IIB 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4986 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 7, 2018 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

and Transportation 

AN ACT 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to reauthorize 

appropriations for the Federal Communications Commission, and for other purposes. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of 

4 Modern Services Act of 2018’’ or the ‘‘RAY BAUM’S Act 

5 of 2018’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Commission defined. 

TITLE I—FCC REAUTHORIZATION 

Sec. 101. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 102. Application and regulatory fees. 

Sec. 103. Effective date. 

TITLE II—APPLICATION OF ANTIDEFICIENCY ACT 

Sec. 201. Application of Antideficiency Act to Universal Service Program. 

TITLE III—SECURING ACCESS TO NETWORKS IN DISASTERS 

Sec. 301. Study on network resiliency. 

Sec. 302. Access to essential service providers during federally declared emergencies. 

Sec. 303. Definitions. 

TITLE IV—FCC CONSOLIDATED REPORTING 

Sec. 401. Communications marketplace report. 

Sec. 402. Consolidation of redundant reports; conforming amendments. 

Sec. 403. Effect on authority. 

Sec. 404. Other reports. 

TITLE V—ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS 

Sec. 501. Independent Inspector General for FCC. 

Sec. 502. Authority of Chief Information Officer. 

Sec. 503. Spoofing prevention. 

Sec. 504. Report on promoting broadband Internet access service for veterans. 

Sec. 505. Methodology for collection of mobile service coverage data. 

Sec. 506. Accuracy of dispatchable location for 9–1–1 calls. 

Sec. 507. NTIA study on interagency process following cybersecurity incidents. 

Sec. 508. Tribal digital access. 

Sec. 509. Terms of office and vacancies. 

Sec. 510. Submission of copy of certain documents to Congress. 

Sec. 511. Joint board recommendation. 

Sec. 512. Disclaimer for press releases regarding notices of apparent liability. 

Sec. 513. Reports related to spectrum auctions. 


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TITLE VI—VIEWER PROTECTION 

Sec. 601. Reserve source for payment of TV broadcaster relocation costs. 

Sec. 602. Payment of relocation costs of television translator stations and low 

power television stations. 

Sec. 603. Payment of relocation costs of FM broadcast stations. 

Sec. 604. Consumer education payment. 

Sec. 605. Implementation and enforcement. 

Sec. 606. Rule of construction. 

TITLE VII—MOBILE NOW 

Sec. 701. Short title. 

Sec. 702. Definitions. 

Sec. 703. Identifying 255 megahertz. 

Sec. 704. Millimeter wave spectrum. 

Sec. 705. 3 gigahertz spectrum. 

Sec. 706. Broadband infrastructure deployment. 

Sec. 707. Reallocation incentives. 

Sec. 708. Bidirectional sharing study. 

Sec. 709. Unlicensed services in guard bands. 

Sec. 710. Amendments to the Spectrum Pipeline Act of 2015. 

Sec. 711. GAO assessment of unlicensed spectrum and Wi-Fi use in low-income 

neighborhoods. 

Sec. 712. Rulemaking related to partitioning or disaggregating licenses. 

Sec. 713. Unlicensed spectrum policy. 

Sec. 714. National plan for unlicensed spectrum. 

Sec. 715. Spectrum challenge prize. 

Sec. 716. Wireless telecommunications tax and fee collection fairness. 

Sec. 717. Rules of construction. 

Sec. 718. Relationship to Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 

2012. 

Sec. 719. No additional funds authorized. 

1 SEC. 2. COMMISSION DEFINED. 

2 In this Act, the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Fed3 eral Communications Commission. 

4 TITLE I—FCC 

5 REAUTHORIZATION 

6 SEC. 101. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6 of the Communications 

8 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 156) is amended to read as fol9 lows: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to be 

3 appropriated to the Commission to carry out the functions 

4 of the Commission $333,118,000 for fiscal year 2019 and 

5 $339,610,000 for fiscal year 2020. 

6 ‘‘(b) OFFSETTING COLLECTIONS.—The sum appro7 priated in any fiscal year to carry out the activities de8 scribed in subsection (a), to the extent and in the amounts 

9 provided for in Appropriations Acts, shall be derived from 

10 fees authorized by section 9.’’. 

11 (b) DEPOSITS OF BIDDERS TO BE DEPOSITED IN

12 TREASURY.—Section 309(j)(8)(C) of the Communications 

13 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(8)(C)) is amended— 

14 (1) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘an inter15 est bearing account’’ and all that follows and insert16 ing ‘‘the Treasury.’’; 

17 (2) in clause (i)— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘paid to the Treasury’’ and 

19 inserting ‘‘deposited in the general fund of the 

20 Treasury (where such deposits shall be used for 

21 the sole purpose of deficit reduction)’’; and 

22 (B) by striking the semicolon and inserting 

23 ‘‘; and’’; 

24 (3) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and in25 serting ‘‘, and payments representing the return of 

26 such deposits shall not be subject to administrative 


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1 offset under section 3716(c) of title 31, United 

2 States Code.’’; and 

3 (4) by striking clause (iii). 

4 (c) ELIMINATION OF DUPLICATIVE AUTHORIZATION

5 OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 710 of the Tele7 communications Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–104) 

8 is repealed. 

9 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of 

10 contents in section 2 of such Act is amended by 

11 striking the item relating to section 710. 

12 (d) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.—On the effective date de13 scribed in section 103, any amounts in the account pro14 viding appropriations to carry out the functions of the 

15 Commission that were collected in excess of the amounts 

16 provided for in Appropriations Acts in any fiscal year prior 

17 to such date shall be transferred to the general fund of 

18 the Treasury of the United States for the sole purpose 

19 of deficit reduction. 

20 SEC. 102. APPLICATION AND REGULATORY FEES. 

21 (a) APPLICATION FEES.—Section 8 of the Commu22 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 158) is amended to read 

23 as follows: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 8. APPLICATION FEES. 

2 ‘‘(a) GENERAL AUTHORITY; ESTABLISHMENT OF

3 SCHEDULE.—The Commission shall assess and collect ap4 plication fees at such rates as the Commission shall estab5 lish in a schedule of application fees to recover the costs 

6 of the Commission to process applications. 

7 ‘‘(b) ADJUSTMENT OF SCHEDULE.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In every even-numbered 

9 year, the Commission shall review the schedule of 

10 application fees established under this section and, 

11 except as provided in paragraph (2), set a new 

12 amount for each fee in the schedule that is equal to 

13 the amount of the fee on the date when the fee was 

14 established or the date when the fee was last amend15 ed under subsection (c), whichever is later— 

16 ‘‘(A) increased or decreased by the per17 centage change in the Consumer Price Index 

18 during the period beginning on such date and 

19 ending on the date of the review; and 

20 ‘‘(B) rounded to the nearest $5 increment. 

21 ‘‘(2) THRESHOLD FOR ADJUSTMENT.—The 

22 Commission may not adjust a fee under paragraph 

23 (1) if— 

24 ‘‘(A) in the case of a fee the current 

25 amount of which is less than $200, the adjustVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Mar 07, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4986.RFS H4986

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1 ment would result in a change in the current 

2 amount of less than $10; or 

3 ‘‘(B) in the case of a fee the current 

4 amount of which is $200 or more, the adjust5 ment would result in a change in the current 

6 amount of less than 5 percent. 

7 ‘‘(3) CURRENT AMOUNT DEFINED.—In para8 graph (2), the term ‘current amount’ means, with 

9 respect to a fee, the amount of the fee on the date 

10 when the fee was established, the date when the fee 

11 was last adjusted under paragraph (1), or the date 

12 when the fee was last amended under subsection (c), 

13 whichever is latest. 

14 ‘‘(c) AMENDMENTS TO SCHEDULE.—In addition to 

15 the adjustments required by subsection (b), the Commis16 sion shall by rule amend the schedule of application fees 

17 established under this section if the Commission deter18 mines that the schedule requires amendment— 

19 ‘‘(1) so that such fees reflect increases or de20 creases in the costs of processing applications at the 

21 Commission; or 

22 ‘‘(2) so that such schedule reflects the consoli23 dation or addition of new categories of applications. 

24 ‘‘(d) EXCEPTIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) PARTIES TO WHICH FEES ARE NOT APPLI2 CABLE.—The application fees established under this 

3 section shall not be applicable to— 

4 ‘‘(A) a governmental entity; 

5 ‘‘(B) a nonprofit entity licensed in the 

6 Local Government, Police, Fire, Highway Main7 tenance, Forestry-Conservation, Public Safety, 

8 or Special Emergency Radio radio services; or 

9 ‘‘(C) a noncommercial radio station or 

10 noncommercial television station. 

11 ‘‘(2) COST OF COLLECTION.—If, in the judg12 ment of the Commission, the cost of collecting an 

13 application fee established under this section would 

14 exceed the amount collected, the Commission may by 

15 rule eliminate such fee. 

16 ‘‘(e) DEPOSIT OF COLLECTIONS.—Moneys received 

17 from application fees established under this section shall 

18 be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury.’’. 

19 (b) REGULATORY FEES.—Section 9 of the Commu20 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 159) is amended to read 

21 as follows: 

22 ‘‘SEC. 9. REGULATORY FEES. 

23 ‘‘(a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—The Commission shall 

24 assess and collect regulatory fees to recover the costs of 

25 carrying out the activities described in section 6(a) only 


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1 to the extent, and in the total amounts, provided for in 

2 Appropriations Acts. 

3 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF SCHEDULE.—The Com4 mission shall assess and collect regulatory fees at such 

5 rates as the Commission shall establish in a schedule of 

6 regulatory fees that will result in the collection, in each 

7 fiscal year, of an amount that can reasonably be expected 

8 to equal the amounts described in subsection (a) with re9 spect to such fiscal year. 

10 ‘‘(c) ADJUSTMENT OF SCHEDULE.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year, the 

12 Commission shall by rule adjust the schedule of reg13 ulatory fees established under this section to— 

14 ‘‘(A) reflect unexpected increases or de15 creases in the number of units subject to the 

16 payment of such fees; and 

17 ‘‘(B) result in the collection of the amount 

18 required by subsection (b). 

19 ‘‘(2) ROUNDING.—In making adjustments 

20 under this subsection, the Commission may round 

21 fees to the nearest $5 increment. 

22 ‘‘(d) AMENDMENTS TO SCHEDULE.—In addition to 

23 the adjustments required by subsection (c), the Commis24 sion shall by rule amend the schedule of regulatory fees 

25 established under this section if the Commission deterVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Mar 07, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4986.RFS H4986

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1 mines that the schedule requires amendment so that such 

2 fees reflect the full-time equivalent number of employees 

3 within the bureaus and offices of the Commission, ad4 justed to take into account factors that are reasonably re5 lated to the benefits provided to the payor of the fee by 

6 the Commission’s activities. In making an amendment 

7 under this subsection, the Commission may not change the 

8 total amount of regulatory fees required by subsection (b) 

9 to be collected in a fiscal year. 

10 ‘‘(e) EXCEPTIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) PARTIES TO WHICH FEES ARE NOT APPLI12 CABLE.—The regulatory fees established under this 

13 section shall not be applicable to— 

14 ‘‘(A) a governmental entity or nonprofit 

15 entity; 

16 ‘‘(B) an amateur radio operator licensee 

17 under part 97 of the Commission’s rules (47 

18 CFR part 97); or 

19 ‘‘(C) a noncommercial radio station or 

20 noncommercial television station. 

21 ‘‘(2) COST OF COLLECTION.—If, in the judg22 ment of the Commission, the cost of collecting a reg23 ulatory fee established under this section from a 

24 party would exceed the amount collected from such 


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1 party, the Commission may exempt such party from 

2 paying such fee. 

3 ‘‘(f) DEPOSIT OF COLLECTIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts received from fees 

5 authorized by this section shall be deposited as an 

6 offsetting collection in, and credited to, the account 

7 through which funds are made available to carry out 

8 the activities described in section 6(a). 

9 ‘‘(2) DEPOSIT OF EXCESS COLLECTIONS.—Any 

10 regulatory fees collected in excess of the total 

11 amount of fees provided for in Appropriations Acts 

12 for a fiscal year shall be deposited in the general 

13 fund of the Treasury of the United States for the 

14 sole purpose of deficit reduction.’’. 

15 (c) PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO APPLICATION AND

16 REGULATORY FEES.—Title I of the Communications Act 

17 of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

18 after section 9 the following: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 9A. PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO APPLICATION AND 

20 REGULATORY FEES. 

21 ‘‘(a) JUDICIAL REVIEW PROHIBITED.—Any adjust22 ment or amendment to a schedule of fees under subsection 

23 (b) or (c) of section 8 or subsection (c) or (d) of section 

24 9 is not subject to judicial review. 


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1 ‘‘(b) NOTICE TO CONGRESS.—The Commission shall 

2 transmit to Congress notification— 

3 ‘‘(1) of any adjustment under section 8(b) or 

4 9(c) immediately upon the adoption of such adjust5 ment; and 

6 ‘‘(2) of any amendment under section 8(c) or 

7 9(d) not later than 90 days before the effective date 

8 of such amendment. 

9 ‘‘(c) ENFORCEMENT.— 

10 ‘‘(1) PENALTIES FOR LATE PAYMENT.—The 

11 Commission shall by rule prescribe an additional 

12 penalty for late payment of fees under section 8 or 

13 9. Such additional penalty shall be 25 percent of the 

14 amount of the fee that was not paid in a timely 

15 manner. 

16 ‘‘(2) INTEREST ON UNPAID FEES AND PEN17 ALTIES.—The Commission shall charge interest, at a 

18 rate determined under section 3717 of title 31, 

19 United States Code, on a fee under section 8 or 9 

20 or an additional penalty under this subsection that 

21 is not paid in a timely manner. Such section 3717 

22 shall not otherwise apply with respect to such a fee 

23 or penalty. 

24 ‘‘(3) DISMISSAL OF APPLICATIONS OR FIL25 INGS.—The Commission may dismiss any applicaVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Mar 07, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4986.RFS H4986

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1 tion or other filing for failure to pay in a timely 

2 manner any fee under section 8 or 9 or any interest 

3 or additional penalty under this subsection. 

4 ‘‘(4) REVOCATIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to or in 

6 lieu of the penalties and dismissals authorized 

7 by this subsection, the Commission may revoke 

8 any instrument of authorization held by any li9 censee that has not paid in a timely manner a 

10 regulatory fee assessed under section 9 or any 

11 related interest or penalty. 

12 ‘‘(B) NOTICE.—Revocation action may be 

13 taken by the Commission under this paragraph 

14 after notice of the Commission’s intent to take 

15 such action is sent to the licensee by registered 

16 mail, return receipt requested, at the licensee’s 

17 last known address. The notice shall provide the 

18 licensee at least 30 days to either pay the fee, 

19 interest, and any penalty or show cause why the 

20 fee, interest, or penalty does not apply to the li21 censee or should otherwise be waived or pay22 ment deferred. 

23 ‘‘(C) HEARING.— 

24 ‘‘(i) GENERALLY NOT REQUIRED.—A 

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1 graph unless the licensee’s response pre2 sents a substantial and material question 

3 of fact. 

4 ‘‘(ii) EVIDENCE AND BURDENS.—In 

5 any case where a hearing is conducted 

6 under this paragraph, the hearing shall be 

7 based on written evidence only, and the 

8 burden of proceeding with the introduction 

9 of evidence and the burden of proof shall 

10 be on the licensee. 

11 ‘‘(iii) COSTS.—Unless the licensee 

12 substantially prevails in the hearing, the 

13 Commission may assess the licensee for the 

14 costs of such hearing. 

15 ‘‘(D) OPPORTUNITY TO PAY PRIOR TO

16 REVOCATION.—Any Commission order adopted 

17 under this paragraph shall determine the 

18 amount due, if any, and provide the licensee 

19 with at least 30 days to pay that amount or 

20 have its authorization revoked. 

21 ‘‘(E) FINALITY.—No order of revocation 

22 under this paragraph shall become final until 

23 the licensee has exhausted its right to judicial 

24 review of such order under section 402(b)(5). 


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1 ‘‘(d) WAIVER, REDUCTION, AND DEFERMENT.—The 

2 Commission may waive, reduce, or defer payment of a fee 

3 under section 8 or 9 or an interest charge or penalty under 

4 this section in any specific instance for good cause shown, 

5 where such action would promote the public interest. 

6 ‘‘(e) PAYMENT RULES.—The Commission shall by 

7 rule permit payment— 

8 ‘‘(1) in the case of fees under section 8 or 9 in 

9 large amounts, by installments; and 

10 ‘‘(2) in the case of fees under section 8 or 9 in 

11 small amounts, in advance for a number of years not 

12 to exceed the term of the license held by the payor. 

13 ‘‘(f) ACCOUNTING SYSTEM.—The Commission shall 

14 develop accounting systems necessary to make the amend15 ments authorized by sections 8(c) and 9(d).’’. 

16 (d) TRANSITIONAL RULES.— 

17 (1) APPLICATION FEES.—An application fee es18 tablished under section 8 of the Communications Act 

19 of 1934, as such section is in effect on the day be20 fore the effective date described in section 103 of 

21 this Act, shall remain in effect under section 8 of 

22 the Communications Act of 1934, as amended by 

23 subsection (a) of this section, until such time as the 

24 Commission adjusts or amends such fee under sub25 section (b) or (c) of such section 8, as so amended. 


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1 (2) REGULATORY FEES.—A regulatory fee es2 tablished under section 9 of the Communications Act 

3 of 1934, as such section is in effect on the day be4 fore the effective date described in section 103 of 

5 this Act, shall remain in effect under section 9 of 

6 the Communications Act of 1934, as amended by 

7 subsection (b) of this section, until such time as the 

8 Commission adjusts or amends such fee under sub9 section (c) or (d) of such section 9, as so amended. 

10 (e) RULEMAKING TO AMEND SCHEDULE OF REGU11 LATORY FEES.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

13 the effective date described in section 103, the Com14 mission shall complete a rulemaking proceeding 

15 under subsection (d) of section 9 of the Communica16 tions Act of 1934, as amended by subsection (b) of 

17 this section. 

18 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—If the Commission 

19 has not completed the rulemaking proceeding re20 quired by paragraph (1) by the date that is 6 

21 months after the effective date described in section 

22 103, the Commission shall submit to Congress a re23 port on the progress of such rulemaking proceeding. 


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1 SEC. 103. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 This title and the amendments made by this title 

3 shall take effect on October 1, 2018. 

4 TITLE II—APPLICATION OF 

5 ANTIDEFICIENCY ACT 

6 SEC. 201. APPLICATION OF ANTIDEFICIENCY ACT TO UNI7 VERSAL SERVICE PROGRAM. 

8 Section 302 of Public Law 108–494 (118 Stat. 3998) 

9 is amended by striking ‘‘December 31, 2018’’ each place 

10 it appears and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2019’’. 

11 TITLE III—SECURING ACCESS TO 

12 NETWORKS IN DISASTERS 

13 SEC. 301. STUDY ON NETWORK RESILIENCY. 

14 Not later than 36 months after the date of enactment 

15 of this Act, the Commission shall submit to Congress, and 

16 make publically available on the Commission’s website, a 

17 study on the public safety benefits and technical feasibility 

18 and cost of— 

19 (1) making telecommunications service pro20 vider-owned WiFi access points, and other commu21 nications technologies operating on unlicensed spec22 trum, available to the general public for access to 9– 

23 1–1 services, without requiring any login credentials, 

24 during times of emergency when mobile service is 

25 unavailable; 


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1 (2) the provision by non-telecommunications 

2 service provider-owned WiFi access points of public 

3 access to 9–1–1 services during times of emergency 

4 when mobile service is unavailable; and 

5 (3) other alternative means of providing the 

6 public with access to 9–1–1 services during times of 

7 emergency when mobile service is unavailable. 

8 SEC. 302. ACCESS TO ESSENTIAL SERVICE PROVIDERS DUR9 ING FEDERALLY DECLARED EMERGENCIES. 

10 Section 427(a) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re11 lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5189e(a)) 

12 is amended— 

13 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

14 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘tele15 communications service’’ and inserting ‘‘wireline 

16 or mobile telephone service, Internet access 

17 service, radio or television broadcasting, cable 

18 service, or direct broadcast satellite service’’; 

19 (B) in subparagraph (E), by striking the 

20 semicolon and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

21 (C) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) 

22 through (E) as clauses (i) through (v), respec23 tively; and 

24 (2) by striking ‘‘(1) provides’’ and inserting 

25 ‘‘(1)(A) provides’’. 


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1 SEC. 303. DEFINITIONS. 

2 As used in this title— 

3 (1) the term ‘‘mobile service’’ means commer4 cial mobile service (as defined in section 332 of the 

5 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332)) or 

6 commercial mobile data service (as defined in section 

7 6001 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Cre8 ation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1401)); 

9 (2) the term ‘‘WiFi access point’’ means wire10 less Internet access using the standard designated as 

11 802.11 or any variant thereof; and 

12 (3) the term ‘‘times of emergency’’ means ei13 ther an emergency as defined in section 102 of the 

14 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 

15 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122), or an emergency 

16 as declared by the governor of a State or territory 

17 of the United States. 

18 TITLE IV—FCC CONSOLIDATED 

19 REPORTING 

20 SEC. 401. COMMUNICATIONS MARKETPLACE REPORT. 

21 Title I of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

22 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 

23 following: 

24 ‘‘SEC. 13. COMMUNICATIONS MARKETPLACE REPORT. 

25 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the last quarter of every even26 numbered year, the Commission shall publish on its 


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1 website and submit to the Committee on Energy and Com2 merce of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

3 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 

4 a report on the state of the communications marketplace. 

5 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—Each report required by sub6 section (a) shall— 

7 ‘‘(1) assess the state of competition in the com8 munications marketplace, including competition to 

9 deliver voice, video, audio, and data services among 

10 providers of telecommunications, providers of com11 mercial mobile service (as defined in section 332), 

12 multichannel video programming distributors (as de13 fined in section 602), broadcast stations, providers 

14 of satellite communications, Internet service pro15 viders, and other providers of communications serv16 ices; 

17 ‘‘(2) assess the state of deployment of commu18 nications capabilities, including advanced tele19 communications capability (as defined in section 706 

20 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 

21 1302)), regardless of the technology used for such 

22 deployment; 

23 ‘‘(3) assess whether laws, regulations, regu24 latory practices (whether those of the Federal Gov25 ernment, States, political subdivisions of States, InVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Mar 07, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4986.RFS H4986

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1 dian tribes or tribal organizations (as such terms are 

2 defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination 

3 and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)), or 

4 foreign governments), or demonstrated marketplace 

5 practices pose a barrier to competitive entry into the 

6 communications marketplace or to the competitive 

7 expansion of existing providers of communications 

8 services; 

9 ‘‘(4) describe the agenda of the Commission for 

10 the next 2-year period for addressing the challenges 

11 and opportunities in the communications market12 place that were identified through the assessments 

13 under paragraphs (1) through (3); and 

14 ‘‘(5) describe the actions that the Commission 

15 has taken in pursuit of the agenda described pursu16 ant to paragraph (4) in the previous report sub17 mitted under this section. 

18 ‘‘(c) EXTENSION.—If the President designates a 

19 Commissioner as Chairman of the Commission during the 

20 last quarter of an even-numbered year, the portion of the 

21 report required by subsection (b)(4) may be published on 

22 the website of the Commission and submitted to the Com23 mittee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Rep24 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 


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1 and Transportation of the Senate as an addendum during 

2 the first quarter of the following odd-numbered year. 

3 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) ASSESSING COMPETITION.—In assessing 

5 the state of competition under subsection (b)(1), the 

6 Commission shall consider all forms of competition, 

7 including the effect of intermodal competition, facili8 ties-based competition, and competition from new 

9 and emergent communications services, including the 

10 provision of content and communications using the 

11 Internet. 

12 ‘‘(2) ASSESSING DEPLOYMENT.—In assessing 

13 the state of deployment under subsection (b)(2), the 

14 Commission shall compile a list of geographical 

15 areas that are not served by any provider of ad16 vanced telecommunications capability. 

17 ‘‘(3) CONSIDERING SMALL BUSINESSES.—In as18 sessing the state of competition under subsection 

19 (b)(1) and regulatory barriers under subsection 

20 (b)(3), the Commission shall consider market entry 

21 barriers for entrepreneurs and other small busi22 nesses in the communications marketplace in accord23 ance with the national policy under section 257(b).’’. 


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1 SEC. 402. CONSOLIDATION OF REDUNDANT REPORTS; CON2 FORMING AMENDMENTS. 

3 (a) ORBIT ACT REPORT.—Section 646 of the Com4 munications Satellite Act of 1962 (47 U.S.C. 765e; 114 

5 Stat. 57) is repealed. 

6 (b) SATELLITE COMPETITION REPORT.—Section 4 of 

7 Public Law 109–34 (47 U.S.C. 703) is repealed. 

8 (c) INTERNATIONAL BROADBAND DATA REPORT.— 

9 Section 103(b)(1) of the Broadband Data Improvement 

10 Act (47 U.S.C. 1303(b)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘the 

11 assessment and report’’ and all that follows through ‘‘Fed12 eral Communications Commission’’ and inserting ‘‘its re13 port under section 13 of the Communications Act of 1934, 

14 the Federal Communications Commission’’. 

15 (d) STATUS OF COMPETITION IN THE MARKET FOR

16 THE DELIVERY OF VIDEO PROGRAMMING REPORT.—Sec17 tion 628 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

18 548) is amended— 

19 (1) by striking subsection (g); 

20 (2) by redesignating subsection (j) as sub21 section (g); and 

22 (3) by transferring subsection (g) (as redesig23 nated) so that it appears after subsection (f). 

24 (e) REPORT ON CABLE INDUSTRY PRICES.—Section 

25 623(k) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

26 543(k)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘annually 

2 publish’’ and inserting ‘‘publish with its report 

3 under section 13’’; and 

4 (2) in the heading of paragraph (2), by striking 

5 ‘‘ANNUAL’’. 

6 (f) TRIENNIAL REPORT IDENTIFYING AND ELIMI7 NATING MARKET ENTRY BARRIERS FOR ENTRE8 PRENEURS AND OTHER SMALL BUSINESSES.—Section 

9 257 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 257) 

10 is amended by striking subsection (c). 

11 (g) STATE OF COMPETITIVE MARKET CONDITIONS

12 WITH RESPECT TO COMMERCIAL MOBILE RADIO SERV13 ICES.—Section 332(c)(1)(C) of the Communications Act 

14 of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(c)(1)(C)) is amended by striking 

15 the first and second sentences. 

16 (h) PREVIOUSLY ELIMINATED ANNUAL REPORT.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 4 of the Commu18 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 154) is amended— 

19 (A) by striking subsection (k); and 

20 (B) by redesignating subsections (l) 

21 through (o) as subsections (k) through (n), re22 spectively. 

23 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

24 309(j)(8)(B) of the Communications Act of 1934 


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1 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(8)(B)) is amended by striking the 

2 last sentence. 

3 (i) ADDITIONAL OUTDATED REPORTS.—The Com4 munications Act of 1934 is further amended— 

5 (1) in section 4— 

6 (A) in subsection (b)(2)(B)(ii), by striking 

7 ‘‘and shall furnish notice of such action’’ and 

8 all that follows through ‘‘subject of the waiver’’; 

9 and 

10 (B) in subsection (g), by striking para11 graph (2); 

12 (2) in section 215— 

13 (A) by striking subsection (b); and 

14 (B) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub15 section (b); 

16 (3) in section 227(e), by striking paragraph (4); 

17 (4) in section 309(j)— 

18 (A) by striking paragraph (12); and 

19 (B) in paragraph (15)(C), by striking 

20 clause (iv); 

21 (5) in section 331(b), by striking the last sen22 tence; 

23 (6) in section 336(e), by amending paragraph 

24 (4) to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(4) REPORT.—The Commission shall annually 

2 advise the Congress on the amounts collected pursu3 ant to the program required by this subsection.’’; 

4 (7) in section 339(c), by striking paragraph (1); 

5 (8) in section 396— 

6 (A) by striking subsection (i); 

7 (B) in subsection (k)— 

8 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking sub9 paragraph (F); and 

10 (ii) in paragraph (3)(B)(iii), by strik11 ing subclause (V); 

12 (C) in subsection (l)(1)(B), by striking 

13 ‘‘shall be included’’ and all that follows through 

14 ‘‘The audit report’’; and 

15 (D) by striking subsection (m); 

16 (9) in section 398(b)(4), by striking the third 

17 sentence; 

18 (10) in section 624A(b)(1)— 

19 (A) by striking ‘‘REPORT; REGULATIONS’’ 

20 and inserting ‘‘REGULATIONS’’; 

21 (B) by striking ‘‘Within 1 year after’’ and 

22 all that follows through ‘‘on means of assuring’’ 

23 and inserting ‘‘The Commission shall issue such 

24 regulations as are necessary to assure’’; and 


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1 (C) by striking ‘‘Within 180 days after’’ 

2 and all that follows through ‘‘to assure such 

3 compatibility.’’; and 

4 (11) in section 713, by striking subsection (a). 

5 SEC. 403. EFFECT ON AUTHORITY. 

6 Nothing in this title or the amendments made by this 

7 title shall be construed to expand or contract the authority 

8 of the Commission. 

9 SEC. 404. OTHER REPORTS. 

10 Nothing in this title or the amendments made by this 

11 title shall be construed to prohibit or otherwise prevent 

12 the Commission from producing any additional reports 

13 otherwise within the authority of the Commission. 

14 TITLE V—ADDITIONAL 

15 PROVISIONS 

16 SEC. 501. INDEPENDENT INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR FCC. 

17 (a) AMENDMENTS.—The Inspector General Act of 

18 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

19 (1) in section 8G(a)(2), by striking ‘‘the Fed20 eral Communications Commission,’’; and 

21 (2) in section 12— 

22 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, the 

23 Federal Communications Commission,’’ after 

24 ‘‘the Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Com25 mission’’; and 


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1 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘the 

2 Federal Communications Commission,’’ after 

3 ‘‘the Environmental Protection Agency,’’. 

4 (b) TRANSITION RULE.—An individual serving as In5 spector General of the Commission on the date of the en6 actment of this Act pursuant to an appointment made 

7 under section 8G of the Inspector General Act of 1978 

8 (5 U.S.C. App.)— 

9 (1) may continue so serving until the President 

10 makes an appointment under section 3(a) of such 

11 Act with respect to the Commission consistent with 

12 the amendments made by subsection (a); and 

13 (2) shall, while serving under paragraph (1), re14 main subject to the provisions of section 8G of such 

15 Act which, immediately before the date of the enact16 ment of this Act, applied with respect to the Inspec17 tor General of the Commission and suffer no reduc18 tion in pay. 

19 SEC. 502. AUTHORITY OF CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall ensure that 

21 the Chief Information Officer of the Commission has a 

22 significant role in— 

23 (1) the decision-making process for annual and 

24 multi-year planning, programming, budgeting, and 


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1 execution decisions, related reporting requirements, 

2 and reports related to information technology; 

3 (2) the management, governance, and oversight 

4 processes related to information technology; and 

5 (3) the hiring of personnel with information 

6 technology responsibilities. 

7 (b) CIO APPROVAL.—The Chief Information Officer 

8 of the Commission, in consultation with the Chief Finan9 cial Officer of the Commission and budget officials, shall 

10 specify and approve the allocation of amounts appro11 priated to the Commission for information technology, 

12 consistent with the provisions of appropriations Acts, 

13 budget guidelines, and recommendations from the Direc14 tor of the Office of Management and Budget. 

15 SEC. 503. SPOOFING PREVENTION. 

16 (a) EXPANDING AND CLARIFYING PROHIBITION ON

17 MISLEADING OR INACCURATE CALLER IDENTIFICATION

18 INFORMATION.— 

19 (1) COMMUNICATIONS FROM OUTSIDE THE

20 UNITED STATES.—Section 227(e)(1) of the Commu21 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(e)(1)) is 

22 amended by striking ‘‘in connection with any tele23 communications service or IP-enabled voice service’’ 

24 and inserting ‘‘or any person outside the United 

25 States if the recipient is within the United States, 


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1 in connection with any voice service or text mes2 saging service’’. 

3 (2) COVERAGE OF TEXT MESSAGES AND VOICE

4 SERVICES.—Section 227(e)(8) of the Communica5 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(e)(8)) is amend6 ed— 

7 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘tele8 communications service or IP-enabled voice 

9 service’’ and inserting ‘‘voice service or a text 

10 message sent using a text messaging service’’; 

11 (B) in the first sentence of subparagraph 

12 (B), by striking ‘‘telecommunications service or 

13 IP-enabled voice service’’ and inserting ‘‘voice 

14 service or a text message sent using a text mes15 saging service’’; and 

16 (C) by striking subparagraph (C) and in17 serting the following: 

18 ‘‘(C) TEXT MESSAGE.—The term ‘text 

19 message’— 

20 ‘‘(i) means a message consisting of 

21 text, images, sounds, or other information 

22 that is transmitted to or from a device that 

23 is identified as the receiving or transmit24 ting device by means of a 10-digit tele25 phone number or N11 service code; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) includes a short message service 

2 (commonly referred to as ‘SMS’) message 

3 and a multimedia message service (com4 monly referred to as ‘MMS’) message; and 

5 ‘‘(iii) does not include— 

6 ‘‘(I) a real-time, two-way voice or 

7 video communication; or 

8 ‘‘(II) a message sent over an IP9 enabled messaging service to another 

10 user of the same messaging service, 

11 except a message described in clause 

12 (ii). 

13 ‘‘(D) TEXT MESSAGING SERVICE.—The 

14 term ‘text messaging service’ means a service 

15 that enables the transmission or receipt of a 

16 text message, including a service provided as 

17 part of or in connection with a voice service. 

18 ‘‘(E) VOICE SERVICE.—The term ‘voice 

19 service’— 

20 ‘‘(i) means any service that is inter21 connected with the public switched tele22 phone network and that furnishes voice 

23 communications to an end user using re24 sources from the North American Num25 bering Plan or any successor to the North 


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1 American Numbering Plan adopted by the 

2 Commission under section 251(e)(1); and 

3 ‘‘(ii) includes transmissions from a 

4 telephone facsimile machine, computer, or 

5 other device to a telephone facsimile ma6 chine.’’. 

7 (3) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 227(e) 

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

9 227(e)) is amended in the heading by inserting 

10 ‘‘MISLEADING OR’’ before ‘‘INACCURATE’’. 

11 (4) REGULATIONS.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 227(e)(3)(A) of 

13 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

14 227(e)(3)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘Not 

15 later than 6 months after the date of enactment 

16 of the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009, the 

17 Commission’’ and inserting ‘‘The Commission’’. 

18 (B) DEADLINE.—The Commission shall 

19 prescribe regulations to implement the amend20 ments made by this subsection not later than 

21 18 months after the date of enactment of this 

22 Act. 

23 (5) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

24 by this subsection shall take effect on the date that 


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1 is 6 months after the date on which the Commission 

2 prescribes regulations under paragraph (4). 

3 (b) CONSUMER EDUCATION MATERIALS ON HOW TO

4 AVOID SCAMS THAT RELY UPON MISLEADING OR INAC5 CURATE CALLER IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION.— 

6 (1) DEVELOPMENT OF MATERIALS.—Not later 

7 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 

8 the Commission, in coordination with the Federal 

9 Trade Commission, shall develop consumer edu10 cation materials that provide information about— 

11 (A) ways for consumers to identify scams 

12 and other fraudulent activity that rely upon the 

13 use of misleading or inaccurate caller identifica14 tion information; and 

15 (B) existing technologies, if any, that a 

16 consumer can use to protect against such scams 

17 and other fraudulent activity. 

18 (2) CONTENTS.—In developing the consumer 

19 education materials under paragraph (1), the Com20 mission shall— 

21 (A) identify existing technologies, if any, 

22 that can help consumers guard themselves 

23 against scams and other fraudulent activity 

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1 curate caller identification information, includ2 ing— 

3 (i) descriptions of how a consumer 

4 can use the technologies to protect against 

5 such scams and other fraudulent activity; 

6 and 

7 (ii) details on how consumers can ac8 cess and use the technologies; and 

9 (B) provide other information that may 

10 help consumers identify and avoid scams and 

11 other fraudulent activity that rely upon the use 

12 of misleading or inaccurate caller identification 

13 information. 

14 (3) UPDATES.—The Commission shall ensure 

15 that the consumer education materials required 

16 under paragraph (1) are updated on a regular basis. 

17 (4) WEBSITE.—The Commission shall include 

18 the consumer education materials developed under 

19 paragraph (1) on its website. 

20 (c) GAO REPORT ON COMBATING THE FRAUDULENT

21 PROVISION OF MISLEADING OR INACCURATE CALLER

22 IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 

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1 mission have taken to combat the fraudulent provi2 sion of misleading or inaccurate caller identification 

3 information, and the additional measures that could 

4 be taken to combat such activity. 

5 (2) REQUIRED CONSIDERATIONS.—In con6 ducting the study under paragraph (1), the Comp7 troller General shall examine— 

8 (A) trends in the types of scams that rely 

9 on misleading or inaccurate caller identification 

10 information; 

11 (B) previous and current enforcement ac12 tions by the Commission and the Federal Trade 

13 Commission to combat the practices prohibited 

14 by section 227(e)(1) of the Communications Act 

15 of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(e)(1)); 

16 (C) current efforts by industry groups and 

17 other entities to develop technical standards to 

18 deter or prevent the fraudulent provision of 

19 misleading or inaccurate caller identification in20 formation, and how such standards may help 

21 combat the current and future provision of mis22 leading or inaccurate caller identification infor23 mation; and 

24 (D) whether there are additional actions 

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1 sion, and Congress should take to combat the 

2 fraudulent provision of misleading or inaccurate 

3 caller identification information. 

4 (3) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after 

5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

6 General shall submit to the Committee on Energy 

7 and Commerce of the House of Representatives and 

8 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans9 portation of the Senate a report on the findings of 

10 the study under paragraph (1), including any rec11 ommendations regarding combating the fraudulent 

12 provision of misleading or inaccurate caller identi13 fication information. 

14 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec15 tion, or the amendments made by this section, shall be 

16 construed to modify, limit, or otherwise affect any rule or 

17 order adopted by the Commission in connection with— 

18 (1) the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 

19 1991 (Public Law 102–243; 105 Stat. 2394) or the 

20 amendments made by that Act; or 

21 (2) the CAN–SPAM Act of 2003 (15 U.S.C. 

22 7701 et seq.). 


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1 SEC. 504. REPORT ON PROMOTING BROADBAND INTERNET 

2 ACCESS SERVICE FOR VETERANS. 

3 (a) VETERAN DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

4 ‘‘veteran’’ has the meaning given the term in section 101 

5 of title 38, United States Code. 

6 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 1 year after 

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

8 shall submit to Congress a report on promoting broadband 

9 Internet access service for veterans, in particular low-in10 come veterans and veterans residing in rural areas. In 

11 such report, the Commission shall— 

12 (1) examine such access and how to promote 

13 such access; and 

14 (2) provide findings and recommendations for 

15 Congress with respect to such access and how to 

16 promote such access. 

17 (c) PUBLIC NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY TO COM18 MENT.—In preparing the report required by subsection 

19 (b), the Commission shall provide the public with notice 

20 and an opportunity to comment on broadband Internet ac21 cess service for veterans, in particular low-income veterans 

22 and veterans residing in rural areas, and how to promote 

23 such access. 

24 SEC. 505. METHODOLOGY FOR COLLECTION OF MOBILE 

25 SERVICE COVERAGE DATA. 

26 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 


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1 (1) the term ‘‘commercial mobile data service’’ 

2 has the meaning given the term in section 6001 of 

3 the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act 

4 of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1401); 

5 (2) the term ‘‘commercial mobile service’’ has 

6 the meaning given the term in section 332(d) of the 

7 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(d)); 

8 (3) the term ‘‘coverage data’’ means, if com9 mercial mobile service or commercial mobile data 

10 service is available, general information about the 

11 service, which may include available speed tiers, 

12 radio frequency signal levels, and network and per13 formance characteristics; and 

14 (4) the term ‘‘Universal Service program’’ 

15 means the universal service support mechanisms es16 tablished under section 254 of the Communications 

17 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254) and the regulations 

18 issued under that section. 

19 (b) METHODOLOGY ESTABLISHED.—Not later than 

20 180 days after the conclusion of the Mobility Fund Phase 

21 II Auction, the Commission shall promulgate regulations 

22 to establish a methodology that shall apply to the collec23 tion of coverage data by the Commission for the purposes 

24 of— 

25 (1) the Universal Service program; or 


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1 (2) any other similar program. 

2 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—The methodology established 

3 under subsection (b) shall— 

4 (1) contain standard definitions for different 

5 available technologies such as 2G, 3G, 4G, and 4G 

6 LTE; 

7 (2) enhance the consistency and robustness of 

8 how the data are collected by different parties; 

9 (3) improve the validity and reliability of cov10 erage data; and 

11 (4) increase the efficiency of coverage data col12 lection. 

13 SEC. 506. ACCURACY OF DISPATCHABLE LOCATION FOR 9– 

14 1–1 CALLS. 

15 (a) PROCEEDING REQUIRED.—Not later than 18 

16 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

17 Commission shall conclude a proceeding to consider adopt18 ing rules to ensure that the dispatchable location is con19 veyed with a 9–1–1 call, regardless of the technological 

20 platform used and including with calls from multi-line 

21 telephone systems (as defined in section 6502 of the Mid22 dle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 

23 U.S.C. 1471)). 

24 (b) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER PROCEEDINGS.—In 

25 conducting the proceeding required by subsection (a), the 


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1 Commission may consider information and conclusions 

2 from other Commission proceedings regarding the accu3 racy of the dispatchable location for a 9–1–1 call, but 

4 nothing in this section shall be construed to require the 

5 Commission to reconsider any information or conclusion 

6 from a proceeding regarding the accuracy of the 

7 dispatchable location for a 9–1–1 call in which the Com8 mission has adopted rules or issued an order before the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act. 

10 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 (1) 9–1–1 CALL.—The term ‘‘9–1–1 call’’ 

12 means a voice call that is placed, or a message that 

13 is sent by other means of communication, to a public 

14 safety answering point (as defined in section 222 of 

15 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 222)) 

16 for the purpose of requesting emergency services. 

17 (2) DISPATCHABLE LOCATION.—The term 

18 ‘‘dispatchable location’’ means the street address of 

19 the calling party, and additional information such as 

20 room number, floor number, or similar information 

21 necessary to adequately identify the location of the 

22 calling party. 


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1 SEC. 507. NTIA STUDY ON INTERAGENCY PROCESS FOL2 LOWING CYBERSECURITY INCIDENTS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary of Com4 merce for Communications and Information shall complete 

5 a study on how the National Telecommunications and In6 formation Administration can best coordinate the inter7 agency process following cybersecurity incidents. 

8 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 18 

9 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

10 Assistant Secretary shall submit to the Committee on En11 ergy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and 

12 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

13 of the Senate a report detailing the findings and rec14 ommendations of the study conducted under subsection 

15 (a). 

16 SEC. 508. TRIBAL DIGITAL ACCESS. 

17 (a) TRIBAL BROADBAND DATA REPORT.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

19 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commis20 sion shall submit to the Committee on Energy and 

21 Commerce of the House of Representatives and the 

22 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor23 tation of the Senate a report evaluating broadband 

24 coverage in Indian country (as defined in section 

25 1151 of title 18, United States Code) and on land 


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1 held by a Native Corporation pursuant to the Alaska 

2 Native Claims Settlement Act. 

3 (2) REQUIRED ASSESSMENTS.—The report re4 quired by paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

5 (A) An assessment of areas of Indian 

6 country (as so defined) and land held by a Na7 tive Corporation pursuant to the Alaska Native 

8 Claims Settlement Act that have adequate 

9 broadband coverage. 

10 (B) An assessment of unserved areas of 

11 Indian country (as so defined) and land held by 

12 a Native Corporation pursuant to the Alaska 

13 Native Claims Settlement Act. 

14 (b) TRIBAL BROADBAND PROCEEDING.—Not later 

15 than 30 months after the date of the enactment of this 

16 Act, the Commission shall complete a proceeding to ad17 dress the unserved areas identified in the report under 

18 subsection (a). 

19 SEC. 509. TERMS OF OFFICE AND VACANCIES. 

20 Section 4(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

21 U.S.C. 154(c)) is amended to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(c)(1) A commissioner— 

23 ‘‘(A) shall be appointed for a term of 5 years; 

24 ‘‘(B) except as provided in subparagraph (C), 

25 may continue to serve after the expiration of the 


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1 fixed term of office of the commissioner until a suc2 cessor is appointed and has been confirmed and 

3 taken the oath of office; and 

4 ‘‘(C) may not continue to serve after the expira5 tion of the session of Congress that begins after the 

6 expiration of the fixed term of office of the commis7 sioner. 

8 ‘‘(2) Any person chosen to fill a vacancy in the Com9 mission— 

10 ‘‘(A) shall be appointed for the unexpired term 

11 of the commissioner that the person succeeds; 

12 ‘‘(B) except as provided in subparagraph (C), 

13 may continue to serve after the expiration of the 

14 fixed term of office of the commissioner that the 

15 person succeeds until a successor is appointed and 

16 has been confirmed and taken the oath of office; and 

17 ‘‘(C) may not continue to serve after the expira18 tion of the session of Congress that begins after the 

19 expiration of the fixed term of office of the commis20 sioner that the person succeeds. 

21 ‘‘(3) No vacancy in the Commission shall impair the 

22 right of the remaining commissioners to exercise all the 

23 powers of the Commission.’’. 


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1 SEC. 510. SUBMISSION OF COPY OF CERTAIN DOCUMENTS 

2 TO CONGRESS. 

3 Section 4 of the Communications Act of 1934, as 

4 amended by section 402(h), is further amended by adding 

5 at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(o) BUDGET ESTIMATES AND REQUESTS; LEGISLA7 TIVE RECOMMENDATIONS, TESTIMONY, AND COMMENTS

8 ON LEGISLATION; SEMIANNUAL REPORTS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) BUDGET ESTIMATES AND REQUESTS.—If 

10 the Commission submits any budget estimate or re11 quest to the President or the Office of Management 

12 and Budget, the Commission shall concurrently 

13 transmit a copy of that estimate or request to Con14 gress. 

15 ‘‘(2) LEGISLATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS, TESTI16 MONY, AND COMMENTS ON LEGISLATION.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Commission 

18 submits any legislative recommendations, testi19 mony, or comments on legislation to the Presi20 dent or the Office of Management and Budget, 

21 the Commission shall concurrently transmit a 

22 copy thereof to Congress. 

23 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION.—No officer or agency 

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1 cer or agency of the United States for approval, 

2 comments, or review prior to the submission of 

3 the recommendations, testimony, or comments 

4 to Congress. 

5 ‘‘(3) OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL SEMI6 ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sec8 tion 5(b) of the Inspector General Act of 1978 

9 (5 U.S.C. App.), the Inspector General of the 

10 Commission shall concurrently submit each 

11 semiannual report required under such section 

12 5(b) to the Commission and to the appropriate 

13 committees or subcommittees of Congress. 

14 ‘‘(B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

15 in subparagraph (A) shall be construed to mod16 ify the requirement for the Commission to sub17 mit to the appropriate committees or sub18 committees of Congress each such semiannual 

19 report together with a report by the Commis20 sion under such section 5(b).’’. 

21 SEC. 511. JOINT BOARD RECOMMENDATION. 

22 The Commission may not modify, amend, or change 

23 its rules or regulations for universal service support pay24 ments to implement the February 27, 2004, recommenda25 tions of the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal ServVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Mar 07, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00045 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4986.RFS H4986

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1 ice regarding single connection or primary line restrictions 

2 on universal service support payments. 

3 SEC. 512. DISCLAIMER FOR PRESS RELEASES REGARDING 

4 NOTICES OF APPARENT LIABILITY. 

5 The Commission shall include in any press release re6 garding the issuance of a notice of apparent liability under 

7 section 503(b)(4) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

8 U.S.C. 503(b)(4)) a disclaimer informing consumers 

9 that— 

10 (1) the issuance of a notice of apparent liability 

11 should be treated only as allegations; and 

12 (2) the amount of any forfeiture penalty pro13 posed in a notice of apparent liability represents the 

14 maximum penalty that the Commission may impose 

15 for the violations alleged in the notice of apparent 

16 liability. 

17 SEC. 513. REPORTS RELATED TO SPECTRUM AUCTIONS. 

18 (a) ESTIMATE OF UPCOMING AUCTIONS.—Section 

19 309(j) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

20 309(j)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(18) ESTIMATE OF UPCOMING AUCTIONS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) Not later than September 30, 2018, 

23 and annually thereafter, the Commission shall 

24 make publicly available an estimate of what sys25 tems of competitive bidding authorized under 


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1 this subsection may be initiated during the up2 coming 12-month period. 

3 ‘‘(B) The estimate under subparagraph 

4 (A) shall, to the extent possible, identify the 

5 bands of frequencies the Commission expects to 

6 be included in each such system of competitive 

7 bidding.’’. 

8 (b) AUCTION EXPENDITURE JUSTIFICATION RE9 PORT.—Not later than April 1, 2019, and annually there10 after, the Commission shall provide to the appropriate 

11 committees of Congress a report containing a detailed jus12 tification for the use of proceeds retained by the Commis13 sion under section 309(j)(8)(B) of the Communications 

14 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(8)(B)) for the costs of de15 veloping and implementing the program required by sec16 tion 309(j) of that Act. 

17 (c) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 

18 term ‘‘appropriate committees of Congress’’ means— 

19 (1) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

20 Transportation of the Senate; 

21 (2) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

22 Senate; 

23 (3) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 

24 the House of Representatives; and 


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1 (4) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

2 House of Representatives. 

3 TITLE VI—VIEWER PROTECTION 

4 SEC. 601. RESERVE SOURCE FOR PAYMENT OF TV BROAD5 CASTER RELOCATION COSTS. 

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND.—There is estab7 lished in the Treasury of the United States a fund to be 

8 known as the Broadcast Repack Fund. 

9 (b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Commission makes 

11 the certification described in paragraph (2), amounts 

12 in the Broadcast Repack Fund shall be available to 

13 the Commission to make reimbursements pursuant 

14 to subsection (b)(4)(A)(i) or (b)(4)(A)(ii) of section 

15 6403 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Cre16 ation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1452). 

17 (2) CERTIFICATION.—The certification de18 scribed in this paragraph is a certification from the 

19 Commission to the Secretary of the Treasury that 

20 the funds available in the TV Broadcaster Reloca21 tion Fund established under subsection (d) of such 

22 section are likely to be insufficient to reimburse rea23 sonably incurred costs described in subsection 

24 (b)(4)(A)(i) or (b)(4)(A)(ii) of such section. 


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1 (3) AVAILABILITY FOR PAYMENTS AFTER APRIL

2 13, 2020.—Notwithstanding subsection (b)(4)(D) of 

3 such section, the Commission may make payments 

4 pursuant to subsection (b)(4)(A)(i) or (b)(4)(A)(ii) 

5 of such section from the Broadcast Repack Fund 

6 after April 13, 2020, if, before making any such 

7 payments after such date, the Commission submits 

8 to Congress a certification that such payments are 

9 necessary to reimburse reasonably incurred costs de10 scribed in such subsection. 

11 (c) UNUSED FUNDS RESCINDED AND DEPOSITED

12 INTO THE GENERAL FUND OF THE TREASURY.— 

13 (1) RESCISSION AND DEPOSIT.—If any unobli14 gated amounts remain in the Broadcast Repack 

15 Fund after the date described in paragraph (2), 

16 such amounts shall be rescinded and deposited into 

17 the general fund of the Treasury, where such 

18 amounts shall be dedicated for the sole purpose of 

19 deficit reduction. 

20 (2) DATE DESCRIBED.—The date described in 

21 this paragraph is the earlier of— 

22 (A) the date of a certification by the Com23 mission under paragraph (3) that all reimburse24 ments pursuant to subsections (b)(4)(A)(i) and 


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1 (b)(4)(A)(ii) of such section 6403 have been 

2 made; or 

3 (B) July 3, 2022. 

4 (3) CERTIFICATION.—If all reimbursements 

5 pursuant to subsections (b)(4)(A)(i) and 

6 (b)(4)(A)(ii) of such section 6403 have been made 

7 before July 3, 2022, the Commission shall submit to 

8 the Secretary of the Treasury a certification that all 

9 such reimbursements have been made. 

10 (d) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The amount of auc11 tion proceeds that the salaries and expenses account of 

12 the Commission is required to retain under section 

13 309(j)(8)(B) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

14 U.S.C. 309(j)(8)(B)), including from the proceeds of the 

15 forward auction under section 6403 of the Middle Class 

16 Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 

17 1452), shall be sufficient to cover the administrative costs 

18 incurred by the Commission in making any reimburse19 ments out of the Broadcast Repack Fund. 

20 SEC. 602. PAYMENT OF RELOCATION COSTS OF TELEVISION 

21 TRANSLATOR STATIONS AND LOW POWER 

22 TELEVISION STATIONS. 

23 (a) PAYMENT REQUIRED.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made avail25 able under subsection (b)(2), the Commission shall 


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1 reimburse costs reasonably incurred by a television 

2 translator station or low power television station on 

3 or after January 1, 2017, in order for such station 

4 to relocate its television service from one channel to 

5 another channel or otherwise modify its facility as a 

6 result of the reorganization of broadcast television 

7 spectrum under subsection (b) of section 6403 of the 

8 Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 

9 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1452). Only stations that are eligi10 ble to file and do file an application in the Commis11 sion’s Special Displacement Window are eligible to 

12 seek reimbursement under this paragraph. 

13 (2) LIMITATION.—The Commission may not 

14 make reimbursements under paragraph (1) for lost 

15 revenues. 

16 (3) DUPLICATIVE PAYMENTS PROHIBITED.—In 

17 the case of a low power television station that has 

18 been accorded primary status as a Class A television 

19 licensee under section 73.6001(a) of title 47, Code 

20 of Federal Regulations— 

21 (A) if the licensee of such station has re22 ceived reimbursement with respect to such sta23 tion under subsection (b)(4)(A)(i) of such sec24 tion 6403 (including from amounts made avail25 able under section 601 of this title), or from 


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1 any other source, such station may not receive 

2 reimbursement under paragraph (1); and 

3 (B) if such station has received reimburse4 ment under paragraph (1), the licensee of such 

5 station may not receive reimbursement with re6 spect to such station under subsection 

7 (b)(4)(A)(i) of such section 6403. 

8 (4) ADDITIONAL LIMITATION.—The Commis9 sion may not make reimbursement under paragraph 

10 (1) for costs incurred to resolve mutually exclusive 

11 applications, including costs incurred in any auction 

12 of available channels. 

13 (b) FUNDING.— 

14 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND.—There is es15 tablished in the Treasury of the United States a 

16 fund to be known as the Translator and Low Power 

17 Station Relocation Fund. 

18 (2) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Amounts in the Trans20 lator and Low Power Station Relocation Fund 

21 shall be available to the Commission to make 

22 payments required by subsection (a)(1). 

23 (B) AVAILABILITY AFTER APRIL 13, 

24 2020.—Amounts in the Translator and Low 

25 Power Station Relocation Fund shall not be 


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1 available to the Commission to make payments 

2 required by subsection (a)(1) after April 13, 

3 2020, unless, before making any such payments 

4 after such date, the Commission submits to 

5 Congress a certification that such payments are 

6 necessary to reimburse costs reasonably in7 curred by a television translator station or low 

8 power television station on or after January 1, 

9 2017, in order for such station to relocate its 

10 television service from one channel to another 

11 channel or otherwise modify its facility as a re12 sult of the reorganization of broadcast television 

13 spectrum under subsection (b) of section 6403 

14 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Cre15 ation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1452). 

16 (3) UNUSED FUNDS RESCINDED AND DEPOS17 ITED INTO THE GENERAL FUND OF THE TREAS18 URY.— 

19 (A) RESCISSION AND DEPOSIT.—If any un20 obligated amounts remain in the Translator and 

21 Low Power Station Relocation Fund after the 

22 date described in subparagraph (B), such 

23 amounts shall be rescinded and deposited into 

24 the general fund of the Treasury, where such 


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1 amounts shall be dedicated for the sole purpose 

2 of deficit reduction. 

3 (B) DATE DESCRIBED.—The date de4 scribed in this subparagraph is the earlier of— 

5 (i) the date of a certification by the 

6 Commission under subparagraph (C) that 

7 all reimbursements pursuant to subsection 

8 (a)(1) have been made; or 

9 (ii) July 3, 2023. 

10 (C) CERTIFICATION.—If all reimburse11 ments pursuant to subsection (a)(1) have been 

12 made before July 3, 2023, the Commission 

13 shall submit to the Secretary of the Treasury a 

14 certification that all such reimbursements have 

15 been made. 

16 (c) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The amount of auc17 tion proceeds that the salaries and expenses account of 

18 the Commission is required to retain under section 

19 309(j)(8)(B) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

20 U.S.C. 309(j)(8)(B)), including from the proceeds of the 

21 forward auction under section 6403 of the Middle Class 

22 Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 

23 1452), shall be sufficient to cover the administrative costs 

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1 ments out of the Translator and Low Power Station Relo2 cation Fund. 

3 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) LOW POWER TELEVISION STATION.—The 

5 term ‘‘low power television station’’ means a low 

6 power TV station (as defined in section 74.701 of 

7 title 47, Code of Federal Regulations) that was li8 censed and transmitting for at least 9 of the 12 

9 months prior to April 13, 2017. For purposes of the 

10 preceding sentence, the operation of analog and dig11 ital companion facilities may be combined. 

12 (2) TELEVISION TRANSLATOR STATION.—The 

13 term ‘‘television translator station’’ means a tele14 vision broadcast translator station (as defined in sec15 tion 74.701 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations) 

16 that was licensed and transmitting for at least 9 of 

17 the 12 months prior to April 13, 2017. For purposes 

18 of the preceding sentence, the operation of analog 

19 and digital companion facilities may be combined. 

20 SEC. 603. PAYMENT OF RELOCATION COSTS OF FM BROAD21 CAST STATIONS. 

22 (a) PAYMENT REQUIRED.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made avail24 able under subsection (b)(2), the Commission shall 

25 reimburse costs reasonably incurred by an FM 


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1 broadcast station for facilities necessary for such 

2 station to reasonably minimize disruption of service 

3 as a result of the reorganization of broadcast tele4 vision spectrum under subsection (b) of section 6403 

5 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act 

6 of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1452). 

7 (2) LIMITATION.—The Commission may not 

8 make reimbursements under paragraph (1) for lost 

9 revenues. 

10 (3) DUPLICATIVE PAYMENTS PROHIBITED.—If 

11 an FM broadcast station has received a payment for 

12 interim facilities from the licensee of a television 

13 broadcast station that was reimbursed for such pay14 ment under subsection (b)(4)(A)(i) of such section 

15 6403 (including from amounts made available under 

16 section 601 of this title), or from any other source, 

17 such FM broadcast station may not receive any re18 imbursements under paragraph (1). 

19 (b) FUNDING.— 

20 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND.—There is es21 tablished in the Treasury of the United States a 

22 fund to be known as the FM Broadcast Station Re23 location Fund. 

24 (2) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Amounts in the FM 

2 Broadcast Station Relocation Fund shall be 

3 available to the Commission to make payments 

4 required by subsection (a)(1). 

5 (B) AVAILABILITY AFTER APRIL 13, 

6 2020.—Amounts in the FM Broadcast Station 

7 Relocation Fund shall not be available to the 

8 Commission to make payments required by sub9 section (a)(1) after April 13, 2020, unless, be10 fore making any such payments after such date, 

11 the Commission submits to Congress a certifi12 cation that such payments are necessary to re13 imburse costs reasonably incurred by an FM 

14 broadcast station for facilities necessary for 

15 such station to reasonably minimize disruption 

16 of service as a result of the reorganization of 

17 broadcast television spectrum under subsection 

18 (b) of section 6403 of the Middle Class Tax Re19 lief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 

20 1452). 

21 (3) UNUSED FUNDS RESCINDED AND DEPOS22 ITED INTO THE GENERAL FUND OF THE TREAS23 URY.— 

24 (A) RESCISSION AND DEPOSIT.—If any un25 obligated amounts remain in the FM Broadcast 


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1 Station Relocation Fund after the date de2 scribed in subparagraph (B), such amounts 

3 shall be rescinded and deposited into the gen4 eral fund of the Treasury, where such amounts 

5 shall be dedicated for the sole purpose of deficit 

6 reduction. 

7 (B) DATE DESCRIBED.—The date de8 scribed in this subparagraph is the earlier of— 

9 (i) the date of a certification by the 

10 Commission under subparagraph (C) that 

11 all reimbursements pursuant to subsection 

12 (a)(1) have been made; or 

13 (ii) July 3, 2022. 

14 (C) CERTIFICATION.—If all reimburse15 ments pursuant to subsection (a)(1) have been 

16 made before July 3, 2022, the Commission 

17 shall submit to the Secretary of the Treasury a 

18 certification that all such reimbursements have 

19 been made. 

20 (c) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The amount of auc21 tion proceeds that the salaries and expenses account of 

22 the Commission is required to retain under section 

23 309(j)(8)(B) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

24 U.S.C. 309(j)(8)(B)), including from the proceeds of the 

25 forward auction under section 6403 of the Middle Class 


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1 Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 

2 1452), shall be sufficient to cover the administrative costs 

3 incurred by the Commission in making any reimburse4 ments out of the FM Broadcast Station Relocation Fund. 

5 (d) FM BROADCAST STATION DEFINED.—In this 

6 section, the term ‘‘FM broadcast station’’ has the meaning 

7 given such term in section 73.310 of title 47, Code of Fed8 eral Regulations, and, for an FM translator, has the 

9 meaning given the term ‘‘FM translator’’ in section 

10 74.1201 of such title. 

11 SEC. 604. CONSUMER EDUCATION PAYMENT. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND.—There is estab13 lished in the Treasury of the United States a fund to be 

14 known as the Broadcast Station Relocation Consumer 

15 Education Fund. 

16 (b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts in the 

17 Broadcast Station Relocation Consumer Education Fund 

18 shall be available to the Commission to make payments 

19 solely for the purposes of consumer education relating to 

20 the reorganization of broadcast television spectrum under 

21 subsection (b) of section 6403 of the Middle Class Tax 

22 Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1452). 

23 (c) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The amount of auc24 tion proceeds that the salaries and expenses account of 

25 the Commission is required to retain under section 


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1 309(j)(8)(B) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

2 U.S.C. 309(j)(8)(B)), including from the proceeds of the 

3 forward auction under section 6403 of the Middle Class 

4 Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 

5 1452), shall be sufficient to cover the administrative costs 

6 incurred by the Commission in making any payments out 

7 of the Broadcast Station Relocation Consumer Education 

8 Fund. 

9 SEC. 605. IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT. 

10 The Commission shall implement and enforce this 

11 title as if this title is a part of the Communications Act 

12 of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.). A violation of this title, 

13 or a regulation promulgated under this title, shall be con14 sidered to be a violation of the Communications Act of 

15 1934, or a regulation promulgated under such Act, respec16 tively. 

17 SEC. 606. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

18 Nothing in this title shall alter the final transition 

19 phase completion date established by the Commission for 

20 full power and Class A television stations. 

21 TITLE VII—MOBILE NOW 

22 SEC. 701. SHORT TITLE. 

23 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Making Opportunities 

24 for Broadband Investment and Limiting Excessive and 


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1 Needless Obstacles to Wireless Act’’ or the ‘‘MOBILE 

2 NOW Act’’. 

3 SEC. 702. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this title: 

5 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON6 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con7 gress’’ means— 

8 (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

9 and Transportation of the Senate; 

10 (B) the Committee on Energy and Com11 merce of the House of Representatives; and 

12 (C) each committee of the Senate or of the 

13 House of Representatives with jurisdiction over 

14 a Federal entity affected by the applicable sec15 tion in which the term appears. 

16 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

17 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

18 (3) FEDERAL ENTITY.—The term ‘‘Federal en19 tity’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

20 113(l) of the National Telecommunications and In21 formation Administration Organization Act (47 

22 U.S.C. 923(l)). 

23 (4) NTIA.—The term ‘‘NTIA’’ means the Na24 tional Telecommunications and Information Admin25 istration of the Department of Commerce. 


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1 (5) OMB.—The term ‘‘OMB’’ means the Office 

2 of Management and Budget. 

3 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

4 the Secretary of Commerce. 

5 SEC. 703. IDENTIFYING 255 MEGAHERTZ. 

6 (a) REQUIREMENTS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than December 31, 

8 2022, the Secretary, working through the NTIA, 

9 and the Commission shall identify a total of at least 

10 255 megahertz of Federal and non-Federal spectrum 

11 for mobile and fixed wireless broadband use. 

12 (2) UNLICENSED AND LICENSED USE.—Of the 

13 spectrum identified under paragraph (1), not less 

14 than— 

15 (A) 100 megahertz below the frequency of 

16 8000 megahertz shall be identified for use on 

17 an unlicensed basis; 

18 (B) 100 megahertz below the frequency of 

19 6000 megahertz shall be identified for use on 

20 an exclusive, licensed basis for commercial mo21 bile use, pursuant to the Commission’s author22 ity to implement such licensing in a flexible 

23 manner, and subject to potential continued use 

24 of such spectrum by incumbent Federal entities 

25 in designated geographic areas indefinitely or 


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1 for such length of time stipulated in transition 

2 plans approved by the Technical Panel under 

3 section 113(h) of the National Telecommuni4 cations and Information Administration Organi5 zation Act (47 U.S.C. 923(h)) for those incum6 bent entities to be relocated to alternate spec7 trum; and 

8 (C) 55 megahertz below the frequency of 

9 8000 megahertz shall be identified for use on 

10 either a licensed or unlicensed basis, or a com11 bination of licensed and unlicensed. 

12 (3) NON-ELIGIBLE SPECTRUM.—For purposes 

13 of satisfying the requirement under paragraph (1), 

14 the following spectrum shall not be counted: 

15 (A) The frequencies between 1695 and 

16 1710 megahertz. 

17 (B) The frequencies between 1755 and 

18 1780 megahertz. 

19 (C) The frequencies between 2155 and 

20 2180 megahertz. 

21 (D) The frequencies between 3550 and 

22 3700 megahertz. 

23 (E) Spectrum that the Commission deter24 mines had more than de minimis mobile or 

25 fixed wireless broadband operations within the 


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1 band on the day before the date of enactment 

2 of this Act. 

3 (4) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN OTHER SPEC4 TRUM.—Spectrum identified pursuant to this section 

5 may include eligible spectrum, if any, identified after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act pursuant to title 

7 X of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (Public 

8 Law 114–74). 

9 (5) SPECTRUM MADE AVAILABLE ON AND

10 AFTER FEBRUARY 11, 2016.—Any spectrum that 

11 has been made available for licensed or unlicensed 

12 use on and after February 11, 2016, and that other13 wise satisfies the requirements of this section may 

14 be counted towards the requirements of this sub15 section. 

16 (6) RELOCATION PRIORITIZED OVER SHAR17 ING.—This section shall be carried out in accordance 

18 with section 113(j) of the National Telecommuni19 cations and Information Administration Organiza20 tion Act (47 U.S.C. 923(j)). 

21 (7) CONSIDERATIONS.—In identifying spectrum 

22 for use under this section, the Secretary, working 

23 through the NTIA, and Commission shall consider— 

24 (A) the need to preserve critical existing 

25 and planned Federal Government capabilities; 


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1 (B) the impact on existing State, local, and 

2 tribal government capabilities; 

3 (C) the international implications; 

4 (D) the need for appropriate enforcement 

5 mechanisms and authorities; and 

6 (E) the importance of the deployment of 

7 wireless broadband services in rural areas of the 

8 United States. 

9 (b) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec10 tion shall be construed— 

11 (1) to impair or otherwise affect the functions 

12 of the Director of OMB relating to budgetary, ad13 ministrative, or legislative proposals; 

14 (2) to require the disclosure of classified infor15 mation, law enforcement sensitive information, or 

16 other information that must be protected in the in17 terest of national security; or 

18 (3) to affect any requirement under section 156 

19 of the National Telecommunications and Informa20 tion Administration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 

21 921 note), as added by section 1062(a) of the Na22 tional Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

23 2000, or any other relevant statutory requirement 

24 applicable to the reallocation of Federal spectrum. 


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1 SEC. 704. MILLIMETER WAVE SPECTRUM. 

2 (a) FCC PROCEEDING.—Not later than 2 years after 

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

4 publish a notice of proposed rulemaking to consider service 

5 rules to authorize mobile or fixed terrestrial wireless oper6 ations, including for advanced mobile service operations, 

7 in the radio frequency band between 42000 and 42500 

8 megahertz. 

9 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In conducting a rulemaking 

10 under subsection (a), the Commission shall— 

11 (1) consider how the band described in sub12 section (a) may be used to provide commercial wire13 less broadband service, including whether— 

14 (A) such spectrum may be best used for li15 censed or unlicensed services, or some combina16 tion thereof; and 

17 (B) to permit additional licensed oper18 ations in such band on a shared basis; and 

19 (2) include technical characteristics under 

20 which the band described in subsection (a) may be 

21 employed for mobile or fixed terrestrial wireless op22 erations, including any appropriate coexistence re23 quirements. 

24 (c) SPECTRUM MADE AVAILABLE ON AND AFTER

25 FEBRUARY 11, 2016.—Any spectrum that has been made 

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1 ruary 11, 2016, and that otherwise satisfies the require2 ments of section 703 may be counted towards the require3 ments of section 703(a). 

4 SEC. 705. 3 GIGAHERTZ SPECTRUM. 

5 (a) BETWEEN 3100 MEGAHERTZ AND 3550 MEGA6 HERTZ.—Not later than 24 months after the date of en7 actment of this Act, and in consultation with the Commis8 sion and the head of each affected Federal agency (or a 

9 designee thereof), the Secretary, working through the 

10 NTIA, shall submit to the Commission and the appro11 priate committees of Congress a report evaluating the fea12 sibility of allowing commercial wireless services, licensed 

13 or unlicensed, to share use of the frequencies between 

14 3100 megahertz and 3550 megahertz. 

15 (b) BETWEEN 3700 MEGAHERTZ AND 4200 MEGA16 HERTZ.—Not later than 18 months after the date of en17 actment of this Act, after notice and an opportunity for 

18 public comment, and in consultation with the Secretary, 

19 working through the NTIA, and the head of each affected 

20 Federal agency (or a designee thereof), the Commission 

21 shall submit to the Secretary and the appropriate commit22 tees of Congress a report evaluating the feasibility of al23 lowing commercial wireless services, licensed or unli24 censed, to use or share use of the frequencies between 

25 3700 megahertz and 4200 megahertz. 


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1 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—A report under subsection (a) 

2 or (b) shall include the following: 

3 (1) An assessment of the operations of Federal 

4 entities that operate Federal Government stations 

5 authorized to use the frequencies described in that 

6 subsection. 

7 (2) An assessment of the possible impacts of 

8 such sharing on Federal and non-Federal users al9 ready operating on the frequencies described in that 

10 subsection. 

11 (3) The criteria that may be necessary to en12 sure shared licensed or unlicensed services would not 

13 cause harmful interference to Federal or non-Fed14 eral users already operating in the frequencies de15 scribed in that subsection. 

16 (4) If such sharing is feasible, an identification 

17 of which of the frequencies described in that sub18 section are most suitable for sharing with commer19 cial wireless services through the assignment of new 

20 licenses by competitive bidding, for sharing with un21 licensed operations, or through a combination of li22 censing and unlicensed operations. 

23 (d) COMMISSION ACTION.—The Commission, in con24 sultation with the NTIA, shall seek public comment on 

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1 ing regarding the bands identified in such report as fea2 sible pursuant to subsection (c)(4). 

3 SEC. 706. BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE DEPLOYMENT. 

4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 (1) APPROPRIATE STATE AGENCY.—The term 

6 ‘‘appropriate State agency’’ means a State govern7 mental agency that is recognized by the executive 

8 branch of the State as having the experience nec9 essary to evaluate and carry out projects relating to 

10 the proper and effective installation and operation of 

11 broadband infrastructure. 

12 (2) BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 

13 ‘‘broadband infrastructure’’ means any buried, un14 derground, or aerial facility, and any wireless or 

15 wireline connection, that enables users to send and 

16 receive voice, video, data, graphics, or any combina17 tion thereof. 

18 (3) BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE ENTITY.— 

19 The term ‘‘broadband infrastructure entity’’ means 

20 any entity that— 

21 (A) installs, owns, or operates broadband 

22 infrastructure; and 

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1 ience, and necessity, as determined by the 

2 State. 

3 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 

4 (A) a State; 

5 (B) the District of Columbia; and 

6 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

7 (b) BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE DEPLOYMENT.— 

8 To facilitate the installation of broadband infrastructure, 

9 the Secretary of Transportation shall promulgate regula10 tions to ensure that each State that receives funds under 

11 chapter 1 of title 23, United States Code, meets the fol12 lowing requirements: 

13 (1) BROADBAND CONSULTATION.—The State 

14 department of transportation, in consultation with 

15 appropriate State agencies, shall— 

16 (A) identify a broadband utility coordi17 nator, that may have additional responsibilities, 

18 whether in the State department of transpor19 tation or in another State agency, that is re20 sponsible for facilitating the broadband infra21 structure right-of-way efforts within the State; 

22 (B) establish a process for the registration 

23 of broadband infrastructure entities that seek 

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1 ture right-of-way facilitation efforts within the 

2 State; 

3 (C) establish a process to electronically no4 tify broadband infrastructure entities identified 

5 under subparagraph (B) of the State transpor6 tation improvement program on an annual basis 

7 and provide additional notifications as nec8 essary to achieve the goals of this section; and 

9 (D) coordinate initiatives carried out under 

10 this section with other statewide telecommuni11 cation and broadband plans and State and local 

12 transportation and land use plans, including 

13 strategies to minimize repeated excavations that 

14 involve the installation of broadband infrastruc15 ture in a right-of-way. 

16 (2) PRIORITY.—If a State chooses to provide 

17 for the installation of broadband infrastructure in 

18 the right-of-way of an applicable Federal-aid high19 way project under this subsection, the State depart20 ment of transportation shall carry out any appro21 priate measures to ensure that any existing 

22 broadband infrastructure entities are not disadvan23 taged, as compared to other broadband infrastruc24 ture entities, with respect to the program under this 

25 subsection. 


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1 (c) EFFECT OF SECTION.—This section applies only 

2 to activities for which Federal obligations or expenditures 

3 are initially approved on or after the date regulations 

4 under subsection (b) become effective. Nothing in this sec5 tion establishes a mandate or requirement that a State 

6 install or allow the installation of broadband infrastruc7 ture in a highway right-of-way. Nothing in this section au8 thorizes the Secretary of Transportation to withhold or re9 serve funds or approval of a project under title 23, United 

10 States Code. 

11 SEC. 707. REALLOCATION INCENTIVES. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 24 months after 

13 the date of enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary 

14 of Commerce for Communications and Information, in 

15 consultation with the Commission, the Director of OMB, 

16 and the head of each affected Federal agency (or a des17 ignee thereof), after notice and an opportunity for public 

18 comment, shall submit to the appropriate committees of 

19 Congress a report that includes legislative or regulatory 

20 recommendations to incentivize a Federal entity to relin21 quish, or share with Federal or non-Federal users, Federal 

22 spectrum for the purpose of allowing commercial wireless 

23 broadband services to operate on that Federal spectrum. 

24 (b) POST-AUCTION PAYMENTS.— 


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1 (1) REPORT.—In preparing the report under 

2 subsection (a), the Assistant Secretary of Commerce 

3 for Communications and Information shall— 

4 (A) consider whether permitting eligible 

5 Federal entities that are implementing a transi6 tion plan submitted under section 113(h) of the 

7 National Telecommunications and Information 

8 Administration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 

9 923(h)) to accept payments could result in ac10 cess to the eligible frequencies that are being 

11 reallocated for exclusive non-Federal use or 

12 shared use sooner than would otherwise occur 

13 without such payments; and 

14 (B) include the findings under subpara15 graph (A), including the analysis under para16 graph (2) and any recommendations for legisla17 tion, in the report. 

18 (2) ANALYSIS.—In considering payments under 

19 paragraph (1)(A), the Assistant Secretary of Com20 merce for Communications and Information shall 

21 conduct an analysis of whether and how such pay22 ments would affect— 

23 (A) bidding in auctions conducted under 

24 section 309(j) of the Communications Act of 


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1 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)) of such eligible fre2 quencies; and 

3 (B) receipts collected from the auctions de4 scribed in subparagraph (A). 

5 (3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

6 (A) PAYMENT.—The term ‘‘payment’’ 

7 means a payment in cash or in-kind by any 

8 auction winner, or any person affiliated with an 

9 auction winner, of eligible frequencies during 

10 the period after eligible frequencies have been 

11 reallocated by competitive bidding under section 

12 309(j) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

13 U.S.C. 309(j)) but prior to the completion of 

14 relocation or sharing transition of such eligible 

15 frequencies per transition plans approved by the 

16 Technical Panel. 

17 (B) ELIGIBLE FREQUENCIES.—The term 

18 ‘‘eligible frequencies’’ has the meaning given 

19 the term in section 113(g)(2) of the National 

20 Telecommunications and Information Adminis21 tration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 923(g)(2)). 

22 SEC. 708. BIDIRECTIONAL SHARING STUDY. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 

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1 tunity for public comment, the Commission, in collabora2 tion with the NTIA, shall— 

3 (1) conduct a bidirectional sharing study to de4 termine the best means of providing Federal entities 

5 flexible access to non-Federal spectrum on a shared 

6 basis across a range of short-, mid-, and long-range 

7 timeframes, including for intermittent purposes like 

8 emergency use; and 

9 (2) submit to Congress a report on the study 

10 under paragraph (1), including any recommenda11 tions for legislation or proposed regulations. 

12 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In conducting the study 

13 under subsection (a), the Commission shall— 

14 (1) consider the regulatory certainty that com15 mercial spectrum users and Federal entities need to 

16 make longer-term investment decisions for shared 

17 access to be viable; and 

18 (2) evaluate any barriers to voluntary commer19 cial arrangements in which non-Federal users could 

20 provide access to Federal entities. 

21 SEC. 709. UNLICENSED SERVICES IN GUARD BANDS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—After public notice and comment, 

23 and in consultation with the Assistant Secretary of Com24 merce for Communications and Information and the head 

25 of each affected Federal agency (or a designee thereof), 


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1 with respect to frequencies allocated for Federal use, the 

2 Commission shall adopt rules that permit unlicensed serv3 ices where feasible to use any frequencies that are des4 ignated as guard bands to protect frequencies allocated 

5 after the date of enactment of this Act by competitive bid6 ding under section 309(j) of the Communications Act of 

7 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)), including spectrum that acts as 

8 a duplex gap between transmit and receive frequencies. 

9 (b) LIMITATION.—The Commission may not permit 

10 any use of a guard band under this section that would 

11 cause harmful interference to a licensed service or a Fed12 eral service. 

13 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec14 tion shall be construed as limiting the Commission or the 

15 Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and 

16 Information from otherwise making spectrum available for 

17 licensed or unlicensed use in any frequency band in addi18 tion to guard bands, including under section 703, con19 sistent with their statutory jurisdictions. 

20 SEC. 710. AMENDMENTS TO THE SPECTRUM PIPELINE ACT 

21 OF 2015. 

22 Section 1008 of the Spectrum Pipeline Act of 2015 

23 (Public Law 114–74; 129 Stat. 584) is amended in the 

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1 tice and an opportunity for public comment,’’ after ‘‘the 

2 Commission’’. 

3 SEC. 711. GAO ASSESSMENT OF UNLICENSED SPECTRUM 

4 AND WI-FI USE IN LOW-INCOME NEIGHBOR5 HOODS. 

6 (a) STUDY.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 

8 the United States shall conduct a study to evaluate 

9 the availability of broadband Internet access using 

10 unlicensed spectrum and wireless networks in low-in11 come neighborhoods. 

12 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—In conducting the study 

13 under paragraph (1), the Comptroller General shall 

14 consider and evaluate— 

15 (A) the availability of wireless Internet hot 

16 spots and access to unlicensed spectrum in low17 income neighborhoods, particularly for elemen18 tary and secondary school-aged children in such 

19 neighborhoods; 

20 (B) any barriers preventing or limiting the 

21 deployment and use of wireless networks in low22 income neighborhoods; 

23 (C) how to overcome any barriers described 

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1 crease the availability of unlicensed spectrum 

2 and related technologies in low-income neigh3 borhoods; and 

4 (D) how to encourage home broadband 

5 adoption by households with elementary and 

6 secondary school-age children that are in low7 income neighborhoods. 

8 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

9 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

10 submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

11 Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on En12 ergy and Commerce of the House of Representatives a re13 port that— 

14 (1) summarizes the findings of the study con15 ducted under subsection (a); and 

16 (2) makes recommendations with respect to po17 tential incentives, policies, and requirements that 

18 could help achieve the goals described in subpara19 graphs (C) and (D) of subsection (a)(2). 

20 SEC. 712. RULEMAKING RELATED TO PARTITIONING OR 

21 DISAGGREGATING LICENSES. 

22 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 (1) COVERED SMALL CARRIER.—The term 

24 ‘‘covered small carrier’’ means a carrier (as defined 


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1 in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

2 U.S.C. 153)) that— 

3 (A) has not more than 1,500 employees (as 

4 determined under section 121.106 of title 13, 

5 Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor 

6 thereto); and 

7 (B) offers services using the facilities of 

8 the carrier. 

9 (2) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘‘rural area’’ 

10 means any area other than— 

11 (A) a city, town, or incorporated area that 

12 has a population of more than 20,000 inhab13 itants; or 

14 (B) an urbanized area contiguous and ad15 jacent to a city or town that has a population 

16 of more than 50,000 inhabitants. 

17 (b) RULEMAKING.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

19 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission 

20 shall initiate a rulemaking proceeding to assess 

21 whether to establish a program, or modify existing 

22 programs, under which a licensee that receives a li23 cense for the exclusive use of spectrum in a specific 

24 geographic area under section 301 of the Commu25 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 301) may partition 


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1 or disaggregate the license by sale or long-term 

2 lease— 

3 (A) in order to— 

4 (i) provide services consistent with the 

5 license; and 

6 (ii) make unused spectrum available 

7 to— 

8 (I) an unaffiliated covered small 

9 carrier; or 

10 (II) an unaffiliated carrier to 

11 serve a rural area; and 

12 (B) if the Commission finds that such a 

13 program would promote— 

14 (i) the availability of advanced tele15 communications services in rural areas; or 

16 (ii) spectrum availability for covered 

17 small carriers. 

18 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In conducting the rule19 making proceeding under paragraph (1), the Com20 mission shall consider, with respect to the program 

21 proposed to be established under that paragraph— 

22 (A) whether reduced performance require23 ments with respect to spectrum obtained 

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1 ment of advanced telecommunications services 

2 in the areas covered by the program; 

3 (B) what conditions may be needed on 

4 transfers of spectrum under the program to 

5 allow covered small carriers that obtain spec6 trum under the program to build out the spec7 trum in a reasonable period of time; 

8 (C) what incentives may be appropriate to 

9 encourage licensees to lease or sell spectrum, in10 cluding— 

11 (i) extending the term of a license 

12 granted under section 301 of the Commu13 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 301); or 

14 (ii) modifying performance require15 ments of the license relating to the leased 

16 or sold spectrum; and 

17 (D) the administrative feasibility of— 

18 (i) the incentives described in sub19 paragraph (C); and 

20 (ii) other incentives considered by the 

21 Commission that further the goals of this 

22 section. 

23 (3) FORFEITURE OF SPECTRUM.—If a party 

24 fails to meet any build out requirements set by the 

25 Commission for any spectrum sold or leased under 


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1 this section, the right to the spectrum shall be for2 feited to the Commission unless the Commission 

3 finds that there is good cause for the failure of the 

4 party. 

5 (4) REQUIREMENT.—The Commission may 

6 offer a licensee incentives or reduced performance 

7 requirements under this section only if the Commis8 sion finds that doing so would likely result in in9 creased availability of advanced telecommunications 

10 services in a rural area. 

11 SEC. 713. UNLICENSED SPECTRUM POLICY. 

12 (a) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 

13 United States— 

14 (1) to maximize the benefit to the people of the 

15 United States of the spectrum resources of the 

16 United States; 

17 (2) to advance innovation and investment in 

18 wireless broadband services; and 

19 (3) to promote spectrum policy that makes 

20 available on an unlicensed basis radio frequency 

21 bands to address consumer demand for unlicensed 

22 wireless broadband operations. 

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1 able on an unlicensed basis radio frequency bands to ad2 dress demand for unlicensed wireless broadband oper3 ations if doing so is, after taking into account the future 

4 needs of homeland security, national security, and other 

5 spectrum users— 

6 (1) reasonable; and 

7 (2) in the public interest. 

8 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec9 tion confers any additional rights on unlicensed users or 

10 users licensed by rule under part 96 of title 47, Code of 

11 Federal Regulations, to protection from harmful inter12 ference. 

13 SEC. 714. NATIONAL PLAN FOR UNLICENSED SPECTRUM. 

14 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 (1) SPECTRUM RELOCATION FUND.—The term 

16 ‘‘Spectrum Relocation Fund’’ means the Fund es17 tablished under section 118 of the National Tele18 communications and Information Administration Or19 ganization Act (47 U.S.C. 928). 

20 (2) UNLICENSED OR LICENSED BY RULE OPER21 ATIONS.—The term ‘‘unlicensed or licensed by rule 

22 operations’’ means the use of spectrum on a non-ex23 clusive basis under— 

24 (A) part 15 of title 47, Code of Federal 

25 Regulations; or 


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1 (B) licensing by rule under part 96 of title 

2 47, Code of Federal Regulations. 

3 (b) NATIONAL PLAN.—Not later than 18 months 

4 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission, 

5 in consultation with the NTIA, shall develop a national 

6 plan for making additional radio frequency bands available 

7 for unlicensed or licensed by rule operations. 

8 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—The plan developed under this 

9 section shall— 

10 (1) identify an approach that ensures that con11 sumers have access to additional spectrum to con12 duct unlicensed or licensed by rule operations in a 

13 range of radio frequencies to meet consumer de14 mand; 

15 (2) recommend specific actions by the Commis16 sion and the NTIA to permit unlicensed or licensed 

17 by rule operations in additional radio frequency 

18 ranges that the Commission finds— 

19 (A) are consistent with the statement of 

20 policy under section 713(a); 

21 (B) will— 

22 (i) expand opportunities for unli23 censed or licensed by rule operations in a 

24 spectrum band; or 


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1 (ii) otherwise improve spectrum utili2 zation and intensity of use of bands where 

3 unlicensed or licensed by rule operations 

4 are already permitted; 

5 (C) will not cause harmful interference to 

6 Federal or non-Federal users of such bands; 

7 and 

8 (D) will not significantly impact homeland 

9 security or national security communications 

10 systems; and 

11 (3) examine additional ways, with respect to ex12 isting and planned databases or spectrum access sys13 tems designed to promote spectrum sharing and ac14 cess to spectrum for unlicensed or licensed by rule 

15 operations— 

16 (A) to improve accuracy and efficacy; 

17 (B) to reduce burdens on consumers, man18 ufacturers, and service providers; and 

19 (C) to protect sensitive Government infor20 mation. 

21 (d) SPECTRUM RELOCATION FUND.—To be included 

22 as an appendix as part of the plan developed under this 

23 section, the NTIA, in consultation with the Director of 

24 the Office of Management and Budget, shall share with 


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1 the Commission recommendations about how to reform 

2 the Spectrum Relocation Fund— 

3 (1) to address costs incurred by Federal entities 

4 related to sharing radio frequency bands with radio 

5 technologies conducting unlicensed or licensed by 

6 rule operations; and 

7 (2) to ensure the Spectrum Relocation Fund 

8 has sufficient funds to cover— 

9 (A) the costs described in paragraph (1); 

10 and 

11 (B) other expenditures allowed of the 

12 Spectrum Relocation Fund under section 118 of 

13 the National Telecommunications and Informa14 tion Administration Organization Act (47 

15 U.S.C. 928). 

16 (e) REPORT REQUIRED.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 

18 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commis19 sion shall submit to the appropriate committees of 

20 Congress a report that describes the plan developed 

21 under this section, including any recommendations 

22 for legislative change. 

23 (2) PUBLICATION ON COMMISSION WEBSITE.— 

24 Not later than the date on which the Commission 

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1 mission shall make the report publicly available on 

2 the website of the Commission. 

3 (f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec4 tion confers any additional rights on unlicensed users or 

5 users licensed by rule under part 96 of title 47, Code of 

6 Federal Regulations, to protection from harmful inter7 ference. 

8 SEC. 715. SPECTRUM CHALLENGE PRIZE. 

9 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 

10 ‘‘Spectrum Challenge Prize Act’’. 

11 (b) DEFINITION OF PRIZE COMPETITION.—In this 

12 section, the term ‘‘prize competition’’ means a prize com13 petition conducted by the Secretary under subsection 

14 (c)(1). 

15 (c) SPECTRUM CHALLENGE PRIZE.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta17 tion with the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for 

18 Communications and Information and the Under 

19 Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Tech20 nology, shall, subject to the availability of funds for 

21 prize competitions under this section— 

22 (A) conduct prize competitions to dramati23 cally accelerate the development and commer24 cialization of technology that improves spectrum 


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1 efficiency and is capable of cost-effective deploy2 ment; and 

3 (B) define a measurable set of perform4 ance goals for participants in the prize competi5 tions to demonstrate their solutions on a level 

6 playing field while making a significant ad7 vancement over the current state of the art. 

8 (2) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.—In carrying 

9 out paragraph (1), the Secretary may— 

10 (A) enter into a grant, contract, coopera11 tive agreement, or other agreement with a pri12 vate sector for-profit or nonprofit entity to ad13 minister the prize competitions; 

14 (B) invite the Defense Advanced Research 

15 Projects Agency, the Commission, the National 

16 Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Na17 tional Science Foundation, or any other Federal 

18 agency to provide advice and assistance in the 

19 design or administration of the prize competi20 tions; and 

21 (C) award not more than $5,000,000, in 

22 the aggregate, to the winner or winners of the 

23 prize competitions. 

24 (d) CRITERIA.—Not later than 180 days after the 

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1 able pursuant to this section, the Commission shall publish 

2 a technical paper on spectrum efficiency providing criteria 

3 that may be used for the design of the prize competitions. 

4 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

5 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

6 necessary to carry out this section. 

7 SEC. 716. WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS TAX AND FEE 

8 COLLECTION FAIRNESS. 

9 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 

10 ‘‘Wireless Telecommunications Tax and Fee Collection 

11 Fairness Act’’. 

12 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 (1) FINANCIAL TRANSACTION.—The term ‘‘fi14 nancial transaction’’ means a transaction in which 

15 the purchaser or user of a wireless telecommuni16 cations service upon whom a tax, fee, or surcharge 

17 is imposed gives cash, credit, or any other exchange 

18 of monetary value or consideration to the person 

19 who is required to collect or remit the tax, fee, or 

20 surcharge. 

21 (2) LOCAL JURISDICTION.—The term ‘‘local ju22 risdiction’’ means a political subdivision of a State. 

23 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any of 

24 the several States, the District of Columbia, and any 

25 territory or possession of the United States. 


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1 (4) STATE OR LOCAL JURISDICTION.—The term 

2 ‘‘State or local jurisdiction’’ includes any govern3 mental entity or person acting on behalf of a State 

4 or local jurisdiction that has the authority to assess, 

5 impose, levy, or collect taxes or fees. 

6 (5) WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERV7 ICE.—The term ‘‘wireless telecommunications serv8 ice’’ means a commercial mobile radio service, as de9 fined in section 20.3 of title 47, Code of Federal 

10 Regulations, or any successor thereto. 

11 (c) FINANCIAL TRANSACTION REQUIREMENT.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State, or a local jurisdic13 tion of a State, may not require a person who is nei14 ther a resident of such State or local jurisdiction nor 

15 an entity having its principal place of business in 

16 such State or local jurisdiction to collect from, or 

17 remit on behalf of, any other person a State or local 

18 tax, fee, or surcharge imposed on a purchaser or 

19 user with respect to the purchase or use of any wire20 less telecommunications service within the State un21 less the collection or remittance is in connection with 

22 a financial transaction. 

23 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

24 subsection shall be construed to affect the right of 

25 a State or local jurisdiction to require the collection 


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1 of any tax, fee, or surcharge in connection with a fi2 nancial transaction. 

3 (d) ENFORCEMENT.— 

4 (1) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—Any person 

5 aggrieved by a violation of subsection (c) may bring 

6 a civil action in an appropriate district court of the 

7 United States for equitable relief in accordance with 

8 paragraph (2) of this subsection. 

9 (2) JURISDICTION OF DISTRICT COURTS.—Not10 withstanding section 1341 of title 28, United States 

11 Code, or the constitution or laws of any State, the 

12 district courts of the United States shall have juris13 diction, without regard to the amount in controversy 

14 or citizenship of the parties, to grant such manda15 tory or prohibitive injunctive relief, interim equitable 

16 relief, and declaratory judgments as may be nec17 essary to prevent, restrain, or terminate any acts in 

18 violation of subsection (c). 

19 SEC. 717. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

20 (a) RANGES OF FREQUENCIES.—Each range of fre21 quencies described in this title shall be construed to be 

22 inclusive of the upper and lower frequencies in the range. 

23 (b) ASSESSMENT OF ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM

24 REALLOCATION.—Nothing in this title shall be construed 

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1 tional Telecommunications and Information Administra2 tion Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 921 note), as added by 

3 section 1062(a) of the National Defense Authorization Act 

4 for Fiscal Year 2000. 

5 SEC. 718. RELATIONSHIP TO MIDDLE CLASS TAX RELIEF 

6 AND JOB CREATION ACT OF 2012. 

7 Nothing in this title shall be construed to limit, re8 strict, or circumvent in any way the implementation of the 

9 nationwide public safety broadband network defined in 

10 section 6001 of title VI of the Middle Class Tax Relief 

11 and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1401) or any 

12 rules implementing that network under title VI of that Act 

13 (47 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.). 

14 SEC. 719. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED. 

15 No additional funds are authorized to be appro16 priated to carry out this title, or the amendment made 

17 by this title. This title, and the amendment made by this 

18 title, shall be carried out using amounts otherwise author19 ized. 

Passed the House of Representatives March 6, 

2018. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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