II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 774 

To require the Comptroller General of the United States to submit a report 

to Congress on the effectiveness of the Federal Communications Commission’s universal service reforms. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 22, 2013 

Mr. BEGICH (for himself and Mrs. FISCHER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require the Comptroller General of the United States 

to submit a report to Congress on the effectiveness of 

the Federal Communications Commission’s universal 

service reforms. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. GAO REPORT ON UNIVERSAL SERVICE RE4 FORMS. 

5 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the report required 

6 under subsection (b) is to aid Congress in monitoring and 

7 measuring the effects of a series of reforms by the Federal 

8 Communications Commission (in this Act referred to as 


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1 the ‘‘FCC’’) intended to promote the availability and af2 fordability of broadband service throughout the United 

3 States. 

4 (b) REPORT.—The Comptroller General of the 

5 United States shall prepare a report providing detailed 

6 measurements, statistics, and metrics with respect to— 

7 (1) the progress of implementation of the re8 forms adopted in the FCC’s Report and Order and 

9 Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking adopted on 

10 October 27, 2011 (FCC 11–161) (in this Act re11 ferred to as the ‘‘Order’’); 

12 (2) the effects, if any, of such reforms on retail 

13 end user rates during the applicable calendar year 

14 for— 

15 (A) local voice telephony services (including 

16 any subscriber line charges and access recovery 

17 charges assessed by carriers upon purchasers of 

18 such services); 

19 (B) interconnected VoIP services; 

20 (C) long distance voice services; 

21 (D) mobile wireless voice services; 

22 (E) bundles of voice telephony or VoIP 

23 services (such as local and long distance voice 

24 packages); 


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1 (F) fixed broadband Internet access serv2 ices; and 

3 (G) mobile broadband Internet access serv4 ices; 

5 (3) any disparities or trends detectable during 

6 the applicable calendar year with respect to the rel7 ative average (such as per-consumer) retail rates 

8 charged for each of the services listed in paragraph 

9 (2) to consumers (including both residential and 

10 business users) located in rural areas and urban 

11 areas; 

12 (4) any disparities or trends detectable during 

13 the applicable calendar year with respect to the rel14 ative average (such as per-consumer) retail rates 

15 charged for each of the services listed in paragraph 

16 (2) as between incumbent local exchange carriers 

17 subject to price cap regulation and those subject to 

18 rate-of-return regulation; 

19 (5) the effects, if any, of those reforms adopted 

20 in the Order on average fixed and mobile broadband 

21 Internet access speeds, respectively, available to resi22 dential and business consumers, respectively, during 

23 the applicable calendar year; 

24 (6) any disparities or trends detectable during 

25 the applicable calendar year with respect to the relVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:53 Apr 27, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S774.IS S774

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1 ative average fixed and mobile broadband Internet 

2 access speeds, respectively, available to residential 

3 and business consumers, respectively, in rural areas 

4 and urban areas; 

5 (7) the effects, if any, of those reforms adopted 

6 in the Order on the magnitude and pace of invest7 ments in broadband-capable networks in rural areas, 

8 including such investments financed by the Depart9 ment of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service under 

10 the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 901 

11 et seq.); 

12 (8) any disparities or trends detectable during 

13 the applicable calendar year with respect to the rel14 ative magnitude and pace of investments in 

15 broadband-capable networks in rural areas and 

16 urban areas; 

17 (9) any disparities or trends detectable during 

18 the applicable calendar year with respect to the mag19 nitude and pace of investments in broadband-capable 

20 networks in areas served by carriers subject to price 

21 cap regulation and areas served by carriers subject 

22 to rate-of-return regulation; 

23 (10) the effects, if any, of those reforms adopt24 ed in the Order on adoption of broadband Internet 

25 access services by end users; and 


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1 (11) the effects, if any, of such reforms on 

2 State universal service funds or other State uni3 versal service initiatives, including carrier-of-last-re4 sort requirements that may be enforced by any 

5 State. 

6 (c) TIMING.—On or before December 31, 2013, and 

7 annually thereafter for the following 5 calendar years, the 

8 Comptroller General shall submit the report required 

9 under subsection (b) to the following: 

10 (1) The Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

11 Transportation of the Senate. 

12 (2) The Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 

13 and Forestry of the Senate. 

14 (3) The Committee on Energy and Commerce 

15 of the House of Representatives. 

16 (4) The Committee on Agriculture of the House 

17 of Representatives. 

18 (d) DATA INCLUSION.—The report required under 

19 subsection (b) shall include all data that the Comptroller 

20 General deems relevant to and supportive of any conclu21 sions drawn with respect to the effects of the FCC’s re22 forms and any disparities or trends detected in the items 

23 subject to the report. 

Æ 


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