I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2661 

To amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to provide requirements 

on the use of assistance for broadband deployment, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 10, 2019 

Mr. TIPTON (for himself and Mr. GOSAR) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to provide 

requirements on the use of assistance for broadband 

deployment, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reprioritizing 

5 Unserved Rural Areas and Locations for Broadband Act 

6 of 2019’’ and the ‘‘RURAL Broadband Act of 2019’’. 


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•HR 2661 IH

1 SEC. 2. USE OF ASSISTANCE FOR DEPLOYMENT OF 

2 BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE. 

3 Title VI of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 

4 U.S.C. 950bb et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 607. USE OF ASSISTANCE FOR DEPLOYMENT OF 

7 BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE. 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF QUALIFYING BROADBAND-CA9 PABLE INFRASTRUCTURE.—In this section, the term 

10 ‘qualifying broadband-capable infrastructure’ means fixed 

11 terrestrial broadband-capable infrastructure— 

12 ‘‘(1) used by a service provider to provide fixed 

13 terrestrial broadband service for which the service 

14 provider receives universal service support under sec15 tion 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

16 U.S.C. 254), if— 

17 ‘‘(A) the broadband service satisfies the 

18 current speed benchmark for fixed services es19 tablished by the FCC under section 706 of the 

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

21 1302); or 

22 ‘‘(B) the service provider is in compliance 

23 with buildout obligations in the relevant area to 

24 provide retail fixed terrestrial broadband service 

25 that will comply with the applicable broadband 


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•HR 2661 IH

1 speed standard described in subparagraph (A); 

2 or 

3 ‘‘(2) that— 

4 ‘‘(A) was financed with funds provided by 

5 the Secretary under this Act or any other pro6 gram carried out by the Secretary for the costs 

7 of the construction, improvement, or acquisition 

8 of facilities or equipment for the purpose of 

9 providing fixed terrestrial telecommunications 

10 or broadband service; and 

11 ‘‘(B)(i) is used to provide fixed terrestrial 

12 broadband service, if— 

13 ‘‘(I) the broadband service satisfies 

14 any applicable broadband speed standards 

15 established by the Secretary; or 

16 ‘‘(II) the service provider is in compli17 ance with buildout obligations in the rel18 evant area to provide retail fixed terrestrial 

19 broadband service that will comply with 

20 the applicable broadband speed standards 

21 described in subclause (I); or 

22 ‘‘(ii) was financed with a loan under this 

23 Act or any other program carried out by the 

24 Secretary that remains outstanding for the purVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2661.IH H2661

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1 pose of providing fixed terrestrial telecommuni2 cations or broadband service. 

3 ‘‘(b) RESTRICTION ON USE OF ASSISTANCE.—A loan, 

4 grant, or other assistance awarded under this Act, or by 

5 the rural development mission area under the Consoli6 dated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1921 

7 et seq.), may not be used to coordinate, approve, or fi8 nance the deployment of broadband-capable infrastructure 

9 by a service provider to provide retail fixed broadband 

10 service that would overbuild or otherwise duplicate quali11 fying broadband-capable infrastructure that another serv12 ice provider is using to provide retail fixed terrestrial 

13 broadband service in the same geographic area. 

14 ‘‘(c) USE OF ASSISTANCE IN UNSERVED AREAS.— 

15 A loan, grant, or other assistance provided by the Sec16 retary hereunder, acting through the Administrator of the 

17 Rural Utilities Service, to coordinate, approve, or finance 

18 the deployment of broadband-capable infrastructure by a 

19 service provider may be used to provide retail fixed 

20 broadband service only in a geographic area in which there 

21 is no qualifying broadband-capable infrastructure owned 

22 or operated by another service provider.’’. 

Æ 


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