I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2281 

To require accurate disclosures to consumers of the terms and conditions 

of 4G service and other advanced wireless mobile broadband service. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 22, 2011 

Ms. ESHOO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To require accurate disclosures to consumers of the terms 

and conditions of 4G service and other advanced wireless 

mobile broadband service. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Next Generation Wire5 less Disclosure Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) In 2011, the President set a goal of bring9 ing next generation wireless broadband Internet acVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:02 Jun 24, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2281.IH H2281

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1 cess service to at least 98 percent of Americans 

2 within 5 years. 

3 (2) The Federal Communications Commission’s 

4 National Broadband Plan sets a minimum target of 

5 delivering universal, affordable broadband Internet 

6 access service with actual download speeds of at 

7 least 4 megabits per second and actual upload 

8 speeds of at least 1 megabit per second. 

9 (3) The 4 largest wireless service providers ad10 vertise 4G service using different wireless mobile 

11 broadband technologies, including LTE (Long Term 

12 Evolution), WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for 

13 Microwave Access), and HSPA+ (Evolved High 

14 Speed Packet Access). 

15 (4) Although the International Telecommuni16 cation Union has expanded its definition of 4G serv17 ice to include these technologies, theoretical peak 

18 speeds and actual speeds experienced by consumers 

19 vary widely across technologies and service pro20 viders. 

21 (5) In 2010, the United States wireless indus22 try generated almost $160 billion in revenue, with 

23 approximately $50 billion of this total derived from 

24 wireless data. 


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1 (6) Consumers need accurate information be2 fore selecting a provider of wireless mobile 

3 broadband service. 

4 (7) Providers and other sellers of advanced 

5 wireless mobile broadband service should be required 

6 to make accurate and reasonable disclosures of the 

7 terms and conditions of such service in order to give 

8 consumers the necessary information to make in9 formed decisions about such service and to promote 

10 greater transparency in the market. 

11 SEC. 3. REQUIRED DISCLOSURES OF TERMS AND CONDI12 TIONS OF ADVANCED WIRELESS MOBILE 

13 BROADBAND SERVICE. 

14 (a) SALE TO CONSUMERS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—A person who sells advanced 

16 wireless mobile broadband service directly to a con17 sumer shall accurately disclose the terms and condi18 tions of such service by displaying such terms and 

19 conditions consistently, clearly, and prominently in 

20 all marketing materials for such service, at the point 

21 of sale of such service, and (in the case of postpaid 

22 advanced wireless mobile broadband service) in all 

23 bills for such service. The terms and conditions dis24 closed shall include the information described in sub25 section (c). 


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1 (2) SPECIAL RULES FOR PREPAID SERVICE.— 

2 (A) OFF-THE-SHELF TRANSACTIONS.— 

3 Paragraph (1) does not apply in the case of a 

4 transaction in which both— 

5 (i) the consumer receives a device that 

6 allows the consumer to access a specified 

7 quantity of prepaid advanced wireless mo8 bile broadband service; and 

9 (ii) the consumer’s interaction with 

10 the agents of the person from whom the 

11 consumer makes the purchase is such that 

12 the average consumer would not expect 

13 such agents to have expertise regarding the 

14 terms and conditions of such service. 

15 (B) PACKAGERS OF PREPAID SERVICE.—A 

16 person who packages prepaid advanced wireless 

17 mobile broadband service for ultimate sale to a 

18 consumer in a transaction described in subpara19 graph (A) shall accurately disclose the terms 

20 and conditions of such service by displaying 

21 such terms and conditions consistently, clearly, 

22 and prominently in all marketing materials for 

23 such service and on the packaging of the device 

24 described in clause (i) of such subparagraph. 


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1 The terms and conditions disclosed shall include 

2 the information described in subsection (c). 

3 (b) SALE TO RESELLERS.—A person who sells ad4 vanced wireless mobile broadband service wholesale to an5 other person for ultimate sale to consumers shall disclose 

6 to such other person the information necessary to permit 

7 such other person to comply with subsection (a). 

8 (c) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—The information de9 scribed in this subsection is the following: 

10 (1) The guaranteed minimum transmit and re11 ceive data rates for Internet protocol packets to and 

12 from on-network hosts for the service, expressed in 

13 megabits per second. For purposes of the preceding 

14 sentence, a minimum data rate is not guaranteed 

15 unless it is available for a percentage of the time in 

16 a calendar month to be established by the Commis17 sion. 

18 (2) The reliability rating of the service. The 

19 Commission shall establish a standard method that 

20 shall be used to calculate the reliability rating of the 

21 service, which shall be based on the data session 

22 start success percentage (network accessibility) and 

23 the data session completion success percentage (net24 work retainability) of the service. 

25 (3) The price of the service stated in terms of— 


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1 (A) in the case of service that is priced 

2 based on the volume of data sent or received, 

3 the price per unit of data sent or received; or 

4 (B) in the case of service for which a flat 

5 rate is charged for service over a given time pe6 riod— 

7 (i) the flat rate; and 

8 (ii) a detailed description of any limits 

9 on the use of such service over such time 

10 period, by volume of data sent or received 

11 or otherwise. 

12 (4) Any other charges that the consumer of the 

13 service will incur that are not included in the price 

14 as stated pursuant to paragraph (3). 

15 (5) The network management policies of the 

16 service with respect to Internet protocol packets to 

17 and from on-network hosts, including the following: 

18 (A) Any business practices or technical 

19 mechanisms employed by the service provider, 

20 other than standard best-effort delivery, that al21 locate capacity or prioritize traffic differently on 

22 the basis of the source of the applications, con23 tent, or services. 

24 (B) Any limits or prohibitions on the use 

25 of certain applications or services. 


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1 (C) Any traffic shaping or throttling mech2 anisms that affect the service as a result of ex3 ceeding certain usage limits. 

4 (6) The technology used to provide the service, 

5 such as LTE (Long Term Evolution), WiMAX 

6 (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), 

7 or HSPA+ (Evolved High Speed Packet Access). 

8 (7) The uniform resource locator of a website 

9 (together with a brief description of the contents of 

10 the website) on which is located the following: 

11 (A) The complete terms of service, accept12 able use policy, and any other documentation 

13 related to the network management policies of 

14 the service provider. 

15 (B) A map of the coverage area of the 

16 service. If different technologies are used to 

17 provide the service in different geographic 

18 areas, the map shall indicate the technology 

19 used in each area. 

20 (d) MANNER AND FORM OF DISCLOSURES.—The 

21 Commission may prescribe the manner and form of the 

22 disclosures required by this section. 

23 (e) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 

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

25 shall promulgate regulations implementing this section. 


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1 (f) ENFORCEMENT.—The Commission shall enforce 

2 this section as if this section were a part of the Commu3 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.). A violation 

4 of this section or a regulation promulgated under this sec5 tion shall be considered to be a violation of such Act or 

6 a regulation promulgated under such Act, respectively. 

7 (g) COVERAGE AREA DEFINED.—In this section, the 

8 term ‘‘coverage area’’ shall have the meaning given such 

9 term by the Commission. The Commission shall set min10 imum signal strength and data rate requirements in order 

11 for a location to be considered to be within the coverage 

12 area of an advanced wireless mobile broadband service. 

13 SEC. 4. STUDY BY FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMIS14 SION. 

15 (a) STUDY.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 

16 the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 

17 Commission shall complete a study evaluating the speed 

18 and pricing of advanced wireless mobile broadband service 

19 offered in the United States by the 10 largest providers 

20 of such service, as measured by the number of consumers 

21 to whom a provider provides such service in coverage areas 

22 that include any part of the United States. 

23 (b) INITIAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

24 10 days after completing the initial study required by subVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:25 Jun 25, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2281.IH H2281

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1 section (a), the Commission shall submit to Congress a 

2 report on the results of such study. 

3 (c) INCLUSION IN ANNUAL CMRS COMPETITION RE4 PORTS.—The Commission shall include the results of each 

5 study conducted under subsection (a) in the next report 

6 on the findings of the review required by section 

7 332(c)(1)(C) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

8 U.S.C. 332(c)(1)(C)) that is adopted after the completion 

9 of such study. 

10 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act: 

12 (1) 4G SERVICE.—The term ‘‘4G service’’ in13 cludes wireless mobile broadband service that utilizes 

14 technologies that fulfill the requirements set forth in 

15 the International Mobile Telecommunications Ad16 vanced standard promulgated by the International 

17 Telecommunication Union, any forerunner tech18 nologies for which the designation ‘‘4G’’ has been 

19 approved by the International Telecommunication 

20 Union, and any technologies that are broadly mar21 keted as ‘‘4G’’ service. 

22 (2) ADVANCED WIRELESS MOBILE BROADBAND

23 SERVICE.—The term ‘‘advanced wireless mobile 

24 broadband service’’ means 4G service or any wireless 


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1 mobile broadband service that utilizes a successor 

2 technology to 4G technology. 

3 (3) BEST-EFFORT DELIVERY.—The term ‘‘best4 effort delivery’’ means the common Internet protocol 

5 network model in which a network service routes 

6 Internet protocol packets on a first-in, first-out basis 

7 and does not distinguish based on the source, type, 

8 or other unique characteristics of the Internet pro9 tocol packets for the purpose of establishing dif10 ferent levels of delivery priority. 

11 (4) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

12 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

13 (5) ON-NETWORK HOST.—The term ‘‘on-net14 work host’’ means any networking routing equip15 ment owned, operated, or within the control of a 

16 wireless mobile broadband service provider that 

17 transmits or receives Internet protocol packets or 

18 any points in a network before a subscriber’s data 

19 traffic travels to a centralized routing facility that 

20 interconnects at an exchange point with broadband 

21 service providers that are not affiliated with such 

22 wireless mobile broadband service provider. 

23 (6) POSTPAID.—The term ‘‘postpaid’’ means, 

24 with respect to advanced wireless mobile broadband 

25 service, that the service is not prepaid. 


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1 (7) PREPAID.—The term ‘‘prepaid’’ means, 

2 with respect to advanced wireless mobile broadband 

3 service, that the consumer of such service pays for 

4 a specified quantity of service (whether measured by 

5 volume of data transferred, amount of time the serv6 ice is in use, or otherwise) before gaining access to 

7 such service and must affirmatively purchase any 

8 additional quantities of service before gaining access 

9 to such additional quantities. 

Æ 


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