IIB 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2844 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 10, 2013 

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

and Transportation 

AN ACT 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to consolidate 

the reporting obligations of the Federal Communications 

Commission in order to improve congressional oversight 

and reduce reporting burdens. 

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. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Communica3 tions Commission Consolidated Reporting Act of 2013’’. 

4 SEC. 2. COMMUNICATIONS MARKETPLACE REPORT. 

5 Title I of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

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

7 following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 14. COMMUNICATIONS MARKETPLACE REPORT. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the last quarter of every even10 numbered year, the Commission shall publish on its 

11 website and submit to the Committee on Energy and Com12 merce of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

13 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 

14 a report on the state of the communications marketplace. 

15 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—Each report required by sub16 section (a) shall— 

17 ‘‘(1) assess the state of competition in the com18 munications marketplace, including competition to 

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

20 providers of telecommunications, providers of com21 mercial mobile service (as defined in section 332), 

22 multichannel video programming distributors (as de23 fined in section 602), broadcast stations, providers 

24 of satellite communications, Internet service pro25 viders, and other providers of communications serv26 ices; 


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1 ‘‘(2) assess the state of deployment of commu2 nications capabilities, including advanced tele3 communications capability (as defined in section 706 

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

5 1302)), regardless of the technology used for such 

6 deployment, including whether advanced tele7 communications capability is being deployed to all 

8 Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion; 

9 ‘‘(3) assess whether laws, regulations, or regu10 latory practices (whether those of the Federal Gov11 ernment, States, political subdivisions of States, In12 dian tribes or tribal organizations (as such terms are 

13 defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination 

14 and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b)), or 

15 foreign governments) pose a barrier to competitive 

16 entry into the communications marketplace or to the 

17 competitive expansion of existing providers of com18 munications services; 

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

20 the next 2-year period for addressing the challenges 

21 and opportunities in the communications market22 place that were identified through the assessments 

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

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

25 has taken in pursuit of the agenda described pursuVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:39 Sep 10, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2844.RFS H2844

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1 ant to paragraph (4) in the previous report sub2 mitted under this section. 

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

4 Commissioner as Chairman of the Commission during the 

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

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

7 the website of the Commission and submitted to the Com8 mittee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Rep9 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

10 and Transportation of the Senate as an addendum during 

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

12 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

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

15 Commission shall consider all forms of competition, 

16 including the effect of intermodal competition, facili17 ties-based competition, and competition from new 

18 and emergent communications services, including the 

19 provision of content and communications using the 

20 Internet. 

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

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

23 Commission shall compile a list of geographical 

24 areas that are not served by any provider of ad25 vanced telecommunications capability. 


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1 ‘‘(3) INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS AND DEMO2 GRAPHIC INFORMATION.—The Commission may use 

3 readily available data to draw appropriate compari4 sons between the United States communications 

5 marketplace and the international communications 

6 marketplace and to correlate its assessments with 

7 demographic information. 

8 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERING SMALL BUSINESSES.—In as9 sessing the state of competition under subsection 

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

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

12 barriers for entrepreneurs and other small busi13 nesses in the communications marketplace in accord14 ance with the national policy under section 257(b).’’. 

15 SEC. 3. CONSOLIDATION OF REDUNDANT REPORTS; CON16 FORMING AMENDMENTS. 

17 (a) ORBIT ACT REPORT.—Section 646 of the Com18 munications Satellite Act of 1962 (47 U.S.C. 765e; 114 

19 Stat. 57) is repealed. 

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

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

22 (c) INTERNATIONAL BROADBAND DATA REPORT.— 

23 Section 103 of the Broadband Data Improvement Act (47 

24 U.S.C. 1303) is amended— 

25 (1) by striking subsection (b); and 


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1 (2) by redesignating subsections (c) through (e) 

2 as subsections (b) through (d), respectively. 

3 (d) STATUS OF COMPETITION IN THE MARKET FOR

4 THE DELIVERY OF VIDEO PROGRAMMING REPORT.—Sec5 tion 628 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

6 548) is amended— 

7 (1) by striking subsection (g); 

8 (2) by redesignating subsection (j) as sub9 section (g); and 

10 (3) by transferring subsection (g) (as redesig11 nated) so that it appears after subsection (f). 

12 (e) REPORT ON CABLE INDUSTRY PRICES.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 623 of the Commu14 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 543) is amended— 

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

16 (B) by redesignating subsections (l) 

17 through (n) as subsections (k) through (m), re18 spectively. 

19 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

20 613(a)(3) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

21 U.S.C. 533(a)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘623(l)’’ 

22 and inserting ‘‘623(k)’’. 

23 (f) TRIENNIAL REPORT IDENTIFYING AND ELIMI24 NATING MARKET ENTRY BARRIERS FOR ENTRE25 PRENEURS AND OTHER SMALL BUSINESSES.—Section 


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1 257 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 257) 

2 is amended by striking subsection (c). 

3 (g) SECTION 706 REPORT.—Section 706 of the Tele4 communications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302) is amend5 ed— 

6 (1) in subsection (b)— 

7 (A) in the last sentence, by striking ‘‘If the 

8 Commission’s determination is negative, it’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘If the Commission determines in its 

10 report under section 14 of the Communications 

11 Act of 1934 that advanced telecommunications 

12 capability is not being deployed to all Ameri13 cans in a reasonable and timely fashion, the 

14 Commission’’; and 

15 (B) by striking the first and second sen16 tences; 

17 (2) by striking subsection (c); 

18 (3) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘this sub19 section’’ and inserting ‘‘this section’’; and 

20 (4) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub21 section (c). 

22 (h) STATE OF COMPETITIVE MARKET CONDITIONS

23 WITH RESPECT TO COMMERCIAL MOBILE RADIO SERV24 ICES.—Section 332(c)(1)(C) of the Communications Act 


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

2 the first and second sentences. 

3 (i) PREVIOUSLY ELIMINATED ANNUAL REPORT.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 4 of the Commu5 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 154) is amended— 

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

7 (B) by redesignating subsections (l) 

8 through (o) as subsections (k) through (n), re9 spectively. 

10 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Commu11 nications Act of 1934 is amended— 

12 (A) in section 9(i), by striking ‘‘In the 

13 Commission’s annual report, the Commission 

14 shall prepare an analysis of its progress in de15 veloping such systems and’’ and inserting ‘‘The 

16 Commission’’; and 

17 (B) in section 309(j)(8)(B), by striking the 

18 last sentence. 

19 (j) ADDITIONAL OUTDATED REPORTS.—The Com20 munications Act of 1934 is further amended— 

21 (1) in section 4— 

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

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

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

25 and 


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1 (B) in subsection (g), by striking para2 graph (2); 

3 (2) in section 215— 

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

5 (B) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub6 section (b); 

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

8 (4) in section 309(j)— 

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

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

11 clause (iv); 

12 (5) in section 331(b), by striking the last sen13 tence; 

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

15 (4) to read as follows: 

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

17 advise the Congress on the amounts collected pursu18 ant to the program required by this subsection.’’; 

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

20 (8) in section 396— 

21 (A) by striking subsection (i); 

22 (B) in subsection (k)— 

23 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking sub24 paragraph (F); and 


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1 (ii) in paragraph (3)(B)(iii), by strik2 ing subclause (V); 

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

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

5 ‘‘The audit report’’; and 

6 (D) by striking subsection (m); 

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

8 sentence; 

9 (10) in section 624A(b)(1)— 

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

11 and inserting ‘‘REGULATIONS’’; 

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

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

14 and inserting ‘‘The Commission shall issue such 

15 regulations as are necessary to assure’’; and 

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

17 and all that follows through ‘‘to assure such 

18 compatibility.’’; and 

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

20 SEC. 4. EFFECT ON AUTHORITY. 

21 Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 

22 Act shall be construed to expand or contract the authority 

23 of the Federal Communications Commission. 


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1 SEC. 5. OTHER REPORTS. 

2 Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 

3 Act shall be construed to prohibit or otherwise prevent the 

4 Federal Communications Commission from producing any 

5 additional reports otherwise within the authority of the 

6 Commission. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 9, 

2013. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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