Union Calendar No. 314

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3636

[Report No. 103–560]

A BILL

To promote a national communications infrastrucfor other purposes. munications services through competition, and ture to encourage deployment of advanced comJUNE 24, 1994Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commitordered to be printed tee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and
IB

Union Calendar No. 314

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3636

[Report No. 103–560]

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

JUNE 24, 1994

Additional sponsors: Mr. LAFALCE, Mr. QUINN, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr.

NADLER, Mr. SWETT, Mr. PAXON, Mr. TORKILDSEN, Mr. LAZIO, Mr.

ENGEL, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. SOLOMON, Mr. KING, Ms. MOLINARI, Mr.

NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. OWENS, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. SHAYS, Mr.

TAUZIN, Mr. SCHAEFER, Mr. YATES, and Mr. QUILLEN

JUNE 24, 1994

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on November 22, 1993]
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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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Na5 tional Communications Competition and Information In6 frastructure Act of 1994’’.

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

TITLE I—TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE AND

COMPETITION

Sec. 101. Policy; definitions.

Sec. 102. Equal access and network functionality and quality.

Sec. 103. Telecommunications services for educational institutions, health care institutions, and libraries.

Sec. 104. Discriminatory interconnection.

Sec. 105. Expedited licensing of new technologies and services.

Sec. 106. New or extended lines.

Sec. 107. Pole attachments.

Sec. 108. Inquiry on civic participation.

Sec. 109. Competition by small business and minority-owned business concerns.

TITLE II—COMMUNICATIONS COMPETITIVENESS

Sec. 201. Cable service provided by telephone companies.

Sec. 202. Review of broadcasters ownership restrictions.

Sec. 203. Review of statutory ownership restriction.

Sec. 204. Broadcaster spectrum flexibility.

Sec. 205. Interactive services and critical interfaces.

Sec. 206. Video programming accessibility.

Sec. 207. Public access.

Sec. 208. Automated ship distress and safety systems.

Sec. 209. Cable technical standards review.

Sec. 210. Exclusive Federal jurisdiction over direct broadcast satellite service.

TITLE III—PROCUREMENT PRACTICES OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

PROVIDERS

Sec. 301. Findings.
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Sec. 302. Purposes.

Sec. 303. Annual plan submission.

Sec. 304. Sanctions and remedies.

Sec. 305. Definitions.

TITLE IV—FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION RESOURCES

Sec. 401. Authorization of appropriations.

1 TITLE I—TELECOMMUNICATIONS

2 INFRASTRUCTURE AND COM3 PETITION

4 SEC. 101. POLICY; DEFINITIONS.

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

6 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151) is amended—

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

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

9 new subsection:

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

11 relate to common carrier services, include—

12 ‘‘(1) to preserve and enhance universal tele13 communications service at just and reasonable rates;

14 ‘‘(2) to encourage the continued development and

15 deployment of advanced and reliable capabilities and

16 services in telecommunications networks;

17 ‘‘(3) to make available, so far as possible, to all

18 the people of the United States, regardless of location

19 or disability, a switched, broadband telecommuni20 cations network capable of enabling users to originate

21 and receive affordable high quality voice, data, graph22 ics, and video telecommunications services;
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1 ‘‘(4) to ensure that the costs of such networks and

2 services are allocated equitably among users and are

3 constrained by competition whenever possible;

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

5 telecommunications network through joint planning,

6 coordination, and service arrangements between and

7 among carriers; and

8 ‘‘(6) to ensure that common carriers’ networks

9 function at a high standard of quality in delivering

10 advances in network capabilities and services.’’.

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

12 153) is amended—

13 (1) in subsection (r)—

14 (A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘means’’; and

15 (B) by inserting before the period at the end

16 the following: ‘‘, or (B) service provided through

17 a system of switches, transmission equipment, or

18 other facilities (or combination thereof) by which

19 a subscriber can originate and terminate a tele20 communications service within a State but

21 which does not result in the subscriber incurring

22 a telephone toll charge’’; and

23 (2) by adding at the end thereof the following:

24 ‘‘(gg) ‘Information service’ means the offering of a ca25 pability for generating, acquiring, storing, transforming,
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1 processing, retrieving, utilizing, or making available infor2 mation via telecommunications, and includes electronic

3 publishing, but does not include any use of any such capa4 bility for the management, control, or operation of a tele5 communications system or the management of a tele6 communications service.

7 ‘‘(hh) ‘Equal access’ means to afford, to any person

8 seeking to provide an information service or a telecommuni9 cations service, reasonable and nondiscriminatory access on

10 an unbundled basis—

11 ‘‘(1) to databases, signaling systems, poles, ducts,

12 conduits, and rights-of-way owned or controlled by a

13 local exchange carrier, or other facilities, functions, or

14 information (including subscriber numbers) integral

15 to the efficient transmission, routing, or other provi16 sion of telephone exchange services or telephone ex17 change access services;

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

19 price to the access which the carrier affords to itself

20 or to any other person; and

21 ‘‘(3) that is sufficient to ensure the full inter22 operability of the equipment and facilities of the car23 rier and of the person seeking such access.

24 ‘‘(ii) ‘Open platform service’ means a switched, end25 to-end digital telecommunications service that is subject to
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1 title II of this Act, and that (1) provides subscribers with

2 sufficient network capability to access multimedia informa3 tion services, (2) is widely available throughout a State,

4 (3) is provided based on industry standards, and (4) is

5 available to all subscribers on a single line basis upon rea6 sonable request.

7 ‘‘(jj) ‘Local exchange carrier’ means any person that

8 is engaged in the provision of telephone exchange service

9 or telephone exchange access service. Such term does not in10 clude a person insofar as such person is engaged in the pro11 vision of a commercial mobile service under section 332(c),

12 except to the extent that the Commission finds that such

13 service as provided by such person in a State is a replace14 ment for a substantial portion of the wireline telephone ex15 change service within such State.

16 ‘‘(kk) ‘Telephone exchange access service’ means the of17 fering of telephone exchange services or facilities for the pur18 pose of the origination or termination of interexchange tele19 communications services to or from an exchange area.

20 ‘‘(ll) ‘Telecommunications’ means the transmission, be21 tween or among points specified by the subscriber, of infor22 mation of the subscriber’s choosing, without change in the

23 form or content of the information as sent and received,

24 by means of an electromagnetic transmission medium, in25 cluding all instrumentalities, facilities, apparatus, and
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1 services (including the collection, storage, forwarding,

2 switching, and delivery of such information) essential to

3 such transmission.

4 ‘‘(mm) ‘Telecommunications service’ means the offer5 ing, on a common carrier basis, of telecommunications fa6 cilities, or of telecommunications by means of such facili7 ties. Such term does not include an information service.’’.

8 SEC. 102. EQUAL ACCESS AND NETWORK FUNCTIONALITY

9 AND QUALITY.

10 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 201 of the Communications

11 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 201) is amended by adding at the

12 end thereof the following new subsections:

13 ‘‘(c) EQUAL ACCESS.—

14 ‘‘(1) OPENNESS AND ACCESSIBILITY OBLIGA15 TIONS.—

16 ‘‘(A) COMMON CARRIER OBLIGATIONS.—The

17 duty of a common carrier under subsection (a)

18 to furnish communications service includes the

19 duty to interconnect with the facilities and

20 equipment of other providers of telecommuni21 cations services and information services in ac22 cordance with such regulations as the Commis23 sion may prescribe as necessary or desirable in

24 the public interest with respect to the openness

25 and accessibility of common carrier networks.
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1 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL OBLIGATIONS OF LOCAL

2 EXCHANGE CARRIERS.—The duty under sub3 section (a) of a local exchange carrier includes

4 the duty—

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

6 regulations prescribed under paragraph (2),

7 equal access to and interconnection with the

8 facilities of the carrier’s networks to any

9 other carrier or person providing tele10 communications services or information

11 services reasonably requesting such equal

12 access and interconnection, so that such net13 works are fully interoperable with such tele14 communications services and information

15 services; and

16 ‘‘(ii) to offer unbundled features, func17 tions, and capabilities whenever technically

18 feasible and economically reasonable, in ac19 cordance with requirements prescribed by

20 the Commission pursuant to this subsection

21 and other laws.

22 ‘‘(2) EQUAL ACCESS AND INTERCONNECTION

23 REGULATIONS.—

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

25 year after the date of enactment of this sub-
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1 section, the Commission shall establish regula2 tions that require reasonable and nondiscrim3 inatory equal access to and interconnection with

4 the facilities of a local exchange carrier’s network

5 at any technically feasible and economically rea6 sonable point within the carrier’s network on

7 reasonable terms and conditions, to any other

8 carrier or person offering telecommunications

9 services requesting such access. The Commission

10 shall establish such regulations after consultation

11 with the Joint Board established pursuant to

12 subparagraph (D). Such regulations shall pro13 vide for actual collocation of equipment nec14 essary for interconnection for telecommuni15 cations services at the premises of a local ex16 change carrier, except that the regulations shall

17 provide for virtual collocation where the local ex18 change carrier demonstrates that actual colloca19 tion is not practical for technical reasons or be20 cause of space limitations.

21 ‘‘(B) COMPENSATION.—Within 1 year after

22 the date of enactment of this subsection, the Com23 mission shall establish regulations requiring just

24 and reasonable compensation to the exchange

25 carrier providing such equal access and inter-
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1 connection pursuant to subparagraph (A). Such

2 regulations shall include regulations to require

3 the carrier, to the extent it provides a tele4 communications service or an information serv5 ice, to impute such access and interconnection

6 charges to itself as the Commission determines

7 are reasonable and nondiscriminatory.

8 ‘‘(C) EXEMPTIONS AND MODIFICATIONS.—

9 Notwithstanding paragraph (1) or subparagraph

10 (A) of this paragraph, a rural telephone com11 pany shall not be required to provide equal ac12 cess and interconnection to another local ex13 change carrier. The Commission shall not apply

14 the requirements of this paragraph or impose re15 quirements pursuant to paragraph (1)(B)(ii) to

16 any rural telephone company, except to the ex17 tent that the Commission determines that com18 pliance with such requirements would not be un19 duly economically burdensome, unfairly competi20 tive, technologically infeasible, or otherwise not

21 in the public interest. The Commission may

22 modify the requirements of this paragraph for

23 any other local exchange carrier that has, in the

24 aggregate nationwide, fewer than 500,000 access

25 lines installed, to the extent that the Commission
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1 determines that compliance with such require2 ments (without such modification) would be un3 duly economically burdensome, technologically

4 infeasible, or otherwise not in the public interest.

5 The Commission may include, in the regulations

6 prescribed pursuant to paragraph (1)(B), modi7 fied requirements for any feature, function, or

8 capability that the Commission determines is

9 generally available to competing providers of

10 telecommunications services or information serv11 ices at the same or better price, terms, and con12 ditions.

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

14 INTERCONNECTION STANDARDS.—Within 30 days

15 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the

16 Commission shall convene a Federal-State Joint

17 Board under section 410(c) for the purpose of

18 preparing a recommended decision for the Com19 mission with respect to the equal access and

20 interconnection regulations required by this

21 paragraph.

22 ‘‘(E) ENFORCEMENT OF EXISTING REGULA23 TIONS.—Nothing in this section shall be con24 strued to prohibit the Commission from enforc25 ing regulations prescribed prior to the date of en-
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1 actment of this subsection in fulfilling the re2 quirements of this subsection to the extent that

3 such regulations are consistent with the provi4 sions of this subsection.

5 ‘‘(F) DEFINITION OF RURAL TELEPHONE

6 COMPANY.—For the purpose of subparagraph (C)

7 of this paragraph, the term ‘rural telephone com8 pany’ means a local exchange carrier operating

9 entity to the extent that such entity—

10 ‘‘(i) provides common carrier service to

11 any local exchange carrier study area that

12 does not include either—

13 ‘‘(I) any incorporated place of

14 10,000 inhabitants or more, or any

15 part thereof, based on the most recent

16 available population statistics of the

17 Bureau of the Census; or

18 ‘‘(II) any territory, incorporated

19 or unincorporated, included in an ur20 banized area, as defined by the Bureau

21 of the Census as of August 10, 1993;

22 ‘‘(ii) provides telephone exchange serv23 ice, including telephone exchange access

24 service, to fewer than 50,000 access lines; or
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1 ‘‘(iii) provides telephone exchange serv2 ice to any local exchange carrier study area

3 with fewer than 100,000 access lines.

4 ‘‘(3) PREEMPTION.—

5 ‘‘(A) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding section

6 2(b), no State or local government may, after one

7 year after the date of enactment of this sub8 section—

9 ‘‘(i) effectively prohibit any person or

10 carrier from providing any interstate or

11 intrastate telecommunications service or in12 formation service, or impose any restriction

13 or condition on entry into the business of

14 providing any such service;

15 ‘‘(ii) prohibit any carrier or other per16 son providing interstate or intrastate tele17 communications services or information

18 services from exercising the access and

19 interconnection rights provided under this

20 subsection; or

21 ‘‘(iii) impose any limitation on the ex22 ercise of such rights.

23 ‘‘(B) PERMITTED TERMS AND CONDI24 TIONS.—Subparagraph (A) shall not be con25 strued to prohibit a State from imposing a term
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1 or condition on providers of telecommunications

2 services or information services if such term or

3 condition is not inconsistent with subparagraph

4 (A) and is necessary and appropriate to—

5 ‘‘(i) protect public safety and welfare;

6 ‘‘(ii) ensure the continued quality of

7 intrastate telecommunications;

8 ‘‘(iii) ensure that rates for intrastate

9 telecommunications services are just and

10 reasonable; or

11 ‘‘(iv) ensure that the provider’s busi12 ness practices are consistent with consumer

13 protection laws and regulations.

14 ‘‘(C) EXCEPTION.—In the case of commer15 cial mobile services, the provisions of section

16 332(c)(3) shall apply in lieu of the provisions of

17 this paragraph.

18 ‘‘(D) PARITY OF FRANCHISE AND OTHER

19 CHARGES.—Notwithstanding section 2(b), no

20 local government may, after 1 year after the date

21 of enactment of this subsection, impose or collect

22 any franchise, license, permit, or right-of-way fee

23 or any assessment, rental, or any other charge or

24 equivalent thereof as a condition for operating in

25 the locality or for obtaining access to, occupying,
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1 or crossing public rights-of-way from any pro2 vider of telecommunications services that distin3 guishes between or among providers of tele4 communications services, including the local ex5 change carrier. For purposes of this subsection,

6 a franchise, license, permit, or right-of-way fee

7 or an assessment, rental, or any other charge or

8 equivalent thereof does not include any imposi9 tion of general applicability which does not dis10 tinguish between or among providers of tele11 communications services, or any tax.

12 ‘‘(4) TARIFFS.—

13 ‘‘(A) GENERALLY.—Within 18 months after

14 the date of enactment of this subsection, a local

15 exchange carrier shall prepare and file tariffs in

16 accordance with this Act with respect to the serv17 ices or elements offered to comply with the equal

18 access and interconnection regulations required

19 under this subsection. The costs that a carrier

20 incurs in providing such services or elements

21 shall be borne solely by the users of the features

22 and functions comprising such services or ele23 ments or of the feature or function that uses or

24 includes such services or elements. The Commis25 sion shall review such tariffs to ensure that—
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1 ‘‘(i) the charges for such services or ele2 ments are cost-based; and

3 ‘‘(ii) the terms and conditions con4 tained in such tariffs unbundle any sepa5 rable services, elements, features, or func6 tions in accordance with paragraph

7 (1)(B)(ii) and any regulations thereunder.

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

9 exchange carrier shall submit supporting infor10 mation with its tariffs for equal access and

11 interconnection that is sufficient to enable the

12 Commission and the public to determine the re13 lationship between the proposed charges and the

14 costs of providing such services or elements. The

15 submission of such information shall be pursuant

16 to regulations adopted by the Commission to en17 sure that similarly situated carriers provide such

18 information in a uniform fashion.

19 ‘‘(5) PRICING FLEXIBILITY.—

20 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT OF CRITERIA.—With21 in 270 days after the date of enactment of this

22 subsection, the Commission, by regulation, shall

23 establish criteria for determining—

24 ‘‘(i) whether a telecommunications

25 service or provider of such service has be-
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1 come, or is substantially certain to become,

2 subject to competition, either within a geo3 graphic area or within a class or category

4 of service;

5 ‘‘(ii) whether such competition will ef6 fectively prevent rates for such service that

7 are unjust or unreasonable or that are un8 justly or unreasonably discriminatory; and

9 ‘‘(iii) appropriate flexible pricing pro10 cedures that can be used in lieu of the filing

11 of tariff schedules, or in lieu of other pric12 ing procedures established by the Commis13 sion, and that are consistent with the pro14 tection of subscribers and the public inter15 est, convenience, and necessity.

16 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATIONS.—The Commission,

17 with respect to rates for interstate or foreign

18 communications, and State commissions, with

19 respect to rates for intrastate communications,

20 shall, upon application—

21 ‘‘(i) render determinations in accord22 ance with the criteria established under

23 clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (A)

24 concerning the services or providers that are

25 the subject of such application; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) upon a proper showing, establish

2 appropriate flexible pricing procedures con3 sistent with the criteria established under

4 clause (iii) of such subparagraph.

5 The Commission shall approve or reject any such

6 application within 180 days after the date of its

7 submission.

8 ‘‘(C) EXCEPTION.—In the case of commer9 cial mobile services, the provisions of section

10 332(c)(1) shall apply in lieu of the provisions of

11 this paragraph.

12 ‘‘(6) JOINT BOARD TO PRESERVE UNIVERSAL

13 SERVICE.—

14 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT; FUNCTIONS.—With15 in 30 days after the date of enactment of this

16 subsection, the Commission shall convene a Fed17 eral-State Joint Board under section 410(c) for

18 the purpose of recommending actions to the Com19 mission and State commissions for the preserva20 tion of universal service. As a part of preparing

21 such recommendations, the Joint Board shall

22 survey providers and users of telephone exchange

23 service and consult with State commissions in

24 order to determine the pecuniary difference be25 tween the cost of providing universal service and
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1 the prices determined to be appropriate for such

2 service.

3 ‘‘(B) PRINCIPLES.—The Joint Board shall

4 base policies for the preservation of universal

5 service on the following principles:

6 ‘‘(i) A plan adopted by the Commis7 sion and the States should ensure the con8 tinued viability of universal service by

9 maintaining quality services at just and

10 reasonable rates.

11 ‘‘(ii) Such plan should define the na12 ture and extent of the services encompassed

13 within carriers’ universal service obliga14 tions. Such plan should seek to promote ac15 cess to advanced telecommunications serv16 ices and capabilities, including open plat17 form service, for all Americans by including

18 access to advanced telecommunications serv19 ices and capabilities in the definition of

20 universal service while maintaining just

21 and reasonable rates. Such plan should en22 sure reasonably comparable services for the

23 general public in urban and rural areas.

24 ‘‘(iii) Such plan should establish spe25 cific and predictable mechanisms to provide
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1 adequate and sustainable support for uni2 versal service.

3 ‘‘(iv) All providers of telecommuni4 cations services should make an equitable

5 and nondiscriminatory contribution to

6 preservation of universal service.

7 ‘‘(v) Such plan should permit residen8 tial subscribers to continue to receive only

9 basic voice-grade local telephone service,

10 equivalent to the service generally available

11 to residential subscribers on the date of en12 actment of this subsection, at just, reason13 able, and affordable rates. Determinations

14 concerning the affordability of rates for such

15 services shall take into account the rates

16 generally available to residential subscribers

17 on such date of enactment and the pricing

18 rules established by the States. If the plan

19 would result in any increases in the rates

20 for such services for residential subscribers

21 that are not attributable to changes in

22 consumer prices generally, such plan shall

23 include a requirement that a rate increase

24 shall be permitted in any proceeding com25 menced after March 16, 1994, only upon a
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1 showing that such increase is necessary to

2 prevent competitive disadvantages for one

3 or more service providers and is in the pub4 lic interest. Such plan should provide that

5 any such increase in rates shall be mini6 mized to the greatest extent practical and

7 shall be implemented over a time period of

8 not less than 5 years.

9 ‘‘(vi) To the extent that a common car10 rier establishes advanced telecommuni11 cations services, such plan should include

12 provisions to promote public access to ad13 vanced telecommunications services, other

14 than a video platform, at a preferential rate

15 that will recover only the added costs of pro16 viding such service, for educational, library,

17 public broadcast, and other tax-exempt in18 stitutions, and governmental entities, both

19 as producers and users of services as soon as

20 technically feasible and economically rea21 sonable. Such preferential rates should only

22 be made available to such institutions and

23 entities for the purpose of providing non24 commercial information services or tele25 communications services to the general pub-
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1 lic and not for the internal telecommuni2 cations needs or commercial use of such in3 stitutions and entities.

4 ‘‘(vii) Such plan should determine and

5 establish mechanisms to ensure that rates

6 charged by a provider of interexchange tele7 communications services for services in

8 rural areas are maintained at levels no

9 higher than those charged by the same car10 rier to subscribers in urban areas.

11 ‘‘(viii) Such plan should, notwith12 standing any other provision of law, require

13 common carriers serving more than

14 1,800,000 access lines in the aggregate na15 tionwide, to be subject to alternative or

16 price regulation, and not cost-based rate-of17 return regulation, for services that are sub18 ject to the jurisdiction of the Commission or

19 the States, as applicable, when such car20 rier’s network has been made open to com21 petition as a result of its implementation of

22 the equal access, interconnection, and acces23 sibility provisions of this subsection.

24 ‘‘(ix) Such other principles as the

25 Board determines are necessary and appro-
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1 priate for the protection of the public inter2 est, convenience, and necessity and consist3 ent with the purposes of this Act.

4 ‘‘(C) DEFINITION OF UNIVERSAL SERVICE;

5 ACCESS TO ADVANCED SERVICES.—In defining

6 the nature and extent of the services encompassed

7 within carriers’ universal service obligations

8 under subparagraph (B)(ii), the Joint Board

9 shall consider the extent to which—

10 ‘‘(i) a telecommunications service has,

11 through the operation of market choices by

12 customers, been subscribed to by a substan13 tial majority of residential customers;

14 ‘‘(ii) denial of access to such service to

15 any individual would unfairly deny that

16 individual educational and economic oppor17 tunities;

18 ‘‘(iii) such service has been deployed in

19 the public switched telecommunications net20 work; and

21 ‘‘(iv) inclusion of such service within

22 carriers’ universal service obligations is oth23 erwise consistent with the public interest,

24 convenience, and necessity.
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1 The Joint Board may, from time to time, rec2 ommend to the Commission modifications in the

3 definition proposed under subparagraph (B).

4 ‘‘(D) REPORT; COMMISSION RESPONSE.—

5 The Joint Board convened pursuant to subpara6 graph (A) shall report its recommendations with7 in 270 days after the date of enactment of this

8 subsection. The Commission shall complete any

9 proceeding to act upon such recommendations

10 within one year after such date of enactment. A

11 State may adopt regulations to implement the

12 Joint Board’s recommendations, except that such

13 regulations shall not, after 18 months after such

14 date of enactment, be inconsistent with regula15 tions prescribed by the Commission to implement

16 such recommendations.

17 ‘‘(7) CROSS SUBSIDIES PROHIBITION.—The Com18 mission shall—

19 ‘‘(A) prescribe regulations to prohibit a

20 common carrier from engaging in any practice

21 that results in the inclusion in rates for tele22 phone exchange service or telephone exchange ac23 cess service of any operating expenses, costs, de24 preciation charges, capital investments, or other

25 expenses directly associated with the provision of
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1 competing telecommunications services, informa2 tion services, or video programming services by

3 the common carrier or affiliate; and

4 ‘‘(B) ensure such competing telecommuni5 cations services, information services or video

6 programming services bear a reasonable share of

7 the joint and common costs of facilities used to

8 provide telephone exchange service or telephone

9 exchange access service and competing tele10 communications services, information services, or

11 video programming services.

12 ‘‘(8) RESALE.—The resale or sharing of tele13 phone exchange service (or unbundled services, ele14 ments, features, or functions of such service) in con15 junction with the furnishing of a telecommunications

16 service or any information service shall not be prohib17 ited nor subject to unreasonable conditions by the car18 rier, the Commission, or any State.

19 ‘‘(9) TELECOMMUNICATIONS NUMBER PORT20 ABILITY.—The Commission shall prescribe regulations

21 to ensure that—

22 ‘‘(A) telecommunications number port23 ability shall be available, upon request, as soon

24 as technically feasible and economically reason25 able; and
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1 ‘‘(B) an impartial entity shall administer

2 telecommunications numbering and make such

3 numbers available on an equitable basis.

4 The Commission shall have exclusive jurisdiction over

5 those portions of the North American Numbering Plan

6 that pertain to the United States. For the purpose of

7 this paragraph, the term ‘telecommunications number

8 portability’ means the ability of users of telecommuni9 cations services to retain existing telecommunications

10 numbers without impairment of quality, reliability,

11 or convenience when switching from one provider of

12 telecommunications services to another.

13 ‘‘(10) REVIEW OF STANDARDS AND REQUIRE14 MENTS.—At least once every three years, the Commis15 sion shall—

16 ‘‘(A) conduct a proceeding in which inter17 ested parties shall have an opportunity to com18 ment on whether the standards and requirements

19 established by or under this subsection have

20 opened the networks of carriers to reasonable and

21 nondiscriminatory access by providers of tele22 communications services and information serv23 ices;

24 ‘‘(B) review the definition of, and the ade25 quacy of support for, universal service, and
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1 evaluate the extent to which universal service has

2 been protected and access to advanced services

3 has been facilitated pursuant to this subsection

4 and the plans and regulations thereunder; and

5 ‘‘(C) submit to the Congress a report con6 taining a statement of the Commission’s findings

7 pursuant to such proceeding, and including an

8 identification of any defects or delays observed in

9 attaining the objectives of this subsection and a

10 plan for correcting such defects and delays.

11 ‘‘(11) STUDY OF RURAL PHONE SERVICE.—With12 in 1 year after the date of enactment of this sub13 section, the Commission shall initiate an inquiry to

14 examine the effects of competition in the provision of

15 telephone exchange access service and telephone ex16 change service on the availability and rates for tele17 phone exchange access service and telephone exchange

18 service furnished by rural exchange carriers.

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

20 ‘‘(1) FUNCTIONALITY AND RELIABILITY OBLIGA21 TIONS.—The duty of a common carrier under sub22 section (a) to furnish communications service includes

23 the duty to furnish that service in accordance with

24 such regulations of functionality and reliability as the
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1 Commission may prescribe as necessary or desirable

2 in the public interest pursuant to this subsection.

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 and

8 other providers of telecommunications services 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 Commission oversight of

14 the development by appropriate standards-set15 ting organizations of—

16 ‘‘(i) standards for the interconnection

17 and interoperability of such networks;

18 ‘‘(ii) standards that promote access to

19 network capabilities and services by indi20 viduals with disabilities; and

21 ‘‘(iii) standards that promote access to

22 information services by subscribers to tele23 phone exchange service furnished by a rural

24 telephone company (as such term is defined

25 in subsection (c)(2)(F)).
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1 ‘‘(3) OPEN PLATFORM SERVICE.—

2 ‘‘(A) STUDY.—Within 90 days after the

3 date of enactment of this subsection, the Commis4 sion shall initiate an inquiry to consider the reg5 ulations and policies necessary to make open

6 platform service available to subscribers at rea7 sonable rates based on the reasonably identifiable

8 costs of providing such service, utilizing existing

9 facilities or new facilities with improved capa10 bility or efficiency. The inquiry required under

11 this paragraph shall be completed within 180

12 days after the date of its 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 for

20 the origination and termination of open plat21 form service as soon as such service is economi22 cally and technically feasible. In establishing

23 any such regulations, the Commission shall take

24 into account the proximate and long-term de25 ployment plans of local exchange carriers.
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1 ‘‘(C) TEMPORARY WAIVER.—The Commis2 sion shall also establish a procedure to waive

3 temporarily specific provisions of the regulations

4 prescribed under this paragraph if a local ex5 change carrier demonstrates that compliance

6 with such requirement—

7 ‘‘(i) would be economically or tech8 nically infeasible, or

9 ‘‘(ii) would materially delay the de10 ployment of new facilities with improved

11 capabilities or efficiencies that will be used

12 to meet the requirements of open platform

13 services.

14 Such petitions shall be decided by the Commis15 sion within 180 days after the date of its submis16 sion.

17 ‘‘(D) COST ALLOCATION.—Any such regula18 tions shall provide for the allocation of all costs

19 of facilities jointly used to provide open platform

20 service and telephone exchange service or tele21 phone exchange access services.

22 ‘‘(E) STATE AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this

23 paragraph shall be construed to limit a State’s

24 authority to continue to regulate any services

25 subject to State jurisdiction under this Act.
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1 ‘‘(F) CONTINUING OVERSIGHT.—Commenc2 ing not later than 2 years after the date of enact3 ment of this subsection, the Commission shall

4 conduct an inquiry on the progress of open plat5 form service deployment. The Commission shall

6 submit a report to the Congress on the results of

7 such inquiry within 180 days after the com8 mencement of such inquiry and annually there9 after for the succeeding 5 years.

10 ‘‘(4) ACCESSIBILITY REGULATIONS.—

11 ‘‘(A) REGULATIONS.—Within 1 year after

12 the date of enactment of this section, the Com13 mission shall prescribe such regulations as are

14 necessary to ensure that advances in network

15 services deployed by local exchange carriers shall

16 be accessible and usable by individuals with dis17 abilities, including individuals with functional

18 limitations of hearing, vision, movement, manip19 ulation, speech, and interpretation of informa20 tion, unless the cost of making the services acces21 sible and usable would result in an undue bur22 den or adverse competitive impact. Such regula23 tions shall seek to permit the use of both stand24 ard and special equipment, and seek to minimize

25 the need of individuals to acquire additional de-
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1 vices beyond those used by the general public to

2 obtain such access. Throughout the process of de3 veloping such regulations, the Commission shall

4 coordinate and consult with representatives of

5 individuals with disabilities and interested

6 equipment and service providers to ensure their

7 concerns and interests are given full consider8 ation in such process.

9 ‘‘(B) COMPATIBILITY.—Such regulations

10 shall require that whenever an undue burden or

11 adverse competitive impact would result from the

12 requirements in subparagraph (A), the local ex13 change carrier that deploys the network service

14 shall ensure that the network service in question

15 is compatible with existing peripheral devices or

16 specialized customer premises equipment com17 monly used by persons with disabilities to

18 achieve access, unless doing so would result in an

19 undue burden or adverse competitive impact.

20 ‘‘(C) UNDUE BURDEN.—The term ‘undue

21 burden’ means significant difficulty or expense.

22 In determining whether the activity necessary to

23 comply with the requirements of this paragraph

24 would result in an undue burden, the factors to

25 be considered include the following:
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1 ‘‘(i) The nature and cost of the activ2 ity.

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

4 the facility involved in the deployment of

5 the network service.

6 ‘‘(iii) The financial resources of the

7 local exchange carrier.

8 ‘‘(iv) The type of operations of the local

9 exchange carrier.

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

11 determining whether the activity necessary to

12 comply with the requirements of this paragraph

13 would result in adverse competitive impact, the

14 following factors shall be considered:

15 ‘‘(i) Whether such activity would raise

16 the cost of the network service in question

17 beyond the level at which there would be

18 sufficient consumer demand by the general

19 population to make the network service

20 profitable.

21 ‘‘(ii) Whether such activity would, with

22 respect to the network service in question,

23 put the local exchange carrier at a competi24 tive disadvantage. This factor may be con25 sidered so long as competing network service
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1 providers are not held to the same obliga2 tion with respect to access by persons with

3 disabilities.

4 ‘‘(E) REVIEW OF STANDARDS AND REQUIRE5 MENTS.—At least once every 3 years, the Com6 mission shall conduct a proceeding in which in7 terested parties shall have an opportunity to

8 comment on whether the regulations established

9 under this paragraph have ensured that ad10 vances in network services by providers of tele11 communications services and information serv12 ices are accessible and usable by individuals

13 with disabilities.

14 ‘‘(F) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The regulations re15 quired by this paragraph shall become effective

16 18 months after the date of enactment of this

17 subsection.

18 ‘‘(5) QUALITY RULES.—

19 ‘‘(A) MEASURES OR BENCHMARKS RE20 QUIRED.—The Commission shall designate or

21 otherwise establish network reliability and qual22 ity performance measures or benchmarks for

23 common carriers for the purpose of ensuring the

24 continued maintenance and evolution of common

25 carrier facilities and service. Not later than 180
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1 days after the date of enactment of this sub2 section, the Commission shall initiate a rule3 making proceeding to establish such performance

4 measures or benchmarks.

5 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS OF REGULATIONS.—Such

6 regulations shall include—

7 ‘‘(i) quantitative network reliability

8 and service quality performance measures

9 or benchmarks;

10 ‘‘(ii) procedures to monitor and evalu11 ate common carrier efforts to increase net12 work reliability and service quality; and

13 ‘‘(iii) procedures to resolve network re14 liability and service quality complaints.

15 ‘‘(C) COORDINATION AND CONSULTATION.—

16 Throughout the process of developing network re17 liability and service quality performance meas18 ures or benchmarks, as required by subpara19 graphs (A) and (B), the Commission shall co20 ordinate and consult with service and equipment

21 providers and users and State regulatory bodies

22 to ensure their concerns and interests are given

23 full consideration in such process.

24 ‘‘(6) RURAL EXEMPTION.—The Commission may

25 modify, or grant exemptions from, the requirements of
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1 this subsection in the case of a common carrier pro2 viding telecommunications services in a rural area.

3 ‘‘(e) INFRASTRUCTURE SHARING.—

4 ‘‘(1) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—Within one year

5 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the

6 Commission shall prescribe regulations that require

7 local exchange carriers to make available to any

8 qualifying carrier such public switched telecommuni9 cations network technology and information and tele10 communications facilities and functions as may be re11 quested by such qualifying carrier for the purpose of

12 enabling that carrier to provide telecommunications

13 services, or to provide access to information services,

14 in the geographic area in which that carrier has re15 quested and obtained designation as the qualifying

16 carrier.

17 ‘‘(2) QUALIFYING CARRIERS.—For purposes of

18 paragraph (1), the term ‘qualifying carrier’ means a

19 local exchange carrier that—

20 ‘‘(A) lacks economies of scale or scope, as

21 determined in accordance with regulations pre22 scribed by the Commission pursuant to this sub23 section; and

24 ‘‘(B) is a common carrier which offers tele25 phone exchange service, telephone exchange access
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1 service, and any other service that is within the

2 definition of universal service, to all customers

3 without preference throughout one or more ex4 change areas in existence on the date of enact5 ment of this subsection.

6 ‘‘(3) TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF REGULA7 TIONS.—The regulations prescribed by the Commis8 sion pursuant to this subsection—

9 ‘‘(A) shall not require any local exchange

10 carrier to take any action that is economically

11 unreasonable or that is contrary to the public in12 terest;

13 ‘‘(B) shall permit, but shall not require, the

14 joint ownership or operation of public switched

15 telecommunications network facilities, functions,

16 and services by or among the local exchange car17 rier and the qualifying carrier;

18 ‘‘(C) shall ensure that a local exchange car19 rier shall not be treated by the Commission or

20 any State commission as a common carrier for

21 hire, or as offering common carrier services, with

22 respect to any technology, information, facilities,

23 or functions made available to a qualifying car24 rier pursuant to this subsection;
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1 ‘‘(D) shall ensure that local exchange car2 riers make such technology, information, facili3 ties, or functions available to qualifying carriers

4 on fair and reasonable terms and conditions that

5 permit such qualifying carriers to fully benefit

6 from the economies of scale and scope of the pro7 viding local exchange carrier, as determined in

8 accordance with guidelines prescribed by the

9 Commission in such regulations;

10 ‘‘(E) shall establish conditions that promote

11 cooperation between local exchange carriers and

12 qualifying carriers; and

13 ‘‘(F) shall not require any local exchange

14 carrier to engage in any infrastructure sharing

15 agreement for any geographic area where such

16 carrier is required to provide services subject to

17 State regulation.

18 ‘‘(4) INFORMATION CONCERNING DEPLOYMENT OF

19 NEW SERVICES AND EQUIPMENT.—Any local exchange

20 carrier that has entered into an agreement with a

21 qualifying carrier under this subsection shall provide

22 to each party to such agreement timely information

23 on the planned deployment of telecommunications

24 services and equipment, including software integral to
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1 such telecommunications services and equipment, in2 cluding upgrades.’’.

3 (b) PREEMPTION OF FRANCHISING AUTHORITY REGU4 LATION OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES.—

5 (1) TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES.—Section

6 621(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.

7 541(c)) is amended by adding at the end thereof the

8 following new paragraph:

9 ‘‘(3)(A) To the extent that a cable operator or affiliate

10 thereof is engaged in the provision of telecommunications

11 services—

12 ‘‘(i) such cable operator or affiliate shall not be

13 required to obtain a franchise under this title; and

14 ‘‘(ii) the provisions of this title shall not apply

15 to such cable operator or affiliate.

16 ‘‘(B) A franchising authority may not impose any re17 quirement that has the purpose or effect of prohibiting, lim18 iting, restricting, or conditioning the provision of a tele19 communications service by a cable operator or an affiliate

20 thereof.

21 ‘‘(C) A franchising authority may not order a cable

22 operator or affiliate thereof—

23 ‘‘(i) to discontinue the provision of a tele24 communications service, or
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1 ‘‘(ii) to discontinue the operation of a cable sys2 tem, to the extent such cable system is used for the

3 provision of a telecommunications service, by reason

4 of the failure of such cable operator or affiliate thereof

5 to obtain a franchise or franchise renewal under this

6 title with respect to the provision of such tele7 communications service.

8 ‘‘(D) A franchising authority may not require a cable

9 operator to provide any telecommunications service or fa10 cilities as a condition of the initial grant of a franchise

11 or a franchise renewal.’’.

12 (2) FRANCHISE FEES.—Section 622(b) of the

13 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 542(b)) is

14 amended by inserting ‘‘to provide cable services’’ im15 mediately before the period at the end of the first sen16 tence thereof.

17 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 2(b) of the

18 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 152(b)) is amend19 ed by inserting ‘‘201(c) and (d),’’ after ‘‘Except as provided

20 in sections’’.

21 SEC. 103. TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES FOR EDU22 CATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, HEALTH CARE IN23 STITUTIONS, AND LIBRARIES.

24 Title II of the Communications Act of 1934 is amended

25 by adding at the end the following new section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 229. TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES FOR EDU2 CATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, HEALTH CARE IN3 STITUTIONS, AND LIBRARIES.

4 ‘‘(a) PROMOTION OF DELIVERY OF ADVANCED SERV5 ICES.—In fulfillment of its obligation under section 1 to

6 make available to all the people of the United States a

7 rapid, efficient, nationwide, and worldwide communica8 tions service, the Commission shall promote the provision

9 of advanced telecommunications services by wire, wireless,

10 cable, and satellite technologies to—

11 ‘‘(1) educational institutions;

12 ‘‘(2) health care institutions; and

13 ‘‘(3) public libraries.

14 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL SURVEY REQUIRED.—The National Tele15 communications and Information Administration shall

16 conduct a nationwide survey of the availability of advanced

17 telecommunications services to educational institutions,

18 health care institutions, and public libraries. The Adminis19 tration shall complete the survey and release publicly the

20 results of such survey not later than one year after the date

21 of enactment of this section. The results of such survey shall

22 include—

23 ‘‘(1) the number of educational institutions and

24 classrooms, health care institutions, and public li25 braries;
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1 ‘‘(2) the number of educational institutions and

2 classrooms, health care institutions, and public li3 braries that have access to advanced telecommuni4 cations services; and

5 ‘‘(3) the nature of the telecommunications facili6 ties through which such educational institutions,

7 health care institutions, and public libraries obtain

8 access to advanced telecommunications services.

9 The National Telecommunications and Information Ad10 ministration shall update annually the survey required by

11 this section. The survey required under this subsection shall

12 be prepared in consultation with the Department of Edu13 cation, Department of Health and Human Services, and

14 such other Federal, State, and local departments, agencies,

15 and authorities that may maintain or have access to infor16 mation concerning the availability of advanced tele17 communications services to educational institutions, health

18 care institutions, and libraries.

19 ‘‘(c) RULEMAKING REQUIRED.—Within one year after

20 the date of enactment of this section, the Commission shall

21 issue a notice of proposed rulemaking for the purpose of

22 adopting regulations that—

23 ‘‘(1) enhance, to the extent technically feasible

24 and economically reasonable, the availability of ad25 vanced telecommunications services to all educational
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1 institutions and classrooms, health care institutions,

2 and public libraries by the year 2000;

3 ‘‘(2) ensure that appropriate functional require4 ments or performance standards, or both, including

5 interoperability standards, are established for tele6 communications systems or facilities that interconnect

7 educational institutions, health care institutions, and

8 public libraries with the public switched telecommuni9 cations network;

10 ‘‘(3) define the circumstances under which a car11 rier may be required to interconnect its telecommuni12 cations network with educational institutions, health

13 care institutions, and public libraries;

14 ‘‘(4) provide for either the establishment of pref15 erential rates for telecommunications services, includ16 ing advanced services, that are provided to edu17 cational institutions, health care institutions, and

18 public libraries, or the use of alternative mechanisms

19 to enhance the availability of advanced services to

20 these institutions; and

21 ‘‘(5) address such other related matters as the

22 Commission may determine.

23 ‘‘(d) FEASIBILITY STUDY.—The Commission shall as24 sess the feasibility of including postsecondary educational
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1 institutions in any regulations promulgated under this sec2 tion.

3 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

4 ‘‘(1) the term ‘educational institutions’ means el5 ementary and secondary educational institutions; and

6 ‘‘(2) the term ‘health care institutions’ means

7 not-for-profit health care institutions, including hos8 pitals and clinics.’’.

9 SEC. 104. DISCRIMINATORY INTERCONNECTION.

10 Section 208 of the Communications Act of 1934 is

11 amended by adding at the end thereof the following new

12 subsection:

13 ‘‘(c) EXPEDITED REVIEW OF CERTAIN COMPLAINTS.—

14 The Commission shall issue a final order with respect to

15 any complaint arising from alleged violations of the regula16 tions and orders prescribed pursuant to section 201(c) with17 in 180 days after the date such complaint is filed.’’.

18 SEC. 105. EXPEDITED LICENSING OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES

19 AND SERVICES.

20 Section 7 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

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

22 following new subsection:

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

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

25 months after making a determination under sub-
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1 section (b) that a technology or service related to the

2 furnishing of telecommunications services is in the

3 public interest, the Commission shall, with respect to

4 any such service requiring a license or other author5 ization from the Commission, adopt and make effec6 tive regulations for—

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

8 service; and

9 ‘‘(B) the filing of applications for the li10 censes or authorizations necessary to offer such

11 technology or service to the public, and shall act

12 on any such application within 24 months after

13 it is filed.

14 ‘‘(2) REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS.—Any applica15 tion filed by a carrier under this subsection for the

16 construction or extension of a line shall also be subject

17 to section 214 and to any necessary approval by the

18 appropriate State commissions.’’.

19 SEC. 106. NEW OR EXTENDED LINES.

20 Section 214 of the Communications Act of 1934 is

21 amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

22 ‘‘(e) Any application filed under this section for au23 thority to construct or extend a line shall address the means

24 by which such construction or extension will meet the net25 work access needs of individuals with disabilities.’’.
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1 SEC. 107. POLE ATTACHMENTS.

2 Section 224 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

3 U.S.C. 244) is amended—

4 (1) in subsection (a)(4), by inserting after ‘‘sys5 tem’’ the following: ‘‘or a provider of telecommuni6 cations service’’;

7 (2) in subsection (c)(2)(B), by striking ‘‘cable tel8 evision services’’ and inserting ‘‘the services offered

9 via such attachments’’;

10 (3) by redesignating subsection (d)(2) as sub11 section (d)(4); and

12 (4) by striking subsection (d)(1) and inserting

13 the following:

14 ‘‘(d)(1) For purposes of subsection (b) of this section,

15 the Commission shall, no later than 1 year after the date

16 of enactment of the National Communications Competition

17 and Information Infrastructure Act of 1994, prescribe regu18 lations for ensuring that utilities charge just and reasonable

19 and nondiscriminatory rates for pole attachments provided

20 to all providers of telecommunications services, including

21 such attachments used by cable television systems to provide

22 telecommunications services (as defined in section 3(mm)

23 of this Act). Such regulations shall—

24 ‘‘(A) recognize that the entire pole, duct, conduit,

25 or right-of-way other than the usable space is of equal

26 benefit to all attachments to the pole, duct, conduit,
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1 or right-of-way and therefore apportion the cost of the

2 space other than the usable space equally among all

3 attachments,

4 ‘‘(B) recognize that the usable space is of propor5 tional benefit to all entities attached to the pole, duct,

6 conduit, or right-of-way and therefore apportion the

7 cost of the usable space according to the percentage of

8 usable space required for each entity, and

9 ‘‘(C) allow for reasonable terms and conditions

10 relating to health, safety, and the provision of reliable

11 utility service.

12 ‘‘(2) The final regulations prescribed by the Commis13 sion pursuant to subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of sub14 section (d)(1) shall not apply to a pole attachment used

15 by a cable television system which solely provides cable serv16 ice as defined in section 602(6) of this Act. The rates for

17 pole attachments used for such purposes shall assure a util18 ity the recovery of not less than the additional costs of pro19 viding pole attachments, nor more than an amount deter20 mined by multiplying the percentage of the total usable

21 space, or the percentage of the total duct, conduit, or right22 of-way capacity, which is occupied by the pole attachment

23 by the sum of the operating expenses and actual capital

24 costs of the utility attributable to the entire pole, duct, con25 duit, or right-of-way.
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1 ‘‘(3) For all providers of telecommunications services

2 except members of the exchange carrier association estab3 lished in 47 C.F.R. 69.601 as of December 31, 1993, upon

4 enactment of this paragraph and until the Commission pro5 mulgates its final regulations pursuant to subparagraphs

6 (A), (B), and (C) of paragraph (1), the rate formula con7 tained in any joint use pole attachment agreement between

8 the electric utility and the largest local exchange carrier

9 having such a joint use agreement in the utility’s service

10 area, in effect on January 1, 1994, shall also apply to the

11 pole attachments in the utility’s service area, but if no such

12 joint use agreement containing a rate formula exists, then

13 the pole attachment rate shall be the rate applicable under

14 paragraph (2) to cable television systems which solely pro15 vide cable service as defined in section 602(6) of this Act.

16 Disputes concerning the applicability of a joint use agree17 ment shall be resolved by the Commission or the States, as

18 appropriate.’’.

19 SEC. 108. INQUIRY ON CIVIC PARTICIPATION.

20 (a) INQUIRY ON POLICIES TO ENHANCE CIVIC PAR21 TICIPATION ON THE INTERNET.—The Commission, in con22 sultation with the National Telecommunications and Infor23 mation Administration, shall initiate an inquiry into poli24 cies that will enhance civic participation through the

25 Internet. The inquiry shall request public comment on the
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1 question of whether common carriers should be required to

2 provide citizens with a flat rate service for gaining access

3 to the Internet.

4 (b) PARTICIPATION IN REGULATORY AFFAIRS.—The

5 Commission, in consultation with the Office of Consumer

6 Affairs, shall conduct a study of how to encourage citizen

7 participation in regulatory issues and, within 120 days

8 from the date of enactment of this Act, report to Congress

9 on the results of the study.

10 SEC. 109. COMPETITION BY SMALL BUSINESS AND MINOR11 ITY-OWNED BUSINESS CONCERNS.

12 Title II of the Communications Act of 1934 is amended

13 by adding at the end the following new section:

14 ‘‘SEC. 230. POLICY AND RULEMAKING TO PROMOTE COM15 PETITION BY SMALL BUSINESS AND MINOR16 ITY-OWNED BUSINESS CONCERNS.

17 ‘‘(a) POLICY; FINDING.—It shall be the policy of the

18 Commission to promote whenever possible the ownership of

19 information services and telecommunication services by

20 small business concerns, minority-owned business concerns,

21 and nonprofit entities. The Congress finds that the goals

22 of competitively priced services, service innovation, employ23 ment, and diversity of viewpoint can be advanced by pro24 moting marketplace penetration by such concerns and enti25 ties.
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1 ‘‘(b) RULEMAKING REQUIRED.—Within 1 year after

2 the date of enactment of this section, the Commission, in

3 consultation with the National Telecommunications and In4 formation Administration, shall initiate a rulemaking pro5 ceeding for the purpose of lowering market entry barriers

6 for small business, minority-owned business concerns, and

7 nonprofit entities that are seeking to provide telecommuni8 cation services and information services. The proceeding

9 shall seek to provide remedies for, among other things, lack

10 of access to capital and technical and marketing expertise

11 on the part of such concerns and entities. Consistent with

12 the broad policy and finding set forth in subsection (a), the

13 Commission shall adopt such regulations and make such

14 recommendations to Congress as the Commission deems ap15 propriate. Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment

16 of this section, the Commission shall complete the proceed17 ing required by this subsection.’’.

18 TITLE II—COMMUNICATIONS

19 COMPETITIVENESS

20 SEC. 201. CABLE SERVICE PROVIDED BY TELEPHONE COM21 PANIES.

22 (a) GENERAL REQUIREMENT.—

23 (1) AMENDMENT.—Section 613(b) of the Commu24 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 533(b)) is amended

25 to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘(b)(1) Subject to the requirements of part V and the

2 other provisions of this title, any common carrier subject

3 in whole or in part to title II of this Act may, either

4 through its own facilities or through an affiliate owned, op5 erated, or controlled by, or under common control with, the

6 common carrier, provide video programming directly to

7 subscribers in its telephone service area.

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

9 other provisions of this title, any common carrier subject

10 in whole or in part to title II of this Act may provide chan11 nels of communications or pole, line, or conduit space, or

12 other rental arrangements, to any entity which is directly

13 or indirectly owned, operated, or controlled by, or under

14 common control with, such common carrier, if such facili15 ties or arrangements are to be used for, or in connection

16 with, the provision of video programming directly to sub17 scribers in its telephone service area.

18 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2), an affil19 iate that—

20 ‘‘(A) is, consistent with section 656, owned, oper21 ated, or controlled by, or under common control with,

22 a common carrier subject in whole or in part to title

23 II of this Act, and

24 ‘‘(B) provides video programming to subscribers

25 in the telephone service area of such carrier, but
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1 ‘‘(C) does not utilize the local exchange facilities

2 or services of any affiliated common carrier in dis3 tributing such programming,

4 shall not be subject to the requirements of part V, but shall

5 be subject to the requirements of this part and parts III

6 and IV.’’.

7 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 602 of

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

9 amended—

10 (A) in paragraph (6)(B), by inserting ‘‘or

11 use’’ after ‘‘the selection’’;

12 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (18) and

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

14 and

15 (C) by inserting after paragraph (17) the

16 following new paragraph:

17 ‘‘(18) the term ‘telephone service area’ when used

18 in connection with a common carrier subject in whole

19 or in part to title II of this Act means the area with20 in which such carrier provides telephone exchange

21 service as of November 20, 1993, but if any common

22 carrier after such date transfers its exchange service

23 facilities to another common carrier, the area to

24 which such facilities provide telephone exchange serv25 ice shall be treated as part of the telephone service
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1 area of the acquiring common carrier and not of the

2 selling common carrier;’’.

3 (b) PROVISIONS FOR REGULATION OF CABLE SERVICE

4 PROVIDED BY TELEPHONE COMPANIES.—Title VI of the

5 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 521 et seq.) is

6 amended by adding at the end the following new part:

7 ‘‘PART V—VIDEO PROGRAMMING SERVICES

8 PROVIDED BY TELEPHONE COMPANIES

9 ‘‘SEC. 651. DEFINITIONS.

10 ‘‘For purposes of this part—

11 ‘‘(1) 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 owner15 ship interest; or

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

17 the order of the Commission entitled ‘Implemen18 tation of Sections 11 and 13 of the Cable Tele19 vision Consumer Protection and Competitive Act

20 of 1992—Horizontal and Vertical Ownership

21 Limits, Cross-Ownership Limitations, and Anti22 Trafficking Provisions’, MM Docket 92–264,

23 adopted September 23, 1993, if no single entity

24 directly or indirectly has the right to vote more
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1 than 50 percent of the outstanding common stock

2 or other ownership interest;

3 ‘‘(2) the term ‘video platform’ has the same

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

5 the Commission entitled ‘Telephone Company-Cable

6 Television Cross-Ownership Rules, Sections 63.54–

7 63.58’, CC Docket No. 87–266, adopted July 16, 1992,

8 except that the Commission may modify this defini9 tion by regulation consistent with the purposes of this

10 Act; and

11 ‘‘(3) the term ‘rural area’ means a geographic

12 area that does not include either—

13 ‘‘(A) any incorporated or unincorporated

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

15 thereof; or

16 ‘‘(B) any territory, incorporated or unin17 corporated, included in an urbanized area.

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

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

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

21 this Act shall not provide video programming directly to

22 subscribers in its telephone service area unless such video

23 programming is provided through a video programming af24 filiate that is separate from such carrier.

25 ‘‘(b) BOOKS AND MARKETING.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A video programming affili2 ate of a common carrier shall—

3 ‘‘(A) maintain books, records, and accounts

4 separate from such carrier which identify all

5 transactions with such carrier;

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

7 nonaffiliated person) its own promotion, except

8 that institutional advertising carried out by such

9 carrier shall be permitted so long as each party

10 bears its pro rata share of the costs; and

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

12 common with such carrier.

13 ‘‘(2) INBOUND TELEMARKETING AND REFER14 RAL.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1)(B), a common

15 carrier may provide telemarketing or referral services

16 in response to the call of a customer or potential cus17 tomer related to the provision of video programming

18 by a video programming affiliate of such carrier. If

19 such services are provided to a video programming af20 filiate, such services shall be made available to any

21 video programmer or cable operator on request, on

22 nondiscriminatory terms, at just and reasonable

23 prices, and subject to regulations of the Commission

24 to ensure that the carrier’s method of providing

25 telemarketing or referral and its price structure do
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1 not competitively disadvantage any video program2 mer or cable operator, regardless of size, including

3 those which do not use the carrier’s telemarketing

4 services.

5 ‘‘(3) JOINT TELEMARKETING.—Notwithstanding

6 paragraph (1)(B), a common carrier may petition the

7 Commission for permission to market video program8 ming directly, upon a showing that a cable operator

9 or other entity directly or indirectly provides tele10 communications services within the telephone service

11 area of the common carrier, and markets such tele12 communications services jointly with video program13 ming services. The common carrier shall specify the

14 geographic region covered by the petition. Any such

15 petition shall be granted or denied within 180 days

16 after the date of its submission.

17 ‘‘(c) BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS WITH CARRIER SUB18 JECT TO REGULATION.—Any contract, agreement, arrange19 ment, or other manner of conducting business, between a

20 common carrier and its video programming affiliate, pro21 viding for—

22 ‘‘(1) the sale, exchange, or leasing of property be23 tween such affiliate and such carrier,

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

25 such affiliate and such carrier, or
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1 ‘‘(3) the transfer to or use by such affiliate for

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

3 shall be pursuant to regulation prescribed by the Commis4 sion, shall be on a fully compensatory and auditable basis,

5 shall be without cost to the telephone service ratepayers of

6 the carrier, shall be filed with the Commission, and shall

7 be in compliance with regulations established by the Com8 mission that will enable the Commission to assess the com9 pliance of any transaction.

10 ‘‘(d) WAIVER.—

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

12 may waive any of the requirements of this section for

13 small telephone companies or telephone companies

14 serving rural areas, if the Commission determines,

15 after notice and comment, that—

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

17 of the Commission to ensure that all video pro18 gramming activity is carried out without any

19 support from telephone ratepayers;

20 ‘‘(B) the interests of telephone ratepayers

21 and cable subscribers will not be harmed if such

22 waiver is granted;

23 ‘‘(C) such waiver will not adversely affect

24 the ability of persons to obtain access to the

25 video platform of such carrier; and
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1 ‘‘(D) such waiver otherwise is in the public

2 interest.

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

4 shall act to approve or disapprove a waiver applica5 tion within 180 days after the date it is filed.

6 ‘‘(3) CONTINUED APPLICABILITY OF SECTION

7 659.—In the case of a common carrier that obtains a

8 waiver under this subsection, any requirement that

9 section 659 applies to a video programming affiliate

10 shall instead apply to such carrier.

11 ‘‘SEC. 653. ESTABLISHMENT OF VIDEO PLATFORM.

12 ‘‘(a) COMMON CARRIER OBLIGATIONS.—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any common carrier subject

14 to title II of this Act and that provides, through a

15 video programming affiliate, video programming di16 rectly to subscribers in its telephone service area, shall

17 establish a video platform.

18 ‘‘(2) IDENTIFICATION OF DEMAND FOR CAR19 RIAGE.—Any common carrier subject to the require20 ments of paragraph (1) shall, prior to establishing a

21 video platform, submit a notice to the Commission of

22 its intention to establish channel capacity for the pro23 vision of video programming to meet the bona fide de24 mand for such capacity. Such notice shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) be in such form and contain such in2 formation as the Commission may require by

3 regulations pursuant to subsection (b);

4 ‘‘(B) specify the methods by which any en5 tity seeking to use such channel capacity should

6 submit to such carrier a specification of its

7 channel capacity requirements; and

8 ‘‘(C) specify the procedures by which such

9 carrier will determine (in accordance with the

10 Commission’s regulations under subsection

11 (b)(1)(B)) whether such request for capacity are

12 bona fide.

13 The Commission shall submit any such notice for

14 publication in the Federal Register within 5 working

15 days.

16 ‘‘(3) RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR CARRIAGE.—

17 After receiving and reviewing the requests for capac18 ity submitted pursuant to such notice, such common

19 carrier shall, subject to approval of a certificate under

20 section 214, establish channel capacity that is suffi21 cient to provide carriage for—

22 ‘‘(A) all bona fide requests submitted pursu23 ant to such notice,

24 ‘‘(B) any additional channels required pur25 suant to section 659, and
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1 ‘‘(C) any additional channels required by

2 the Commission’s regulations under subsection

3 (b)(1)(C).

4 ‘‘(4) RESPONSES TO CHANGES IN DEMAND FOR

5 CAPACITY.—Any common carrier that establishes a

6 video platform under this section shall—

7 ‘‘(A) immediately notify the Commission

8 and each video programming provider of any

9 delay in or denial of channel capacity or service,

10 and the reasons therefor;

11 ‘‘(B) continue to receive and grant, to the

12 extent of available capacity, carriage in response

13 to bona fide requests for carriage from existing

14 or additional video programming providers;

15 ‘‘(C) if at any time the number of channels

16 required for bona fide requests for carriage may

17 reasonably be expected soon to exceed the existing

18 capacity of such video platform, immediately no19 tify the Commission of such expectation and of

20 the manner and date by which such carrier will

21 provide sufficient capacity to meet such excess

22 demand; and

23 ‘‘(D) construct, subject to approval of a cer24 tificate under section 214, such additional capac-
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1 ity as may be necessary to meet such excess de2 mand.

3 ‘‘(5) DISPUTE RESOLUTION.—The Commission

4 shall have the authority to resolve disputes under this

5 section and the regulations prescribed thereunder.

6 Any such dispute shall be resolved within 180 days

7 after notice of such dispute is submitted to the Com8 mission. At that time or subsequently in a separate

9 damages proceeding, the Commission may award

10 damages sustained in consequence of any violation of

11 this section to any person denied carriage, or require

12 carriage, or both. Any aggrieved party may seek any

13 other remedy available under this Act.

14 ‘‘(b) COMMISSION REGULATIONS.—

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Within one year after the

16 date of the enactment of this section, the Commission

17 shall prescribe regulations that—

18 ‘‘(A) consistent with the requirements of sec19 tion 659, prohibit a common carrier from dis20 criminating among video programming provid21 ers with regard to carriage on its video platform,

22 and ensure that the rates, terms, and conditions

23 for such carriage are just, reasonable, and non24 discriminatory;
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1 ‘‘(B) prescribe definitions and criteria for

2 the purposes of determining whether a request

3 shall be considered a bona fide request for pur4 poses of this section;

5 ‘‘(C) establish a requirement that video

6 platforms contain a suitable margin of unused

7 channel capacity to meet reasonable growth in

8 bona fide demand for such capacity;

9 ‘‘(D) extend to video platforms the Commis10 sion’s regulations concerning network non11 duplication (47 C.F.R. 76.92 et seq.) and syn12 dicated exclusivity (47 C.F.R. 76.151 et seq.);

13 ‘‘(E) require the video platform to provide

14 service, transmission, interconnection, and inter15 operability for unaffiliated or independent video

16 programming providers that is equivalent to that

17 provided to the common carrier’s video program18 ming affiliate;

19 ‘‘(F)(i) prohibit a common carrier from dis20 criminating among video programming provid21 ers with regard to material or information pro22 vided by the common carrier to subscribers for

23 the purposes of selecting programming on the

24 video platform, or in the way such material or

25 information is presented to subscribers;
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1 ‘‘(ii) require a common carrier to ensure

2 that video programming providers or copyright

3 holders (or both) are able suitably and uniquely

4 to identify their programming services to sub5 scribers; and

6 ‘‘(iii) if such identification is transmitted

7 as part of the programming signal, require the

8 carrier to transmit such identification without

9 change or alteration; and

10 ‘‘(G) prohibit a common carrier from ex11 cluding areas from its video platform service

12 area on the basis of the ethnicity, race, or income

13 of the residents of that area, and provide for

14 public comments on the adequacy of the proposed

15 service area on the basis of the standards set

16 forth under this subparagraph.

17 ‘‘(2) EXTENSION OF REGULATIONS TO OTHER

18 HIGH CAPACITY SYSTEMS.—The Commission shall ex19 tend the requirements of the regulations prescribed

20 pursuant to this section, in lieu of the requirements

21 of section 612, to any cable operator of a cable system

22 that has installed a switched, broadband video pro23 gramming delivery system, except that the Commis24 sion shall not extend the requirements of the regula25 tions prescribed pursuant to subsection (b)(1)(D) or
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1 any other requirement that the Commission deter2 mines is clearly inappropriate.

3 ‘‘(c) COMMISSION INQUIRY.—The Commission shall

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

5 extend the requirements of subsection (a) to any other cable

6 operators in lieu of the requirements of section 612. The

7 Commission shall submit to the Congress a report on the

8 results of such study not later than 2 years after the date

9 of enactment of this section.

10 ‘‘SEC. 654. EQUAL ACCESS COMPLIANCE.

11 ‘‘(a) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A common carrier subject to

13 title II of this Act shall not provide video program14 ming directly to subscribers in its telephone service

15 area unless such carrier has certified to the Commis16 sion that such carrier is in compliance with the re17 quirements of paragraphs (1) and (2) of section

18 201(c) of this Act, and regulations prescribed pursu19 ant to such paragraphs.

20 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding paragraph

21 (1), a common carrier subject to title II of this Act

22 may provide video programming directly to subscrib23 ers in its telephone service area during any period

24 prior to the date the Commission first prescribes final

25 regulations pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2) of
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1 section 201(c) of this Act if such carrier has certified

2 to the Commission that such carrier is in compliance

3 with State laws and regulations concerning equal ac4 cess, interconnection, and unbundling that are sub5 stantially similar to and fully consistent with the re6 quirements of such paragraphs or if there is no statu7 tory prohibition against such carrier providing video

8 programming directly to subscribers in its telephone

9 service area on the date of enactment of this section.

10 A common carrier that submits a certification pursu11 ant to this paragraph shall not be exempt from the

12 requirements of paragraph (1) after the effective date

13 of such final regulations.

14 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION AND APPLICATION APPROVAL.—

15 A common carrier that submits a certification under para16 graph (1) or (2) of subsection (a) shall be eligible to provide

17 video programming to subscribers in accordance with the

18 requirements of this part, subject to the approval of any

19 necessary application under section 214 for authority to es20 tablish a video platform. An application under section 214

21 may be filed simultaneously with the filing of such certifi22 cation or at any time after the date of enactment of this

23 section, and the Commission shall act to approve (with or

24 without modification) or reject such application within 180

25 days after the date of its submission. If the Commission
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1 acts to approve such an application prior to the filing of

2 such certification, such approval shall not be effective until

3 such certification is filed.

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

5 ‘‘(a) CROSS SUBSIDIES PROHIBITION.—The Commis6 sion shall—

7 ‘‘(1) prescribe regulations to prohibit a common

8 carrier from engaging in any practice that results in

9 the inclusion in rates for telephone exchange service

10 or telephone exchange access service of any operating

11 expenses, costs, depreciation charges, capital invest12 ments, or other expenses directly associated with the

13 provision of competing video programming services

14 by the common carrier or affiliate; and

15 ‘‘(2) ensure such competing video programming

16 services bear a reasonable share of the joint and com17 mon costs of facilities used to provide telephone ex18 change service or telephone exchange access service

19 and competing video programming services.

20 ‘‘(b) CABLE OPERATOR PROHIBITIONS.—The Commis21 sion shall prescribe regulations to prohibit a cable operator

22 from engaging in any practice that results in improper

23 cross-subsidization between its regulated cable operations

24 and its provision of telecommunications service, either di25 rectly or through an affiliate.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 656. PROHIBITION ON BUYOUTS.

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

3 that provides telephone exchange service, and no entity

4 owned by or under common ownership or control with such

5 carrier, may purchase or otherwise obtain control over any

6 cable system that is located within its telephone service area

7 and is owned by an unaffiliated person.

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

9 common carrier may—

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

11 joint venture or other partnership with, a cable sys12 tem that serves a rural area;

13 ‘‘(2) obtain, in addition to any interest, joint

14 venture, or partnership obtained or formed pursuant

15 to paragraph (1), a controlling interest in, or form a

16 joint venture or other partnership with, any cable

17 system or systems if—

18 ‘‘(A) such systems in the aggregate serve less

19 than 10 percent of the households in the tele20 phone service area of such carrier; and

21 ‘‘(B) no such system serves a franchise area

22 with more than 35,000 inhabitants, except that

23 a common carrier may obtain such interest or

24 form such joint venture or other partnership

25 with a cable system that serves a franchise area

26 with more than 35,000 but not more than 50,000
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1 inhabitants if such system is not affiliated (as

2 such term is defined in section 602) with any

3 other system whose franchise area is contiguous

4 to the franchise area of the acquired system; or

5 ‘‘(3) obtain, with the concurrence of the cable op6 erator on the rates, terms, and conditions, the use of

7 that part of the transmission facilities of such a cable

8 system extending from the last multi-user terminal to

9 the premises of the end user, if such use is reasonably

10 limited in scope and duration, as determined by the

11 Commission.

12 ‘‘(c) WAIVER.—

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

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

15 section only upon a showing by the applicant that—

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

17 served by the cable system concerned—

18 ‘‘(i) the incumbent cable operator

19 would be subjected to undue economic dis20 tress by the enforcement of such subsection;

21 or

22 ‘‘(ii) the cable system would not be eco23 nomically viable if such subsection were en24 forced; and
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1 ‘‘(B) the local franchising authority ap2 proves of such waiver.

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

4 shall act to approve or disapprove a waiver applica5 tion within 180 days after the date it is filed.

6 ‘‘SEC. 657. PENALTIES.

7 ‘‘If the Commission finds that any common carrier has

8 knowingly violated any provision of this part, the Commis9 sion shall assess such fines and penalties as it deems appro10 priate pursuant to this Act.

11 ‘‘SEC. 658. CONSUMER PROTECTION.

12 ‘‘(a) JOINT BOARD REQUIRED.—Within 30 days after

13 the date of enactment of this part, the Commission shall

14 convene a Federal-State Joint Board under the provisions

15 of section 410(c) for the purpose of recommending a decision

16 concerning the practices, classifications, and regulations as

17 may be necessary to ensure proper jurisdictional separation

18 and allocation of the costs of establishing and providing a

19 video platform. The Board shall issue its recommendations

20 to 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 serv24 ice, and the States, with respect to telephone exchange serv25 ice and intrastate interexchange service, shall establish such
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1 regulations as may be necessary to implement section 655

2 within one year after the date of the enactment of this part.

3 ‘‘(c) NO EFFECT ON CARRIER REGULATION AUTHOR4 ITY.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit or

5 supersede the authority of any State or the Commission

6 with respect to the allocation of costs associated with intra7 state or interstate communication services.

8 ‘‘SEC. 659. APPLICABILITY OF FRANCHISE AND OTHER RE9 QUIREMENTS.

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any provision that applies to a

11 cable operator under—

12 ‘‘(1) sections 613, 616, 617, 628, 631, 632, and

13 634 of this title, shall apply,

14 ‘‘(2) sections 611, 612, 614, and 615 of this title,

15 and section 325 of title III, shall apply in accordance

16 with the regulations prescribed under subsection (b),

17 and

18 ‘‘(3) parts III and IV (other than sections 628,

19 631, 632, and 634) of this title shall not apply,

20 to any video programming affiliate established by a com21 mon carrier in accordance with the requirements of this

22 part.

23 ‘‘(b) IMPLEMENTATION OF REQUIREMENTS.—

24 ‘‘(1) REGULATIONS.—The Commission shall pre25 scribe regulations to ensure that a video programming
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1 affiliate of a common carrier shall provide (A) capac2 ity, services, facilities, and equipment for public, edu3 cational, and governmental use, (B) capacity for com4 mercial use, (C) carriage of commercial and non-com5 mercial broadcast television stations, and (D) an op6 portunity for commercial broadcast stations to choose

7 between mandatory carriage and reimbursement for

8 retransmission of the signal of such station. In pre9 scribing such regulations, the Commission shall, to the

10 extent possible, impose obligations that are no greater

11 or lesser than the obligations contained in the provi12 sions described in subsection (a)(2) of this section.

13 Such regulations shall also require that, if a common

14 carrier establishes a video platform but does not pro15 vide or ceases to provide video programming through

16 a video programming affiliate, such carrier shall

17 comply with the regulations prescribed under this

18 paragraph and with the provisions described in sub19 section (a)(1) in the operation of its video platform.

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

21 any common carrier that establishes a video platform

22 under this part, and any multichannel video pro23 gramming distributor offering a competing service

24 using such video platform (as determined in accord25 ance with regulations of the Commission), shall be
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1 subject to the payment of fees imposed by a local fran2 chising authority, in lieu of the fees required under

3 section 622. The rate at which such fees are imposed

4 shall not exceed the rate at which franchise fees are

5 imposed on any cable operator transmitting video

6 programming in the same service area.

7 ‘‘SEC. 660. RURAL AREA EXEMPTION.

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

9 shall not apply to video programming provided in a rural

10 area by a common carrier that provides telephone exchange

11 service in the same area.’’.

12 SEC. 202. REVIEW OF BROADCASTERS OWNERSHIP RE13 STRICTIONS.

14 Within one year after the date of enactment of this

15 Act, the Commission shall, after a notice and comment pro16 ceeding, prescribe regulations to modify, maintain, or re17 move the ownership regulations on radio and television

18 broadcasters as necessary to ensure that broadcasters are

19 able to compete fairly with other information providers

20 while protecting the goals of diversity and localism.

21 SEC. 203. REVIEW OF STATUTORY OWNERSHIP RESTRIC22 TION.

23 Within one year after the date of enactment of this

24 Act, the Commission shall review the ownership restriction

25 in section 613(a)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
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1 U.S.C. 553(a)(1)) and report to Congress whether or not

2 such restriction continues to serve the public interest.

3 SEC. 204. BROADCASTER SPECTRUM FLEXIBILITY.

4 (a) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—If the Commission de5 termines to issue additional licenses for advanced television

6 services, and initially limits the eligibility for such licenses

7 to persons that, as of the date of such issuance, are licensed

8 to operate a television broadcast station or hold a permit

9 to construct such a station (or both), the Commission shall

10 adopt regulations that allow such licensees or permittees to

11 offer such ancillary or supplementary services on designated

12 frequencies as may be consistent with the public interest,

13 convenience, and necessity.

14 (b) CONTENTS OF REGULATIONS.—In prescribing the

15 regulations required by subsection (a), the Commission

16 shall—

17 (1) only permit such licensee or permittee to

18 offer ancillary or supplementary services if the use of

19 a designated frequency for such services is indivisible

20 from the use of such designated frequency for the pro21 vision of advanced television services;

22 (2) limit the broadcasting of ancillary or supple23 mentary services on designated frequencies so as to

24 avoid derogation of any advanced television services,
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1 including high definition television broadcasts, that

2 the Commission may require using such frequencies;

3 (3) treat any such ancillary or supplementary

4 services for which the licensee or permittee solicits

5 and receives compensation in return for transmitting

6 commercial advertising as broadcast services for the

7 purposes of the Communications Act of 1934 and the

8 Children’s Television Act of 1990 (47 U.S.C. 303a),

9 and the Commission’s regulations thereunder, includ10 ing regulations promulgated pursuant to section 315

11 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 315);

12 (4) apply to any other ancillary or supple13 mentary service such of the Commission’s regulations

14 as are applicable to the offering of analogous services

15 by any other person;

16 (5) adopt such technical and other requirements

17 as may be necessary or appropriate to assure the

18 quality of the signal used to provide advanced tele19 vision services, including regulations that stipulate

20 the minimum number of hours per day that such sig21 nal must be transmitted; and

22 (6) prescribe such other regulations as may be

23 necessary for the protection of the public interest, con24 venience, and necessity.

25 (c) RECOVERY OF LICENSE.—
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1 (1) CONDITIONS REQUIRED.—If the Commission

2 limits the eligibility for licenses to provide advanced

3 television services in the manner described in sub4 section (a), the Commission shall, as a condition of

5 such license, require that, upon a determination by

6 the Commission pursuant to the regulations pre7 scribed under paragraph (2), either the additional li8 cense or the original license held by the licensee be

9 surrendered to the Commission in accordance with

10 such regulations for reallocation or reassignment (or

11 both) pursuant to Commission regulation.

12 (2) REGULATIONS.—The Commission shall pre13 scribe regulations establishing criteria for rendering

14 determinations concerning license surrender pursuant

15 to license conditions required by paragraph (1). Such

16 regulations shall—

17 (A) require such determinations to be based

18 on whether the substantial majority of the public

19 have obtained television receivers that are capa20 ble of receiving advanced television services; and

21 (B) not require the cessation of the broad22 casting if such cessation would render the tele23 vision receivers of a substantial portion of the

24 public useless, or otherwise cause undue burdens

25 on the owners of such television receivers.
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1 (d) FEES REQUIRED.—

2 (1) SERVICES TO WHICH FEES APPLY.—If the

3 regulations prescribed pursuant to subsection (a) per4 mit a licensee to offer ancillary or supplementary

5 services on a designated frequency—

6 (A) for which the payment of a subscription

7 fee is required in order to receive such services,

8 or

9 (B) for which the licensee directly or indi10 rectly receives compensation from a third party

11 in return for transmitting material furnished by

12 such third party (other than commercial adver13 tisements used to support broadcasting for which

14 a subscription fee is not required),

15 the Commission shall establish by regulation a pro16 gram to assess and collect an annual fee or royalty

17 payment.

18 (2) CRITERIA FOR REGULATIONS.—The regula19 tions required by paragraph (1) shall—

20 (A) be designed (i) to recover for the public

21 a portion of the value of the public spectrum re22 source made available for such commercial use,

23 and (ii) to avoid unjust enrichment through the

24 method employed to permit such uses of that re25 source;
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1 (B) recover for the public an amount that

2 is, to maximum extent feasible, equal (over the

3 term of the license) to the amount that would

4 have been recovered had such services been li5 censed pursuant to the provisions of section

6 309(j) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

7 U.S.C. 309(j)) and the Commission’s regulations

8 thereunder; and

9 (C) be adjusted by the Commission from

10 time to time in order to continue to comply with

11 the requirements of this paragraph.

12 (3) TREATMENT OF REVENUES.—

13 (A) GENERAL RULE.—Except as provided

14 in subparagraph (B), all proceeds obtained pur15 suant to the regulations required by this sub16 section shall be deposited in the Treasury in ac17 cordance with chapter 33 of title 31, United

18 States Code.

19 (B) RETENTION OF REVENUES.—Notwith20 standing subparagraph (A), the salaries and ex21 penses account of the Commission shall retain as

22 an offsetting collection such sums as may be nec23 essary from such proceeds for the costs of devel24 oping and implementing the program required

25 by this section and regulating and supervising
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1 advanced television services. Such offsetting col2 lections shall be available for obligation subject

3 to the terms and conditions of the receiving ap4 propriations account, and shall be deposited in

5 such accounts on a quarterly basis.

6 (4) REPORT.—Within 5 years after the date of

7 the enactment of this section, the Commission shall

8 report to the Congress on the implementation of the

9 program required by this subsection, and shall annu10 ally thereafter advise the Congress on the amounts

11 collected pursuant to such program.

12 (e) EVALUATION REQUIRED.—Within 10 years after

13 the date the Commission first issues additional licenses for

14 advanced television services, the Commission shall conduct

15 an evaluation of the advanced television services program.

16 Such evaluation shall include—

17 (1) an assessment of the willingness of consumers

18 to purchase the television receivers necessary to re19 ceive broadcasts of advanced television services;

20 (2) an assessment of alternative uses, including

21 public safety use, of the frequencies used for such

22 broadcasts; and

23 (3) the extent to which the Commission has been

24 or will be able to reduce the amount of spectrum as-
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1 signed to licensees in order to issue additional licenses

2 for the provision of advanced television services.

3 (f) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:

4 (1) ADVANCED TELEVISION SERVICES.—The term

5 ‘‘advanced television services’’ means television serv6 ices provided using digital or other advanced tech7 nology to enhance audio quality and video resolution,

8 as further defined in the opinion, report, and order

9 of the Commission entitled ‘‘Advanced Television Sys10 tems and Their Impact Upon the Existing Television

11 Broadcast Service’’, MM Docket 87–268, adopted Sep12 tember 17, 1992, and successor proceedings.

13 (2) DESIGNATED FREQUENCIES.—The term ‘‘des14 ignated frequency’’ means each of the frequencies des15 ignated by the Commission for licenses for advanced

16 television services.

17 (3) HIGH DEFINITION TELEVISION.—The term

18 ‘‘high definition television’’ refers to systems that offer

19 approximately twice the vertical and horizontal reso20 lution of receivers generally available on the date of

21 enactment of this section, as further defined in the

22 proceedings described in paragraph (1) of this sub23 section.
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1 SEC. 205. INTERACTIVE SERVICES AND CRITICAL INTER2 FACES.

3 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

4 (1) the convergence of communications, comput5 ing, and video technologies will permit improvements

6 in interoperability between and among those tech7 nologies;

8 (2) in the public switched telecommunications

9 network, open protocols and technical requirements

10 for connection between the network and the consumer,

11 and the availability of unbundled customer equipment

12 through retailers and other third party vendors, have

13 served to broaden consumer choice, lower prices, and

14 spur competition and innovation in the customer

15 equipment industry;

16 (3) set-top boxes and other interactive commu17 nications devices could similarly serve as a critical

18 gateway between American homes and businesses and

19 advanced telecommunications and video program20 ming networks;

21 (4) American consumers have benefited from the

22 ability to own or rent customer premises equipment

23 obtained from retailers and other vendors and the

24 ability to access the network with portable, compatible

25 equipment;
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1 (5) in order to promote diversity, competition,

2 and technological innovation among suppliers of

3 equipment and services, it may be necessary to make

4 certain critical interfaces with such networks open

5 and accessible to a broad range of equipment manu6 facturers and information providers;

7 (6) the identification of critical interfaces with

8 such networks and the assessment of their openness

9 must be accomplished with due recognition that open

10 and accessible systems may include standards that in11 volve both nonproprietary and proprietary tech12 nologies;

13 (7) such identification and assessment must also

14 be accomplished with due recognition of the need for

15 owners and distributors of video programming and

16 information services to ensure system and signal secu17 rity and to prevent theft of service;

18 (8) whenever possible, standards in dynamic in19 dustries such as interactive systems are best set by the

20 marketplace or by private sector standard-setting bod21 ies; and

22 (9) the role of the Commission in this regard

23 is—

24 (A) to identify, in consultation with indus25 try groups, consumer interests, and independent
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1 experts, critical interfaces with such networks (i)

2 to ensure that end users can connect information

3 devices to such networks, and (ii) to ensure that

4 information service providers are able to trans5 mit information to end users, and

6 (B) as necessary, to take steps to ensure

7 these networks and services are accessible to a

8 broad range of equipment manufactures, infor9 mation providers, and program suppliers.

10 (b) INQUIRY REQUIRED.—Within 6 months after the

11 date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall com12 mence an inquiry—

13 (1) to examine the impact of the convergence of

14 technologies on cable, telephone, satellite, and wireless

15 and other communications technologies likely to offer

16 interactive communications services;

17 (2) to ascertain the importance of maintaining

18 open and accessible systems in interactive commu19 nications services;

20 (3) to examine the costs and benefits of main21 taining varying levels of interoperability between and

22 among interactive communications services;

23 (4) to examine the costs and benefits of establish24 ing open interfaces (A) between the network provider

25 and the set-top box or other interactive communica-
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1 tions devices used in the home or office, and (B) be2 tween network providers and information service pro3 viders, and to determine how best to establish such

4 interfaces;

5 (5) to determine methods by which converter

6 boxes or other interactive communications devices

7 may be sold through retailers and other third party

8 vendors and to determine the vendors’ responsibilities

9 for ensuring that their devices are interoperable with

10 interactive networks;

11 (6) to assess how the security of cable, satellite,

12 and other interactive systems or its service can con13 tinue to be ensured with the establishment of an inter14 face between the network and a converter box or other

15 interactive communications device, including those

16 manufactured and distributed at retail by entities

17 independent of network providers and information

18 service providers, and to determine the responsibilities

19 of such independent entities for assuring network se20 curity and for conforming to signal interference

21 standards;

22 (7) to ascertain the conditions necessary to en23 sure that any critical interface is available to infor24 mation and content providers and others who seek to

25 design, build, and distribute interoperable devices for
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1 these networks so as to ensure network access and fair

2 competition for independent information providers

3 and consumers;

4 (8) to assess the impact of the deployment of dig5 ital technologies on individuals with disabilities, with

6 particular emphasis on any regulatory, policy, or de7 sign barriers which would limit functionally equiva8 lent access by such individuals;

9 (9) to assess current regulation of telephone,

10 cable, satellite, and other communications delivery

11 systems to ascertain how best to ensure interoper12 ability between those systems;

13 (10) to assess the adequacy of current regulation

14 of telephone, cable, satellite, and other communica15 tions delivery systems with respect to bundling of

16 equipment and services and to identify any changes

17 in unbundling regulations necessary to assure effec18 tive competition and encourage technological innova19 tion, consistent with the finding in subsection (a)(6)

20 and the objectives of paragraph (6) of this subsection,

21 in the market for converter boxes or interactive com22 munications devices and for other customer premises

23 equipment;

24 (11) to solicit comment on any changes in the

25 Commission’s regulations that are necessary to ensure
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1 that diversity, competition, and technological innova2 tion are promoted in communications services and

3 equipment; and

4 (12) to prepare recommendations to the Congress

5 for any legislative changes required.

6 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Within 12 months after

7 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall

8 submit to the Congress a report on the results of the inquiry

9 required by subsection (b). Within 6 months after the date

10 of submission of such report, the Commission shall prescribe

11 such changes in its regulations as the Commission deter12 mines are necessary pursuant to subsection (b)(10).

13 (d) PRESERVATION OF EXISTING AUTHORITY.—Noth14 ing in this section shall be construed as limiting, supersed15 ing, or otherwise modifying the existing authority and re16 sponsibilities of the Commission or National Institute of

17 Standards and Technology.

18 SEC. 206. VIDEO PROGRAMMING ACCESSIBILITY.

19 (a) INQUIRY REQUIRED.—Within 180 days after the

20 date of enactment of this section, the Federal Communica21 tions Commission shall complete an inquiry to ascertain

22 the level at which video programming is closed captioned.

23 Such inquiry shall examine the extent to which existing or

24 previously published programming is closed captioned, the

25 size of the video programming provider or programming
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1 owner providing closed captioning, the size of the market

2 served, the relative audience shares achieved, or any other

3 related factors. The Commission shall submit to the Con4 gress a report on the results of such inquiry.

5 (b) CONTENTS OF REGULATIONS.—Within 18 months

6 after the date of enactment, the Commission shall prescribe

7 such regulations as are necessary to implement this section.

8 Such regulations shall ensure that—

9 (1) video programming first published or exhib10 ited after the effective date of such regulations is fully

11 accessible through the provision of closed captions, ex12 cept as provided in subsection (d); and

13 (2) video programming providers or owners

14 maximize the accessibility of video programming first

15 published or exhibited prior to the effective date of

16 such regulations through the provision of closed cap17 tions, except as provided in subsection (d).

18 (c) CONTENTS OF REGULATIONS.—Such regulations

19 shall include an appropriate schedule of deadlines for the

20 provision of closed captioning of video programming.

21 (d) EXEMPTIONS.—Notwithstanding subsection (b)—

22 (1) the Commission may exempt by regulation

23 programs, classes of programs, or services for which

24 the Commission has determined that the provision of
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1 close captioning would be economically burdensome to

2 the provider or owner of such programming;

3 (2) a provider of video programming or the

4 owner of any program carried by the provider shall

5 not be obligated to supply closed captions if such ac6 tion would be inconsistent with contracts in effect on

7 the date of enactment of this Act, except that nothing

8 in this section shall be construed to relieve a video

9 programming provider of its obligations to provide

10 services required by Federal law; and

11 (3) a provider of video programming or program

12 owner may petition the Commission for an exemption

13 from the requirements of this section, and the Com14 mission may grant such petition upon a showing that

15 the requirements contained in this section would re16 sult in an undue burden.

17 (e) UNDUE BURDEN.—The term ‘undue burden’ means

18 significant difficulty or expense. In determining whether the

19 closed captions necessary to comply with the requirements

20 of this paragraph would result in an undue economic bur21 den, the factors to be considered include—

22 (1) the nature and cost of the closed captions for

23 the programming;

24 (2) the impact on the operation of the provider

25 or program owner;
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1 (3) the financial resources of the provider or pro2 gram owner; and

3 (4) the type of operations of the provider or pro4 gram owner.

5 (f) ADDITIONAL PROCEEDING ON VIDEO DESCRIP6 TIONS REQUIRED.—Within 6 months after the date of en7 actment of this Act, the Commission shall commence an in8 quiry to examine the use of video descriptions on video pro9 gramming in order to ensure the accessibility of video pro10 gramming to persons with visual impairments, and report

11 to Congress on its findings. The Commission’s report shall

12 assess appropriate methods and schedules for phasing video

13 descriptions into the marketplace, technical and quality

14 standards for video descriptions, a definition of program15 ming for which video descriptions would apply, and other

16 technical and legal issues that the Commission deems ap17 propriate. Following the completion of such inquiry, the

18 Commission may adopt regulation it deems necessary to

19 promote the accessibility of video programming to persons

20 with visual impairments.

21 (g) MODEL PROGRAM.—The National Telecommuni22 cations and Information Administration shall establish and

23 oversee, and (to the extent of available funds) provide finan24 cial support for, marketplace tests of video descriptions on
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1 commercial and noncommercial video programming serv2 ices.

3 (h) VIDEO DESCRIPTION.—For purposes of this sec4 tion, ‘‘video description’’ means the insertion of audio nar5 rated descriptions of a television program’s key visual ele6 ments into natural pauses between the program’s dialogue.

7 SEC. 207. PUBLIC ACCESS.

8 Within one year after the date of enactment of this

9 Act, the Federal Communications Commission shall pre10 scribe regulations to reserve appropriate capacity for the

11 public at preferential rates on cable systems and video plat12 forms.

13 SEC. 208. AUTOMATED SHIP DISTRESS AND SAFETY SYS14 TEMS.

15 Notwithstanding any provision of the Communica16 tions Act of 1934, a ship documented under the laws of the

17 United States operating in accordance with the Global Mar18 itime Distress and Safety System provisions of the Safety

19 of Life at Sea Convention shall not be required to be

20 equipped with a radio station operated by one or more

21 radio officers or operators.

22 SEC. 209. CABLE TECHNICAL STANDARDS REVIEW.

23 Within one year after the date of enactment of this

24 Act, the Commission shall review its standards under sec25 tions 624(e) and 624A of the Communications Act of 1934
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1 (47 U.S.C. 544, 544a) to determine whether such standards

2 may be revised to ensure that neither the video program3 ming, nor the accompanying audio signal, of any program4 ming that is provided on a per channel or per program

5 basis is able to be presented on the television receivers of

6 subscribers unless the subscriber has requested that pro7 gramming, whether or not that subscriber uses a converter

8 or other device provided by the cable operator.

9 SEC. 210. EXCLUSIVE FEDERAL JURISDICTION OVER DI10 RECT BROADCAST SATELLITE SERVICE.

11 Section 303 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

12 U.S.C. 303) is amended by adding at the end thereof the

13 following new subsection:

14 ‘‘(v) Have exclusive jurisdiction over the regulation of

15 the direct broadcast satellite service.’’.

16 TITLE III—PROCUREMENT PRAC17 TICES OF TELECOMMUNI18 CATIONS PROVIDERS

19 SEC. 301. FINDINGS.

20 The Congress finds the following:

21 (1) It is in the public interest for business enter22 prises owned by minorities and women to participate

23 in procurement contracts of all providers of tele24 communications services.
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1 (2) The opportunity for full participation in our

2 free enterprise system by business enterprises that are

3 owned by minorities and women is essential if this

4 Nation is to attain social and economic equality for

5 those businesses and improve the functioning of the

6 national economy.

7 (3) It is in this Nation’s interest to expeditiously

8 improve the economically disadvantaged position of

9 business enterprises that are owned by minorities and

10 women.

11 (4) The position of these businesses can be im12 proved through the development by the providers of

13 telecommunications services of substantial long-range

14 and annual goals, which are supported by training

15 and technical assistance, for the purchase, to the max16 imum practicable extent, of technology, equipment,

17 supplies, services, material and construction from mi18 nority business enterprises.

19 (5) Procurement policies which include partici20 pation of business enterprises that are owned by mi21 norities and women also benefit the communication

22 industry and its consumers by encouraging the ex23 pansion of the numbers of suppliers for procurement,

24 thereby encouraging competition among suppliers and

25 promoting economic efficiency in the process.
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1 SEC. 302. PURPOSE.

2 The purposes of this title are—

3 (1) to encourage and foster greater economic op4 portunity for business enterprises that are owned by

5 minorities and women;

6 (2) to promote competition among suppliers to

7 providers of telecommunications services and their af8 filiates to enhance economic efficiency in the procure9 ment of telephone corporation contracts and contracts

10 of their State commission-regulated subsidiaries and

11 affiliates;

12 (3) to clarify and expand a program for the pro13 curement by State and federally-regulated telephone

14 companies of technology, equipment, supplies, serv15 ices, materials and construction work from business

16 enterprises that are owned by minorities and women;

17 and

18 (4) to ensure that a fair proportion of the total

19 purchases, contracts, and subcontracts for supplies,

20 commodities, technology, property, and services of21 fered by the providers of telecommunications services

22 and their affiliates are awarded to minority and

23 women business enterprises.

24 SEC. 303. ANNUAL PLAN SUBMISSION.

25 (a) ANNUAL PLANS REQUIRED.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall require

2 each provider of telecommunications services to sub3 mit annually a detailed and verifiable plan for in4 creasing its procurement from business enterprises

5 that are owned by minorities or women in all cat6 egories of procurement in which minorities are under

7 represented.

8 (2) CONTENTS OF PLANS.—The annual plans re9 quired by paragraph (1) shall include (but not be

10 limited to) short- and long-term progressive goals and

11 timetables, technical assistance, and training and

12 shall, in addition to goals for direct contracting op13 portunities, include methods for encouraging both

14 prime contractors and grantees to engage business en15 terprises that are owned by minorities and women in

16 subcontracts in all categories in which minorities are

17 under represented.

18 (3) IMPLEMENTATION REPORT.—Each provider

19 of telecommunications services shall furnish an an20 nual report to the Commission regarding the imple21 mentation of programs established pursuant to this

22 title in such form as the Commission shall require,

23 and at such time as the Commission shall annually

24 designate.
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1 (4) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Commission

2 shall provide an annual report to Congress, beginning

3 in January 1995, on the progress of activities under4 taken by each provider of telecommunications services

5 regarding the implementation of activities pursuant

6 to this title to develop business enterprises that are

7 owned by minorities or women. The report shall

8 evaluate the accomplishments under this title and

9 shall recommend a program for enhancing the policy

10 declared in this title, together with such recommenda11 tions for legislation as it deems necessary or desirable

12 to further that policy.

13 (b) REGULATIONS AND CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING

14 ELIGIBILITY OF MINORITY BUSINESS ENTERPRISES FOR

15 PROCUREMENT CONTRACTS.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall estab17 lish regulations for implementing programs pursuant

18 to this title that will govern providers of telecommuni19 cations services and their affiliates.

20 (2) VERIFYING CRITERIA.—The Commission

21 shall develop and publish regulations setting forth cri22 teria for verifying and determining the eligibility of

23 business enterprises that are owned by minorities or

24 women for procurement contracts.
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1 (3) OUTREACH.—The Commission’s regulations

2 shall require each provider of telecommunications

3 services and its affiliates to develop and to implement

4 an outreach program to inform and recruit business

5 enterprises that are owned by minorities or women to

6 apply for procurement contracts under this title.

7 (4) ENFORCEMENT.—The Commission shall es8 tablish and promulgate such regulations necessary to

9 enforce the provisions of this title.

10 (c) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The requirements of this

11 section may be waived, in whole or in part, by the Commis12 sion with respect to a particular contract or subcontract

13 in accordance with guidelines set forth in regulations which

14 the Commission shall prescribe when it determines that the

15 application of such regulations prove to result in undue

16 hardship or unreasonable expense to a provider of tele17 communications services.

18 SEC. 304. SANCTIONS AND REMEDIES.

19 (a) FALSE REPRESENTATION OF BUSINESSES; SANC20 TIONS.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any person or corporation,

22 through its directors, officers, or agent, which falsely

23 represents the business as a business enterprise that

24 are owned by minorities or women in the procure25 ment or attempt to procure contracts from telephone
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1 operating companies and their affiliates pursuant to

2 this article, shall be punished by a fine of not more

3 than $5,000, or by imprisonment for a period not to

4 exceed 5 years of its directors, officers, or agents re5 sponsible for the false statements, or by both fine and

6 imprisonment.

7 (2) HOLDING COMPANIES.—Any provider of tele8 communications services which falsely represents its

9 annual report to the Commission or its implementa10 tion of its programs pursuant to this section shall be

11 subject to a fine of $100,000 and be subject to a pen12 alty of up to 5 years restriction from participation

13 in lines of business activities provided for in this

14 title.

15 (b) INDEPENDENT CAUSE OF ACTION, REMEDIES, AND

16 ATTORNEY FEES.—

17 (1) DISCRIMINATION PROHIBITED.—No otherwise

18 qualified business enterprise that is owned by minori19 ties or women shall solely, by reason of its racial, eth20 nic, or gender composition be excluded from the par21 ticipation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected

22 to discrimination in procuring contracts from tele23 phone utilities.

24 (2) CIVIL ACTIONS AUTHORIZED.—Whenever a

25 qualified business enterprise that is owned by minori-
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1 ties or women has reasonable cause to believe that a

2 provider of telecommunications services or its affiliate

3 is engaged in a pattern or practice of resistance to the

4 full compliance of any provision of this title, the busi5 ness enterprise may bring a civil action in the appro6 priate district court of the United States against the

7 provider of telecommunications services or its affiliate

8 requesting such monetary or injunctive relief, or both,

9 as deemed necessary to ensure the full benefits of this

10 title.

11 (3) ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND COSTS.—In any ac12 tion or proceeding to enforce or charge of a violation

13 of a provision of this title, the court, in its discretion,

14 may allow the prevailing party reasonable attorneys’

15 fees and costs.

16 SEC. 305. DEFINITIONS.

17 For the purpose of this title, the following definitions

18 apply:

19 (1) The term ‘‘business enterprise owned by mi20 norities or women’’ means—

21 (A) a business enterprise that is at least 51

22 percent owned by a person or persons who are

23 minority persons or women; or

24 (B) in the case of any publicly owned busi25 ness, at least 51 percent of the stock of which is
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1 owned by one or more persons who are minority

2 persons or women, and whose management and

3 daily business operations are controlled by one

4 or more of those persons.

5 (2) The term ‘‘minority person’’ means persons

6 who are Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, Na7 tive Americans, Asian Americans, and Pacific Ameri8 cans.

9 (3) The term ‘‘control’’ means exercising the

10 power to make financial and policy decisions.

11 (4) The term ‘‘operate’’ means the active involve12 ment in the day-to-day management of the business

13 and not merely being officers or directors.

14 (5) The term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Federal

15 Communications Commission.

16 (6) The term ‘‘telecommunications service’’ has

17 the meaning provided in section 3(mm) of the Com18 munications Act of 1934 (as added by this Act).

19 TITLE IV—FEDERAL COMMU20 NICATIONS COMMISSION RE21 SOURCES

22 SEC. 401. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any other sums au24 thorized by law, there are authorized to be appropriated to

25 the Federal Communications Commission such sums as
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1 may be necessary to carry out this Act and the amendments

2 made by this Act.

3 (b) EFFECT ON FEES.—For purposes of section

4 9(b)(2), additional amounts appropriated pursuant to sub5 section (a) shall be construed to be changes in the amounts

6 appropriated for the performance of activities described in

7 section 9(a).

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