and conditions for access

11 to such platform. The Commission shall take final action

12 on any application under section 214 seeking authority to

13 establish a video platform within one year after the date

14 such application is filed.

15 ‘‘(b) COMMISSION STUDY.—The Commission shall

16 conduct a study of whether it is in the public interest to

17 extend the requirements of subsection (a) to cable opera18 tors in lieu of the requirements of section 612. The Com19 mission shall submit to the Congress a report on the re20 sults of such study not later than 2 years after the date

21 of enactment of this section.

22 ‘‘SEC. 654. PROVISION OF AFFILIATED VIDEO PROGRAM23 MING.

24 ‘‘(a) LIMITATION.—A common carrier which pro25 vides, through its video programming affiliate, affiliated

26 video programming directly to subscribers in its telephone
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1 service area, shall make available such capacity as is re2 quested by unaffiliated video program providers upon rea3 sonable notice. A common carrier shall not be required

4 under this subsection to provide more than 75 percent of

5 the equipped capacity of its video platform to unaffiliated

6 video program providers.

7 ‘‘(b) EVALUATION BY COMMISSION.—The Commis8 sion shall, not later than 2 years after the date of enact9 ment of this part, evaluate the effect of subsection (a) on

10 the video programming marketplace and, on the basis of

11 that evaluation, make recommendations to Congress con12 cerning appropriate modifications, if any, to subsection

13 (a).

14 ‘‘(c) BROADCAST SIGNAL CARRIAGE EXCLUDED.—

15 The carriage of local broadcast signals pursuant to section

16 614 shall not constitute the provision of affiliated video

17 programming for purposes of subsection (a).

18 ‘‘(d) TERMINATION.—Subsection (a) shall cease to be

19 effective five years after the date of enactment of this part.

20 ‘‘SEC. 655. PROHIBITION OF CROSS-SUBSIDIZATION.

21 ‘‘(a) COMMON CARRIER PROHIBITIONS.—The Com22 mission shall prescribe regulations to prohibit a common

23 carrier from engaging in any practice that results in the

24 inclusion in rates for telephone exchange service of any

25 operating expenses, costs, depreciation charges, capital in-
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1 vestments, or other expenses associated with the provision

2 of video programming by the common carrier or its video

3 programming affiliate.

4 ‘‘(b) CABLE OPERATOR PROHIBITIONS.—The Com5 mission shall prescribe regulations to prohibit a cable op6 erator from engaging in any practice that results in the

7 inclusion in rates for cable service of any operating ex8 penses, costs, depreciation charges, capital investments, or

9 other expenses associated with the provision of tele10 communications service by the cable operator or its tele11 communications service affiliate.

12 ‘‘SEC. 656. PROHIBITION ON BUYOUTS.

13 ‘‘(a) GENERAL PROHIBITION.—No common carrier

14 that provides telephone exchange service, nor any entity

15 owned by or under common ownership or control with such

16 carrier, may purchase or otherwise obtain control over any

17 cable system that is located within its telephone service

18 area and is owned by an unaffiliated person.

19 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding subsection (a),

20 a common carrier may—

21 ‘‘(1) obtain a controlling interest in, or form a

22 joint venture or other partnership with, a cable sys23 tem that serves a rural area;

24 ‘‘(2) obtain a controlling interest in, or form a

25 joint venture or other partnership with, a cable sys-
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1 tem or systems, if such systems in the aggregate

2 serve less than 10 percent of the households in the

3 telephone service area of such carrier and its affili4 ated common carriers; or

5 ‘‘(3) acquire the use of that part of the trans6 mission facilities of such a cable system extending

7 from the last multi-user terminal to the premises of

8 the end user if such use is reasonably limited in

9 scope and duration.

10 ‘‘(c) WAIVER.—

11 ‘‘(1) CRITERIA FOR WAIVER.—The Commission

12 may waive the restrictions in subsection (a) of this

13 section only upon a showing by the applicant that—

14 ‘‘(A) because of the nature of the market

15 served by the cable system concerned—

16 ‘‘(i) the incumbent cable operator

17 would be subjected to undue economic dis18 tress by the enforcement of such sub19 section; or

20 ‘‘(ii) the cable system would not be

21 economically viable if such subsection were

22 enforced; and

23 ‘‘(B) the local franchising authority ap24 proves of such waiver.
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1 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR ACTION.—The Commission

2 shall act to approve or disapprove a waiver applica3 tion within 180 days after the date it is filed.

4 ‘‘SEC. 657. PENALTIES.

5 ‘‘If the Commission finds that any common carrier

6 has knowingly violated any provision of this part, the

7 Commission shall assess such fines and penalties as it

8 deems appropriate pursuant to title V of this Act.

9 ‘‘SEC. 658. CONSUMER PROTECTION.

10 ‘‘(a) JOINT BOARD REQUIRED.—The Commission

11 shall, within 30 days after the date of enactment of this

12 part, convene a Federal-State Joint Board under the pro13 visions of section 410(c) for the purpose of establishing

14 the practices, classifications, and regulations as may be

15 necessary to ensure proper jurisdictional separation and

16 allocation of the costs of establishing and providing a video

17 platform and allocations of those costs between regulated

18 and unregulated services, including affiliated video pro19 gramming. The Board shall issue its recommendations to

20 the Commission within 270 days after the date of enact21 ment of this part.

22 ‘‘(b) COMMISSION REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—The

23 Commission, with respect to interstate switched access

24 service, and the States, with respect to telephone exchange

25 service and intrastate interexchange service, shall, within
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1 one year after the date of the enactment of this part, es2 tablish such rules and regulations as may be necessary to

3 implement section 655.

4 ‘‘(c) NO EFFECT ON CARRIER REGULATION AU5 THORITY.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to

6 limit or supersede the authority of any State or the Com7 mission with respect to the allocation of costs associated

8 with intrastate or interstate communication services.

9 ‘‘SEC. 659. APPLICABILITY OF FRANCHISE AND OTHER RE10 QUIREMENTS.

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection

12 (b)—

13 ‘‘(1) the provisions of part II and sections 628,

14 631 and 632 of this title, and section 325 of title

15 III, shall apply, and

16 ‘‘(2) the provisions of parts III and IV (other

17 than sections 628, 631, and 632) of this title shall

18 not apply,

19 to any video platform established by a common carrier in

20 accordance with the requirements of this part.

21 ‘‘(b) IMPLEMENTATION OF REQUIREMENTS.—

22 ‘‘(1) REGULATIONS.—The Commission shall

23 prescribe regulations to ensure that a video pro24 gramming affiliate of a common carrier shall estab25 lish a video platform under this part that provides
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1 (A) capacity for public, educational, and govern2 mental use, (B) capacity for commercial use, (C)

3 carriage of commercial and non-commercial broad4 cast television stations, and (D) an opportunity for

5 commercial broadcast stations to choose between

6 mandatory carriage and reimbursement for

7 retransmission of the signal of such station. In pre8 scribing such regulations, the Commission shall im9 pose obligations that are no greater or lesser than

10 the obligations contained in the provisions described

11 in subsection (a)(1) of this section.

12 ‘‘(2) FEES.—A video programming affiliate of

13 any common carrier that establishes a video plat14 form under this part shall be subject to the payment

15 of fees imposed by a local franchising authority, in

16 lieu of the fees required under section 622. The rate

17 at which such fees are imposed shall not exceed the

18 rate at which franchise fees are imposed on any

19 cable operator transmitting video programming in

20 the same service area.

21 ‘‘SEC. 660. RURAL AREA EXEMPTION.

22 ‘‘The provisions of sections 652, 653, 654, and 656

23 shall not apply to video programming provided in a rural

24 area by a common carrier that provides telephone ex25 change service in the same area.’’.
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