I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1555 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require cable operators and 

internet service providers who are subject to State fines to submit a 

report, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 6, 2019 

Mr. BRINDISI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require cable 

operators and internet service providers who are subject 

to State fines to submit a report, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transparency for 

5 Cable Consumers Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FCC REPORTING REQUIREMENT FOR CABLE OPER2 ATORS AND INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS 

3 WHO ARE SUBJECT TO STATE FINES. 

4 Title VII of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

5 U.S.C. 601 et. seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 

6 following new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 723. REPORTING REQUIREMENT FOR CABLE OPERA8 TORS AND INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS 

9 SUBJECT TO STATE FINES AND PENALTIES. 

10 ‘‘(a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than October 1 

11 of each year for a period of ten years that begins the year 

12 following a year in which a cable operator or internet serv13 ice provider begins making payments to a State that quali14 fies the operator or provider as a covered entity, the cov15 ered entity shall submit to the Commission a report that 

16 includes the following: 

17 ‘‘(1) The total number of customers the covered 

18 entity has in each county in which the covered entity 

19 operates in that State. For the second through tenth 

20 such report, the percentage increase or decrease 

21 from the previous 12 months for each such county. 

22 ‘‘(2) The average monthly customer billed 

23 amount in each county in which the covered entity 

24 operates in that State for the previous 12 months. 

25 For the second through tenth such report, the perVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:14 Mar 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1555.IH H1555

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1 centage increase or decrease from the previous 12 

2 months for each county. 

3 ‘‘(3) In the case of a cable provider that is a 

4 covered entity, the average billed amount for cable 

5 service for each county in which the covered entity 

6 operates in that State for the previous 12 months. 

7 ‘‘(4) In the case of an internet service provider 

8 that is a covered entity, the average billed amount 

9 for broadband internet service for each county in 

10 which the covered entity operates in that State for 

11 the previous 12 months. 

12 ‘‘(5) In the case of a covered entity that is a 

13 cable operator and an internet service provider, a 

14 separate report for both the average billed amount 

15 for cable service and the average billed amount for 

16 broadband internet service for each county in which 

17 the covered entity operates in that State for the pre18 vious 12 months. 

19 ‘‘(6) The average internet speeds delivered to 

20 customers in each county in which the covered entity 

21 has operated in that State for the previous 12 

22 months, including the average upload and download 

23 speed. For years 2–10 of the reporting requirement, 

24 this must also include the percentage increase or de25 crease from the previous year for each county. 


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1 ‘‘(7) A list of all additional fees which appeared 

2 on customers’ bills during the past 12 months as 

3 well as the average charge for each fee for each 

4 county in which the company operates in that State. 

5 For the second through tenth such report, the per6 centage increase or decrease from the previous 12 

7 months for each county. 

8 ‘‘(b) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 30 

9 days after the date on which the Commission receives a 

10 report under subsection (a), the Commission shall submit 

11 such report to each Member of Congress from the relevant 

12 State. 

13 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 ‘‘(1) BROADBAND INTERNET SERVICE.—The 

15 term ‘broadband internet service’— 

16 ‘‘(A) means a mass-market retail service 

17 by wire or radio that provides the capability to 

18 transmit data to and receive data from all or 

19 substantially all internet endpoints, including 

20 any capabilities that are incidental to and en21 able the operation of the communications serv22 ice; 

23 ‘‘(B) does not include dial-up internet ac24 cess service; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) includes any service that the Commis2 sion finds to be providing a functional equiva3 lent of the service described in subparagraph 

4 (A) or that is used to evade the protections set 

5 forth in part 8 of title 47, Code of Federal Reg6 ulations. 

7 ‘‘(2) CABLE OPERATOR; CABLE SERVICE.—The 

8 terms ‘cable operator’ and ‘cable service’ have the 

9 meanings given those terms in section 602. 

10 ‘‘(3) COUNTY.—The term ‘county’ includes a 

11 parish or borough. 

12 ‘‘(4) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘covered en13 tity’ means a cable operator or internet service pro14 vider that is directed by a State Public Service Com15 mission or State Department of Public Service to 

16 pay $1,000,000 or more to the State in fines or pen17 alties. 

18 ‘‘(5) INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER.—The term 

19 ‘internet service provider’ means any person or 

20 group of persons that provides broadband internet 

21 access service. 

22 ‘‘(6) MEMBER OF CONGRESS.—The term ‘Mem23 ber of Congress’ means a Senator or a RepresentaVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:14 Mar 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1555.IH H1555

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1 tive in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, 

2 the Congress.’’. 

Æ 


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