I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3609

To improve the competitiveness of American industry in the markets for

telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment, and

for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 21, 1993

Mr. SLATTERY introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the

Committees on Energy and Commerce and the Judiciary

A BILL

To improve the competitiveness of American industry in the

markets for telecommunications equipment and customer

premises equipment, 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. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Telecommunications

5 Equipment Research and Manufacturing Competition Act

6 of 1993’’.

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

8 The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) universal access to advanced telecommuni2 cations services through the public switched tele3 phone network by all persons, including persons with

4 disabilities and public educational institutions, would

5 be advanced, and

6 (2) the continued economic growth and the

7 international competitiveness of American industry,

8 would be assisted,

9 by permitting the Bell Telephone Companies, through

10 their affiliates, to manufacture (including design, develop11 ment, and fabrication) telecommunications equipment and

12 customer premises equipment, and to provide tele13 communications equipment, and to engage in research

14 with respect to such equipment.

15 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF

16 1934.

17 Title II of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

18 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the

19 following new section:

20 ‘‘SEC. 228. REGULATION OF MANUFACTURING BY BELL

21 TELEPHONE COMPANIES.

22 ‘‘(a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—Subject to the require23 ments of this section and the regulations prescribed there24 under, but notwithstanding any restriction or obligation

25 imposed before the date of enactment of this section pur-
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1 suant to the Modification of Final Judgment on the lines

2 of business in which a Bell Telephone Company may en3 gage, a Bell Telephone Company, through an affiliate of

4 that company, may manufacture and provide tele5 communications equipment and manufacture customer

6 premises equipment, except that neither a Bell Telephone

7 Company nor any of its affiliates may engage in such man8 ufacturing in conjunction with a Bell Telephone Company

9 not so affiliated or any of its affiliates.

10 ‘‘(b) SEPARATE MANUFACTURING AFFILIATE.—Any

11 manufacturing or provision authorized under subsection

12 (a) shall be conducted only through an affiliate that is sep13 arate from any Bell Telephone Company.

14 ‘‘(c) COMMISSION REGULATION OF MANUFACTURING

15 AFFILIATE.—

16 ‘‘(1) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—The Commis17 sion shall prescribe regulations to ensure that Bell

18 Telephone Companies and their affiliates comply

19 with the requirements of this subsection.

20 ‘‘(2) BOOKS, RECORDS, ACCOUNTS.—A manu21 facturing affiliate required by subsection (b) shall

22 maintain books, records, and accounts separate from

23 its affiliated Bell Telephone Company which identify

24 all financial transactions between the manufacturing

25 affiliate and its affiliated Bell Telephone Company
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1 and, even if such manufacturing affiliate is not a

2 publicly held corporation, prepare financial state3 ments which are in compliance with Federal finan4 cial reporting requirements for publicly held corpora5 tions, file such statements with the Commission, and

6 make such statements available for public inspection.

7 ‘‘(3) IN-KIND BENEFITS TO AFFILIATE.—Con8 sistent with the provisions of this section, neither a

9 Bell Telephone Company nor any of its

10 nonmanufacturing affiliates shall perform sales, ad11 vertising, installation, production, or maintenance

12 operations for a manufacturing affiliate, except

13 that—

14 ‘‘(A) a Bell Telephone Company and its

15 nonmanufacturing affiliates may sell, advertise,

16 install, and maintain telecommunications equip17 ment and customer premises equipment after

18 acquiring such equipment from their manufac19 turing affiliate; and

20 ‘‘(B) institutional advertising, of a type not

21 related to specific telecommunications equip22 ment, carried out by the Bell Telephone Com23 pany or its affiliates, shall be permitted if each

24 part pays its pro rata share.

25 ‘‘(4) DOMESTIC MANUFACTURING REQUIRED.—
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1 ‘‘(A) GENERAL RULE.—A manufacturing

2 affiliate required by subsection (b) shall conduct

3 all of its manufacturing within the United

4 States and, except as otherwise provided in this

5 paragraph, all component parts of customer

6 premises equipment manufactured by such affil7 iate, and all component parts of telecommuni8 cations equipment manufactured by such affili9 ate, shall have been manufactured within the

10 United States.

11 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Such affiliate may use

12 component parts manufactured outside the

13 United States if—

14 ‘‘(i) such affiliate first makes a good

15 faith effort to obtain equivalent component

16 parts manufactured within the United

17 States at reasonable prices, terms, and

18 conditions; and

19 ‘‘(ii) for the aggregate of tele20 communications equipment and customer

21 premises equipment manufactured and sold

22 in the United States by such affiliate in

23 any calendar year, the cost of the compo24 nents manufactured outside the United

25 States contained in the equipment does not
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1 exceed 40 percent of the sales revenue de2 rived from such equipment.

3 ‘‘(C) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—Any

4 such affiliate that uses component parts manu5 factured outside the United States in the manu6 facture of telecommunications equipment and

7 customer premises equipment within the United

8 States shall—

9 ‘‘(i) certify to the Commission that a

10 good faith effort was made to obtain equiv11 alent parts manufactured within the

12 United States at reasonable prices, terms,

13 and conditions, which certification shall be

14 filed on a quarterly basis with the Commis15 sion and list component parts, by type,

16 manufactured outside the United States;

17 and

18 ‘‘(ii) certify to the Commission on an

19 annual basis that for the aggregate of tele20 communications equipment and customer

21 premises equipment manufactured and sold

22 in the United States by such affiliate in

23 the previous calendar year, the cost of the

24 components manufactured outside the

25 United States contained in such equipment
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1 did not exceed the percentage specified in

2 subparagraph (B)(ii) as adjusted in ac3 cordance with subparagraph (G).

4 ‘‘(D) REMEDIES FOR FAILURES.—(i) If the

5 Commission determines, after reviewing the cer6 tification required in subparagraph (C)(i), that

7 such affiliate failed to make the good faith ef8 fort required in subparagraph (B)(i) or, after

9 reviewing the certification required in subpara10 graph (C)(ii), that such affiliate has exceeded

11 the percentage specified in subparagraph

12 (B)(ii), the Commission may impose penalties

13 or forfeitures as provided for in title V of this

14 Act.

15 ‘‘(ii) Any supplier claiming to be damaged

16 because a manufacturing affiliate failed to

17 make the good faith effort required in subpara18 graph (B)(i) may make complaint to the Com19 mission as provided for in section 208 of this

20 Act, or may bring suit for the recovery of actual

21 damages for which such supplier claims such

22 affiliate may be liable under the provisions of

23 this Act in any district court of the United

24 States of competent jurisdiction.
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1 ‘‘(E) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Commission,

2 in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce,

3 shall, on an annual basis, determine the cost of

4 component parts manufactured outside the

5 United States contained in all telecommuni6 cations equipment and customer premises

7 equipment sold in the United States as a per8 centage of the revenues from sales of such

9 equipment in the previous calendar year.

10 ‘‘(F) USE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN

11 MANUFACTURE.—A manufacturing affiliate may

12 use intellectual property created outside the

13 United States in the manufacture of tele14 communications equipment and customer prem15 ises equipment in the United States. A compo16 nent manufactured using such intellectual prop17 erty shall not be treated for purposes of sub18 paragraph (B)(ii) as a component manufac19 tured outside the United States solely on the

20 basis of the use of such intellectual property.

21 ‘‘(G) RESTRICTIONS ON COMMISSION AU22 THORITY.—The Commission may not waive or

23 alter the requirements of this paragraph, except

24 that the Commission, on an annual basis, shall

25 adjust the percentage specified in subparagraph
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1 (B)(ii) to the percentage determined by the

2 Commission, in consultation with the Secretary

3 of Commerce, as directed in subparagraph (E).

4 ‘‘(5) INSULATION OF RATE PAYERS FROM MAN5 UFACTURING AFFILIATE DEBT.—Any debt incurred

6 by any such manufacturing affiliate may not be is7 sued by its affiliated Bell Telephone Company, and

8 such manufacturing affiliate shall be prohibited from

9 incurring debt in a manner that would permit a

10 creditor, on default, to have recourse to the assets

11 of its affiliated Bell Telephone Company’s tele12 communications services business.

13 ‘‘(6) RELATION TO OTHER AFFILIATES.—A

14 manufacturing affiliate required by subsection (b)

15 shall not be required to operate separately from the

16 other affiliates of its affiliated Bell Telephone Com17 pany, but if an affiliate of a Bell Telephone Com18 pany becomes affiliated with a manufacturing entity,

19 such affiliate shall be treated as a manufacturing af20 filiate of that Bell Telephone Company and shall

21 comply with the requirements of this section.

22 ‘‘(7) AVAILABILITY OF EQUIPMENT TO OTHER

23 CARRIERS.—A manufacturing affiliate required by

24 subsection (b) shall make available, without discrimi25 nation or self-preference as to price, delivery, terms,
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1 or conditions, to all regulated local telephone ex2 change carriers for use with the public telecommuni3 cations network, any telecommunications equipment,

4 including software integral to the functioning of tele5 communications equipment (including upgrades),

6 manufactured by such affiliate so long as each such

7 purchasing carrier—

8 ‘‘(A) does not either manufacture tele9 communications equipment, or have an affili10 ated telecommunications equipment manufac11 turing entity, or

12 ‘‘(B) agrees to make available, to the Bell

13 Telephone Company affiliated with such manu14 facturing affiliate or any of the regulated local

15 exchange telephone company carrier affiliates of

16 such company, any telecommunications equip17 ment, including software integral to the func18 tioning of telecommunications equipment (in19 cluding upgrades), manufactured for use with

20 the public telecommunications network by such

21 purchasing carrier or by any entity or organiza22 tion with which such purchasing carrier is affili23 ated.

24 ‘‘(8) SALES PRACTICES OF MANUFACTURING

25 AFFILIATES.—
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1 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION OF DISCONTINUATION

2 OF EQUIPMENT FOR WHICH THERE IS REASON3 ABLE DEMAND.—A manufacturing affiliate re4 quired by subsection (b) shall not discontinue or

5 restrict sales to other regulated local telephone

6 exchange carriers of any telecommunications

7 equipment, including software integral to such

8 telecommunications equipment, including up9 grades, that such affiliate manufactures for sale

10 as long as there is reasonable demand for the

11 equipment by such carriers; except that such

12 sales may be discontinued or restricted if such

13 manufacturing affiliate demonstrates to the

14 Commission that it is not making a profit,

15 under a marginal cost standard implemented by

16 the Commission by regulation, on the sale of

17 such equipment.

18 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATIONS OF REASONABLE

19 DEMAND.—Within 60 days, the Commission

20 shall reach a determination as to the existence

21 of reasonable demand as referred to in subpara22 graph (A), and in doing so, the Commission

23 shall consider—

24 ‘‘(i) whether the continued manufac25 ture of the equipment will be profitable;
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1 ‘‘(ii) whether the equipment is func2 tionally or technologically obsolete;

3 ‘‘(iii) whether the components nec4 essary to manufacture the equipment con5 tinue to be available;

6 ‘‘(iv) whether alternatives to the

7 equipment are available in the market; and

8 ‘‘(v) such other factors as the Com9 mission deems necessary and proper.

10 ‘‘(9) JOINT PLANNING OBLIGATIONS.—Each

11 Bell Telephone Company shall, consistent with the

12 antitrust laws, engage in joint network planning and

13 design with other regulated local telephone exchange

14 carriers operating in the same area of interest; ex15 cept that no participant in such planning shall delay

16 the introduction of new technology or the deploy17 ment of facilities to provide telecommunications serv18 ices, and agreement with such other carriers shall

19 not be required as a prerequisite for such introduc20 tion or deployment.

21 ‘‘(d) INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS.—

22 ‘‘(1) FILING OF INFORMATION ON PROTOCOLS

23 AND TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS.—Each Bell Tele24 phone Company shall, in accordance with regulations

25 prescribed by the Commission, maintain and file
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1 with the Commission full and complete information

2 with respect to the protocols and technical require3 ments for connection with and use of its telephone

4 exchange service facilities. Each such company shall

5 report promptly to the Commission any material

6 changes or planned changes to such protocols and

7 requirements, and the schedule for implementation

8 of such changes or planned changes.

9 ‘‘(2) FILING AS PREREQUISITE TO DISCLOSURE

10 TO AFFILIATE.—A Bell Telephone Company shall

11 not disclose to any of its affiliates any information

12 required to be filed under paragraph (1) unless that

13 information is immediately so filed.

14 ‘‘(3) ACCESS BY COMPETITORS TO INFORMA15 TION.—The Commission may prescribe such addi16 tional regulations under this subsection as may be

17 necessary to ensure that manufacturers in competi18 tion with a Bell Telephone Company’s manufactur19 ing affiliate have access to the information with re20 spect to the protocols and technical requirements for

21 connection with and use of its telephone exchange

22 service facilities required for such competition that

23 such company makes available to its manufacturing

24 affiliate.
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1 ‘‘(4) PLANNING INFORMATION.—Bell Telephone

2 Companies shall provide, to other regulated local

3 telephone exchange carriers operating in the same

4 area of interest, timely information on the planned

5 deployment of telecommunications equipment, in6 cluding software integral to such telecommunications

7 equipment, including upgrades.

8 ‘‘(e) ADDITIONAL COMPETITION REQUIREMENTS.—

9 The Commission shall prescribe regulations requiring that

10 any Bell Telephone Company which has an affiliate that

11 engages in any manufacturing authorized by subsection

12 (a) shall—

13 ‘‘(1) provide, to other manufacturers of tele14 communications equipment and customer premises

15 equipment that is functionally equivalent to equip16 ment manufactured by the Bell Telephone Company

17 manufacturing affiliate, opportunities to sell such

18 equipment to such Bell Telephone Company which

19 are comparable to the opportunities which such

20 Company provides to its affiliates;

21 ‘‘(2) not subsidize its manufacturing affiliate

22 with revenues from its regulated telecommunications

23 services; and

24 ‘‘(3) only acquire equipment from its manufac25 turing affiliate at the open market price.
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1 ‘‘(f) COLLABORATION PERMITTED.—A Bell Tele2 phone Company and its affiliates may engage in close col3 laboration with any manufacturer of customer premises

4 equipment or telecommunications equipment during the

5 design and development of hardware, software, or com6 binations thereof related to such equipment.

7 ‘‘(g) ACCESSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—

8 ‘‘(1) MANUFACTURING.—The Commission shall,

9 within 1 year after enactment of this section, pre10 scribe such regulations as are necessary to ensure

11 that telecommunications equipment and customer

12 premises equipment designed, developed, and fab13 ricated pursuant to the authority granted in this

14 section shall be accessible and usable by individuals

15 with disabilities, including individuals with func16 tional limitations of hearing, vision, movement, ma17 nipulation, speech, and interpretation of information,

18 unless the costs of making the equipment accessible

19 and usable would result in an undue burden or an

20 adverse competitive impact.

21 ‘‘(2) NETWORK SERVICES.—The Commission

22 shall, within 1 year after enactment of this section,

23 prescribe such regulations as are necessary to ensure

24 that advances in network services deployed by a Bell

25 Telephone Company shall be accessible and usable
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1 by individuals whose access might otherwise be im2 peded by a disability or functional limitation, unless

3 the costs of making the services accessible and usa4 ble would result in an undue burden or adverse com5 petitive impact. Such regulations shall seek to per6 mit the use of both standard and special equipment

7 and seek to minimize the need of individuals to ac8 quire additional devices beyond those used by the

9 general public to obtain such access.

10 ‘‘(3) COMPATIBILITY.—The regulations pre11 scribed under paragraphs (1) and (2) shall require

12 that whenever an undue burden or adverse competi13 tive impact would result from the manufacturing or

14 network services requirements in such paragraphs,

15 the manufacturing affiliate that designs, develops, or

16 fabricates the equipment or the Bell Telephone Com17 pany that deploys the network service shall ensure

18 that the equipment or network service in question is

19 compatible with existing peripheral devices or spe20 cialized customer premises equipment commonly

21 used by persons with disabilities to achieve access,

22 unless doing so would result in an undue burden or

23 adverse competitive impact.

24 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this subsection:
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1 ‘‘(A) UNDUE BURDEN.—The term ‘undue

2 burden’ means significant difficulty or expense.

3 In determining whether an activity would result

4 in an undue burden, factors to be considered in5 clude—

6 ‘‘(i) the nature and cost of the activ7 ity;

8 ‘‘(ii) the impact on the operation of

9 the facility involved in the manufacturing

10 of the equipment or deployment of the net11 work service;

12 ‘‘(iii) the financial resources of the

13 manufacturing affiliate in the case of man14 ufacturing of equipment, for as long as ap15 plicable regulatory rules prohibit cross-sub16 sidization of equipment manufacturing

17 with revenues from regulated telecommuni18 cations service or when the manufacturing

19 activities are conducted in a separate sub20 sidiary;

21 ‘‘(iv) the financial resources of the

22 Bell Telephone Company in the case of

23 network services, or in the case of manu24 facturing of equipment if applicable regu25 latory rules permit cross-subsidization of
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1 equipment manufacturing with revenues

2 from regulated telecommunications services

3 and the manufacturing activities are not

4 conducted in a separate subsidiary; and

5 ‘‘(v) the type of operation or oper6 ations of the manufacturing affiliate or

7 Bell Telephone Company, as applicable.

8 ‘‘(B) ADVERSE COMPETITIVE IMPACT.—In

9 determining whether the activity would result in

10 an adverse competitive impact, the following

11 factors will be considered—

12 ‘‘(i) whether such activity would raise

13 the cost of the equipment or network serv14 ice in question beyond the level at which

15 there would be sufficient consumer demand

16 by the general population to make the

17 equipment or network service profitable;

18 and

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

20 respect to the equipment or network serv21 ice in question, put the manufacturing af22 filiate or Bell Telephone Company, as ap23 plicable, at a competitive disadvantage in

24 comparison with one or more providers of

25 one or more competing products and serv-
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1 ices. This factor may only be considered so

2 long as competing manufacturers and net3 work service providers are not held to the

4 same obligation with respect to access by

5 persons with disabilities.

6 ‘‘(C) ACTIVITY.—

7 ‘‘(i) the research, design, development,

8 deployment, and fabrication activities nec9 essary to comply with the requirements of

10 this section; and

11 ‘‘(ii) the acquisition of the related ma12 terials and equipment components.

13 ‘‘(5) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The regulations re14 quired by this subsection shall become effective 18

15 months after the date of enactment of this section.

16 ‘‘(6) IMPACT OF ADA.—Nothing in this section

17 will be interpreted to limit or otherwise affect the

18 application of the Americans with Disabilities Act or

19 its implementing regulations.

20 ‘‘(h) PUBLIC NETWORK ENHANCEMENT.—A Bell

21 Telephone Company manufacturing affiliate shall, as a

22 part of its overall research and development effort, estab23 lish a permanent program for the manufacturing research

24 and development of products and applications for the en25 hancement of the public switched telephone network and
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1 to promote public access to advanced telecommunications

2 services. Such program shall focus its work substantially

3 on developing technological advancements in public tele4 phone network applications, telecommunication equipment

5 and products, and access solutions to new services and

6 technology, including access by (1) public institutions, in7 cluding educational and health care institutions; and (2)

8 people with disabilities and functional limitations. Not9 withstanding the limitations in subsection (a), a Bell Tele10 phone Company and its affiliates may engage in such a

11 program in conjunction with a Bell Telephone Company

12 not so affiliated or any of its affiliates. The existence or

13 establishment of such a program that is jointly provided

14 by manufacturing affiliates of Bell Telephone Companies

15 shall satisfy the requirements of this section as it pertains

16 to all such affiliates of a Bell Telephone Company. Not17 withstanding any other provision of this Act, the manufac18 turing affiliate may engage in close collaboration with its

19 Bell Telephone Company Operating Company affiliate for

20 the purpose of identifying public switched network require21 ments and solutions under this subsection.

22 ‘‘(i) ACCESS NEEDS OF INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABIL23 ITIES.—A Bell Telephone Company and its affiliates that

24 engage in any manufacturing authorized by subsection (a)

25 shall accommodate the alternate access needs of individ-
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1 uals with disabilities, including individuals with functional

2 limitations of hearing, vision, movement, manipulation,

3 speech, and interpretation of information, unless such

4 Company or affiliate can demonstrate that the accommo5 dation would impose an undue hardship on such Company

6 or affiliate. For purposes of this subsection, the term

7 ‘undue hardship’ has the meaning provided in section

8 101(10) of the Americans With Disabilities Act (42

9 U.S.C. 12112).–

10 ‘‘(j) ADDITIONAL RULES AUTHORIZED.—The Com11 mission may prescribe such additional rules and regula12 tions as the Commission determines necessary to carry out

13 the provisions of this section.

14 ‘‘(k) ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT AUTHOR15 ITY.—

16 ‘‘(1) COMMISSION REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—

17 For the purposes of administering and enforcing the

18 provisions of this section and the regulations pre19 scribed thereunder, the Commission shall have the

20 same authority, power, and functions with respect to

21 any Bell Telephone Company as the Commission has

22 in administering and enforcing the provisions of this

23 title with respect to any common carrier subject to

24 this Act.
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1 ‘‘(2) PRIVATE ACTIONS.—Any regulated local

2 telephone exchange carrier injured by an act or

3 omission of a Bell Telephone Company or its manu4 facturing affiliate which violates the requirements of

5 paragraph (7) or (8) of subsection (c), or the Com6 mission’s regulations implementing such paragraphs,

7 may initiate an action in a district court of the Unit8 ed States to recover the full amount of damages sus9 tained in consequence of any such violation and ob10 tain such orders from the court as are necessary to

11 terminate existing violations and to prevent future

12 violations; or such regulated local telephone ex13 change carrier may seek relief from the Commission

14 pursuant to sections 206 through 209.

15 ‘‘(l) EFFECTIVE DATE; RULEMAKING SCHEDULE.—

16 The authority of the Commission to prescribe regulations

17 to carry out this section is effective on the date of enact18 ment of this section. The Commission shall prescribe such

19 regulations within 180 days after such date of enactment,

20 and the authority to engage in the manufacturing author21 ized in subsection (a) shall not take effect until regulations

22 prescribed by the Commission under subsections (c), (d),

23 and (e) are in effect.

24 ‘‘(m) EXISTING MANUFACTURING AUTHORITY.—

25 Nothing in this section shall prohibit any Bell Telephone
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1 Company from engaging, directly or through any affiliate,

2 in any manufacturing activity in which any Bell Telephone

3 Company or affiliate was authorized to engage on the date

4 of enactment of this section.

5 ‘‘(n) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:

6 ‘‘(1) The term ‘affiliate’ means any organiza7 tion or entity that, directly or indirectly, owns or

8 controls, is owned or controlled by, or is under com9 mon ownership with a Bell Telephone Company. The

10 terms ‘owns’, ‘owned’, and ‘ownership’ mean an eq11 uity interest of more than 10 percent.

12 ‘‘(2) The term ‘Bell Telephone Company’

13 means those companies listed in appendix A of the

14 Modification of Final Judgment, and includes any

15 successor or assign of any such company, but does

16 not include any affiliate of any such company.

17 ‘‘(3) The term ‘customer premises equipment’

18 means equipment employed on the premises of a

19 person (other than a carrier) to originate, route, or

20 terminate telecommunications.

21 ‘‘(4) The term ‘manufacturing’ has the same

22 meaning as such term has in the Modification of

23 Final Judgment as interpreted in United States v.

24 Western Electric Civil Action No. 82–0192 (United
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1 States District Court, District of Columbia) (filed

2 December 3, 1987).

3 ‘‘(5) The term ‘manufacturing affiliate’ means

4 an affiliate of a Bell Telephone Company established

5 in accordance with subsection (b) of this section.

6 ‘‘(6) The term ‘Modification of Final Judg7 ment’ means the decree entered August 24, 1982, in

8 United States v. Western Electric Civil Action No.

9 82–0192 (United States District Court, District of

10 Columbia).

11 ‘‘(7) The term ‘telecommunications’ means the

12 transmission, between or among points specified by

13 the user, of information of the user’s choosing, with14 out change in the form or content of the information

15 as sent and received, by means of an electromagnetic

16 transmission medium, including all instrumentalities,

17 facilities, apparatus, and services (including the col18 lection, storage, forwarding, switching, and delivery

19 of such information) essential to such transmission.

20 ‘‘(8) The term ‘telecommunications equipment’

21 means equipment, other than customer premises

22 equipment, used by a carrier to provide tele23 communications services.

24 ‘‘(9) The term ‘telecommunications service’

25 means the offering for hire of telecommunications
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1 facilities, or of telecommunications by means of such

2 facilities.’’.

3 SEC. 4. ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS.

4 Section 710 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

5 U.S.C. 610) is amended by adding at the end the following

6 new subsection:

7 ‘‘(i) Network capabilities to be deployed by common

8 carriers shall be designed to accommodate the needs of

9 individuals whose access might otherwise be impeded by

10 a disability or functional limitation, unless such carrier

11 can demonstrate that the accommodation would impose an

12 undue hardship on such carriers. Such capabilities shall

13 seek to permit the use of both standard and special equip14 ment, and seek to minimize the need for individuals to

15 acquire expensive devices to obtain such access. For pur16 poses of this subsection, the term ‘undue hardship’ has

17 the meaning provided in section 101(10) of the Americans

18 With Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. 12112).’’.

19 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 228 of the Communica21 tions Act of 1934 (as added by this Act) shall be effective

22 30 days after the Federal Communications Commission

23 prescribes final regulations pursuant to such section.

24 (b) RULEMAKING AUTHORITY EFFECTIVE ON EN25 ACTMENT.—Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this sec-
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1 tion, the authority of the Federal Communications Com2 mission to prescribe regulations pursuant to such section

3 228 is effective upon enactment of this Act.

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