II 

Calendar No. 652 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5252 

[Report No. 109–355] 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 12, 2006 

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

and Transportation 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2006 

Reported by Mr. STEVENS, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

AN ACT 

To promote the deployment of broadband networks and 

services. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhance6 ment Act of 2006’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.— 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 


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TITLE I—NATIONAL CABLE FRANCHISING 

Sec. 101. National cable franchising. 

Sec. 102. Definitions. 

Sec. 103. Monitoring and reporting. 

Sec. 104. Rule of construction. 

TITLE II—ENFORCEMENT OF BROADBAND POLICY STATEMENT 

Sec. 201. Enforcement of broadband policy statement. 

TITLE III—VOIP/911 

Sec. 301. Emergency services; interconnection. 

Sec. 302. Compensation and contribution. 

TITLE IV—MUNICIPAL PROVISION OF SERVICES 

Sec. 401. Government authority to provide services. 

TITLE V—BROADBAND SERVICE 

Sec. 501. Stand-alone broadband service. 

Sec. 502. Study of interference potential of broadband over power line systems. 

TITLE VI—SEAMLESS MOBILITY 

Sec. 601. Development of seamless mobility. 

1 TITLE I—NATIONAL CABLE 

2 FRANCHISING 

3 SEC. 101. NATIONAL CABLE FRANCHISING. 

4 (a) AMENDMENT.—Part III of title VI of the Com5 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 541 et seq.) is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 630. NATIONAL CABLE FRANCHISING. 

8 ‘‘(a) NATIONAL FRANCHISES.— 

9 ‘‘(1) ELECTION.—A person or group that is eli10 gible under subsection (d) may elect to obtain a na11 tional franchise under this section as authority to 

12 provide cable service in a franchise area in lieu of 

13 any other authority under Federal, State, or local 


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1 law to provide cable service in such franchise area. 

2 A person or group may not provide cable service 

3 under the authority of this section in a franchise 

4 area unless such person or group has a franchise 

5 under this section that is effective with respect to 

6 such franchise area. A franchising authority may not 

7 require any person or group that has a national 

8 franchise under this section in effect with respect to 

9 a franchise area to obtain a franchise under section 

10 621 or any other law to provide cable service in such 

11 franchise area. 

12 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION.—To obtain a national 

13 franchise under this section as authority to provide 

14 cable service in a franchise area, a person or group 

15 shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) file with the Commission a certifi17 cation for a national franchise containing the 

18 information required by paragraph (3) with re19 spect to such franchise area, if such person or 

20 group has not previously obtained a national 

21 franchise; or 

22 ‘‘(B) file with the Commission a subse23 quent certification for additional franchise areas 

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1 chise areas, if such person or group has pre2 viously obtained a national franchise. 

3 ‘‘(3) CONTENTS OF CERTIFICATION.—Such cer4 tification shall be in such form as the Commission 

5 shall require by regulation and shall contain— 

6 ‘‘(A) the name under which such person or 

7 group is offering or intends to offer cable serv8 ice; 

9 ‘‘(B) the names and business addresses of 

10 the directors and principal executive officers, or 

11 the persons performing similar functions, of 

12 such person or group; 

13 ‘‘(C) the location of such person or group’s 

14 principal business office; 

15 ‘‘(D) the name, business address, elec16 tronic mail address, and telephone and fax 

17 number of such person or group’s local agent; 

18 ‘‘(E) a declaration by such person or group 

19 that such person or group is eligible under sub20 section (d) to obtain a national franchise under 

21 this section; 

22 ‘‘(F) an identification of each franchise 

23 area in which such person or group seeks au24 thority to offer cable service pursuant to such 

25 certification, which franchise area shall be— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the entirety of a franchise area in 

2 which a cable operator is, on the date of 

3 the filing of such certification, authorized 

4 to provide cable service under section 621 

5 or any other law (including this section); 

6 or 

7 ‘‘(ii) a geographic area that covers the 

8 entirety of the jurisdiction of a unit of gen9 eral local government, except that— 

10 ‘‘(I) if the geographic area over11 laps with a franchise area in which a 

12 cable operator is, on such date, au13 thorized to provide cable service under 

14 section 621 or any other law, the geo15 graphic area identified in the certifi16 cation under this clause as a franchise 

17 area shall not include the overlapping 

18 area; and 

19 ‘‘(II) if such geographic area in20 cludes areas that are, respectively, 

21 within the jurisdiction of different 

22 franchising authorities, the certifi23 cation shall specify each such area as 

24 a separate franchise area; 


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1 ‘‘(G) a declaration that such person or 

2 group transmitted, or will transmit on the day 

3 of filing such declaration, a copy of such certifi4 cation to the franchising authority for each 

5 franchise area for which such person or group 

6 is filing a certification for authority to offer 

7 cable service under this section; 

8 ‘‘(H) a declaration by the person or group 

9 that the person or group will comply with the 

10 rights-of-way requirements of the franchising 

11 authority in accordance with subsection (f); and 

12 ‘‘(I) a declaration by the person or group 

13 that— 

14 ‘‘(i) the person or group will comply 

15 with all Commission consumer protection 

16 and customer service rules under section 

17 632(b) (including the rules adopted under 

18 section 632(b) pursuant to subsection (g) 

19 of this section); and 

20 ‘‘(ii) the person or group agrees that 

21 such standards may be enforced by the 

22 Commission or by the franchising author23 ity in accordance with subsection (g) of 

24 this section. 


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1 ‘‘(4) LOCAL NOTIFICATION; PRESERVATION OF

2 OPPORTUNITY TO NEGOTIATE.— 

3 ‘‘(A) COPY TO FRANCHISING AUTHOR4 ITY.—On the day of filing any certification 

5 under paragraph (2)(A) or (B) for a franchise 

6 area, the person or group shall transmit a copy 

7 of such certification to the franchising authority 

8 for such area. 

9 ‘‘(B) NEGOTIATED FRANCHISE AGREE10 MENTS PERMITTED.—Nothing in this section 

11 shall prevent a person or group from negoti12 ating a franchise agreement or any other au13 thority to provide cable service in a franchise 

14 area under section 621 or any other law. Upon 

15 entry into any such negotiated franchise agree16 ment, such negotiated franchise agreement shall 

17 apply in lieu of any national franchise held by 

18 that person or group under this section for such 

19 franchise area. 

20 ‘‘(5) UPDATING OF CERTIFICATIONS.—A person 

21 or group with a certification under this section shall 

22 update any information contained in such certifi23 cation that is no longer accurate and correct. 

24 ‘‘(6) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF CERTIFI25 CATIONS.—The Commission shall provide for the 


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1 public availability on the Commission’s Internet 

2 website or other electronic facility of all current cer3 tifications filed under this section. 

4 ‘‘(b) EFFECTIVENESS; DURATION.— 

5 ‘‘(1) EFFECTIVENESS.—A national franchise 

6 under this section shall be effective with respect to 

7 any franchise area 30 days after the date of the fil8 ing of a completed certification under subsection 

9 (a)(2)(A) or (B) that applies to such franchise area. 

10 ‘‘(2) DURATION.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A franchise under this 

12 section that applies to a franchise area shall be 

13 effective for that franchise area for a term of 

14 10 years. 

15 ‘‘(B) RENEWAL.—A franchise under this 

16 section for a franchise area shall be renewed 

17 automatically upon expiration of the 10-year 

18 period described in subparagraph (A). 

19 ‘‘(C) PUBLIC HEARING.—At the request of 

20 a franchising authority in a franchise area, a 

21 cable operator authorized under this section to 

22 provide cable service in such franchise area 

23 shall, within the last year of the 10-year period 

24 applicable under subparagraph (A) to the cable 

25 operator’s franchise for such franchise area, 


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1 participate in a public hearing on the cable op2 erator’s performance in the franchise area, in3 cluding the cable operator’s compliance with the 

4 requirements of this title. The hearing shall af5 ford the public the opportunity to participate 

6 for the purpose of identifying cable-related com7 munity needs and interests and assessing the 

8 operator’s performance. The cable operator 

9 shall provide notice to its subscribers of the 

10 hearing at least 30 days prior to the hearing. 

11 The Commission shall by rule specify the meth12 ods by which a franchising authority shall no13 tify a cable operator of the hearing for which its 

14 participation is required under this subpara15 graph. 

16 ‘‘(D) REVOCATION.—A franchise under 

17 this section for a franchise area may be revoked 

18 by the Commission— 

19 ‘‘(i) for willful or repeated violation of 

20 any Federal or State law, or any Commis21 sion regulation, relating to the provision of 

22 cable service in such franchise area; 

23 ‘‘(ii) for false statements or material 

24 omissions knowingly made in any filing 


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1 with the Commission relating to the provi2 sion of cable service in such franchise area; 

3 ‘‘(iii) for willful or repeated violation 

4 of the rights-of-way management laws or 

5 regulations of any franchising authority in 

6 such franchise area relating to the provi7 sion of cable service in such franchise area; 

8 or 

9 ‘‘(iv) for willful or repeated violation 

10 of the antidiscrimination requirement of 

11 subsection (h) with respect to such fran12 chise area. 

13 ‘‘(E) NOTICE.—The Commission shall 

14 send a notice of such revocation to each fran15 chising authority with jurisdiction over the 

16 franchise areas for which the cable operator’s 

17 franchise was revoked. 

18 ‘‘(F) REINSTATEMENT.—After a revoca19 tion under subparagraph (D) of a franchise for 

20 a franchise area of any person or group , the 

21 Commission may refuse to accept for filing a 

22 new certification for authority of such person or 

23 group to provide cable service under this section 

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1 termines that the basis of such revocation has 

2 been remedied. 

3 ‘‘(G) RETURN TO LOCAL FRANCHISING IF

4 CABLE COMPETITION CEASES.— 

5 ‘‘(i) If only one cable operator is pro6 viding cable service in a franchise area, 

7 and that cable operator obtained a national 

8 franchise for such franchise area under 

9 subsection (d)(2), the franchising authority 

10 for such franchise area may file a petition 

11 with the Commission requesting that the 

12 Commission terminate such national fran13 chise for such franchise area. 

14 ‘‘(ii) The Commission shall provide 

15 public notice and opportunity to comment 

16 on such petition. If it finds that the re17 quirements of clause (i) are satisfied, the 

18 Commission shall issue an order granting 

19 such petition. Such order shall take effect 

20 one year from the date of such grant, if no 

21 other cable operator offers cable service in 

22 such area during that one year. If another 

23 cable operator does offer cable service in 

24 such franchise area during that one year, 


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1 the Commission shall rescind such order 

2 and dismiss such petition. 

3 ‘‘(iii) A cable operator whose national 

4 franchise is terminated for such franchise 

5 area under this subparagraph may obtain 

6 new authority to provide cable service in 

7 such franchise area under this section, sec8 tion 621, or any other law, if and when eli9 gible. 

10 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS OF NATIONAL FRANCHISE.—A 

11 national franchise shall contain the following require12 ments: 

13 ‘‘(1) FRANCHISE FEE.—A cable operator au14 thorized under this section to provide cable service 

15 in a franchise area shall pay to the franchising au16 thority in such franchise area a franchise fee of up 

17 to 5 percent (as determined by the franchising au18 thority) of such cable operator’s gross revenues from 

19 the provision of cable service under this section in 

20 such franchise area. Such payment shall be assessed 

21 and collected in a manner consistent with section 

22 622 and the definitions of gross revenues and fran23 chise fee in this section. 

24 ‘‘(2) PEG/I-NET REQUIREMENTS.—A cable op25 erator authorized under this section to provide cable 


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1 service in a franchise area shall comply with the re2 quirements of subsection (e). 

3 ‘‘(3) RIGHTS-OF-WAY.—A cable operator au4 thorized under this section to provide cable service 

5 in a franchise area shall comply with the rights-of6 way requirements of the franchising authority under 

7 subsection (f). 

8 ‘‘(4) CONSUMER PROTECTION AND CUSTOMER

9 SERVICE STANDARDS.—A cable operator authorized 

10 under this section to provide cable service in a fran11 chise area shall comply with the consumer protection 

12 and customer service standards established by the 

13 Commission under section 632(b). 

14 ‘‘(5) CHILD PORNOGRAPHY.—A cable operator 

15 authorized under this section to provide cable service 

16 in a franchise area shall comply with the regulations 

17 on child pornography promulgated pursuant to sub18 section (i). 

19 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBILITY FOR NATIONAL FRANCHISES.— 

20 The following persons or groups are eligible to obtain a 

21 national franchise under this section: 

22 ‘‘(1) COMMENCEMENT OF SERVICE AFTER EN23 ACTMENT.—A person or group that is not providing 

24 cable service in a franchise area on the date of en25 actment of this section under section 621 or any 


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1 other law may obtain a national franchise under this 

2 section to provide cable service in such franchise 

3 area. 

4 ‘‘(2) EXISTING PROVIDERS OF CABLE SERV5 ICE.—A person or group that is providing cable 

6 service in a franchise area on the date of enactment 

7 of this section under section 621 or any other law 

8 may obtain a franchise under this section to provide 

9 cable service in such franchise area if, on the date 

10 that the national franchise becomes effective, an11 other person or group is providing cable service 

12 under this section, section 621, or any other law in 

13 such franchise area. 

14 ‘‘(e) PUBLIC, EDUCATIONAL, AND GOVERNMENTAL

15 USE.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (3), a 

17 cable operator with a national franchise for a fran18 chise area under this section shall provide channel 

19 capacity for public, educational, and governmental 

20 use that is not less than the channel capacity re21 quired of the cable operator with the most sub22 scribers in such franchise area on the effective date 

23 of such national franchise. If there is no other cable 

24 operator in such franchise area on the effective date 

25 of such national franchise, or there is no other cable 


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1 operator in such franchise area on such date that is 

2 required to provide channel capacity for public, edu3 cational, and governmental use, the cable operator 

4 shall provide the amount of channel capacity for 

5 such use as determined by Commission rule. 

6 ‘‘(2) PEG AND I–NET FINANCIAL SUPPORT.—A 

7 cable operator with a national franchise under this 

8 section for a franchise area shall pay an amount 

9 equal to 1 percent of the cable operator’s gross reve10 nues (as such term is defined in this section) in the 

11 franchise area to the franchising authority for the 

12 support of public, educational, and governmental use 

13 and institutional networks (as such term is defined 

14 in section 611(f)). Such payment shall be assessed 

15 and collected in a manner consistent with section 

16 622, including the authority of the cable operator to 

17 designate that portion of a subscriber’s bill attrib18 utable to such payment. A cable operator that pro19 vided cable service in a franchise area on the date 

20 of enactment of this section and that obtains a na21 tional franchise under this section shall continue to 

22 provide any institutional network that it was re23 quired to provide on the day before its national fran24 chise became effective in such franchise area under 

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1 tion 621(b)(3)(D), a franchising authority may not 

2 require a cable operator franchised under this sec3 tion to construct a new institutional network. 

4 ‘‘(3) ADJUSTMENT.—Every 10 years after the 

5 commencement of a franchise under this section for 

6 a franchise area, a franchising authority may require 

7 a cable operator authorized under such franchise to 

8 increase the channel capacity designated for public, 

9 educational, or governmental use, and the channel 

10 capacity designated for such use on any institutional 

11 networks required under paragraph (2). Such in12 crease shall not exceed the higher of— 

13 ‘‘(A) one channel; or 

14 ‘‘(B) 10 percent of the public, educational, 

15 or governmental channel capacity required of 

16 that operator prior to the increase. 

17 ‘‘(4) TRANSMISSION AND PRODUCTION OF PRO18 GRAMMING.— 

19 ‘‘(A) A cable operator franchised under 

20 this section shall ensure that any public, edu21 cational, or governmental programming carried 

22 by the cable operator under this section within 

23 a franchise area is available to all of its sub24 scribers in such franchise area. 


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1 ‘‘(B) The production of any programming 

2 provided under this subsection shall be the re3 sponsibility of the franchising authority. 

4 ‘‘(C) A cable operator franchised under 

5 this section shall be responsible for the trans6 mission from the signal origination point (or 

7 points) of the programming, or from the point 

8 of interconnection with another cable operator 

9 under subparagraph (D), to the cable operator’s 

10 subscribers, of any public, educational, or gov11 ernmental programming produced by or for the 

12 franchising authority and carried by the cable 

13 operator pursuant to this section. 

14 ‘‘(D) Unless two cable operators otherwise 

15 agree to the terms for interconnection and cost 

16 sharing, such cable operators shall, if at least 

17 one of the operators is providing cable service 

18 in the franchise area pursuant to a franchise 

19 under this section, comply with regulations pre20 scribed by the Commission providing for— 

21 ‘‘(i) the interconnection between two 

22 cable operators in a franchise area for 

23 transmission of public, educational, or gov24 ernmental programming, without material 


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1 deterioration in signal quality or 

2 functionality; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) the reasonable allocation of the 

4 costs of such interconnection between such 

5 cable operators. 

6 ‘‘(E) A cable operator shall display the 

7 program information for public, educational, or 

8 governmental programming carried under this 

9 subsection in any print or electronic program 

10 guide in the same manner in which it displays 

11 program information for other video program12 ming in the franchise area. The cable operator 

13 shall not omit such public, educational, or gov14 ernmental programming from any navigational 

15 device, guide, or menu containing other video 

16 programming that is available to subscribers in 

17 the franchise area. 

18 ‘‘(f) RIGHTS-OF-WAY.— 

19 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO USE.—Any franchise under 

20 this section for a franchise area shall be construed 

21 to authorize the construction of a cable system over 

22 public rights-of-way, and through easements, which 

23 is within the area to be served by the cable system 

24 and which have been dedicated for compatible uses, 


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1 except that in using such easements the cable oper2 ator shall ensure that— 

3 ‘‘(A) the safety, functioning, and appear4 ance of the property and the convenience and 

5 the safety of other persons not be adversely af6 fected by the installation or construction of fa7 cilities necessary for a cable system; 

8 ‘‘(B) the cost of the installation, construc9 tion, operation, or removal of such facilities be 

10 borne by the cable operator or subscriber, or a 

11 combination of both; and 

12 ‘‘(C) the owner of the property be justly 

13 compensated by the cable operator for any dam14 ages caused by the installation, construction, 

15 operation, or removal of such facilities by the 

16 cable operator. 

17 ‘‘(2) MANAGEMENT OF PUBLIC RIGHTS-OF18 WAY.—Nothing in this section affects the authority 

19 of a State or local government (including a fran20 chising authority) over a person or group in their ca21 pacity as a cable operator with a franchise under 

22 this section to manage, on a reasonable, competi23 tively neutral, and non-discriminatory basis, the pub24 lic rights-of-way, and easements that have been dedi25 cated for compatible uses. A State or local governVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:27 Oct 01, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\H5252.RS H5252

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1 ment (including a franchising authority) may, on a 

2 reasonable, competitively neutral, and non-discrimi3 natory basis— 

4 ‘‘(A) impose charges for such management; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(B) require compliance with such man7 agement, such charges, and paragraphs (1)(A), 

8 (B), and (C). 

9 ‘‘(g) CONSUMER PROTECTION AND CUSTOMER SERV10 ICE.— 

11 ‘‘(1) NATIONAL STANDARDS.—Notwithstanding 

12 section 632(d), no State or local law (including any 

13 regulation) shall impose on a cable operator fran14 chised under this section any consumer protection or 

15 customer service requirements other than consumer 

16 protection or customer service requirements of gen17 eral applicability. 

18 ‘‘(2) PROCEEDING.—Within 120 days after the 

19 date of enactment of this section, the Commission 

20 shall issue a report and order that updates for cable 

21 operators franchised under this section the national 

22 consumer protection and customer service rules 

23 under section 632(b), taking into consideration the 

24 national nature of a franchise under this section and 

25 the role of State and local governments in enforcing, 


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1 but not creating, consumer protection and customer 

2 service standards for cable operators franchised 

3 under this section. 

4 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS OF NEW RULES.— 

5 ‘‘(A) Such rules shall, in addition to the 

6 requirements of section 632(b), address, with 

7 specificity, no less than the following consumer 

8 protection and customer service issues: 

9 ‘‘(i) Billing, billing disputes, and dis10 continuation of service, including when and 

11 how any late fees may be assessed (but not 

12 the amount of such fees). 

13 ‘‘(ii) Loss of service or service quality. 

14 ‘‘(iii) Changes in channel lineups or 

15 other cable services and features. 

16 ‘‘(iv) Availability of parental control 

17 options. 

18 ‘‘(B) The Commission’s revised consumer 

19 protection rules shall provide for forfeiture pen20 alties, or customer rebates, refunds or credits, 

21 or both, and shall establish forfeiture, rebate, 

22 refund, and credit guidelines with respect to 

23 violations of such rules. Such guidelines shall— 


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1 ‘‘(i) provide for increased forfeiture 

2 penalties for repeated violations of the 

3 standards in such rules; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) establish procedures by which 

5 any forfeiture penalty assessed by the 

6 Commission under this subsection shall be 

7 paid by the cable operator directly to the 

8 franchising authority affected by the viola9 tion. 

10 ‘‘(4) COMPLAINTS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any person may file a 

12 complaint with respect to an alleged violation of 

13 the Commission’s revised consumer protection 

14 rules in a franchise area by a cable operator 

15 franchised under this section— 

16 ‘‘(i) with the franchising authority in 

17 such area; or 

18 ‘‘(ii) with the Commission. 

19 ‘‘(B) LOCAL FRANCHISING AUTHORITY

20 PROCEDURE.—On its own motion or at the re21 quest of any person, a franchising authority for 

22 a franchise area may— 

23 ‘‘(i) initiate its own complaint pro24 ceeding with respect to such an alleged vio25 lation; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) file a complaint with the Com2 mission regarding such an alleged viola3 tion. 

4 ‘‘(C) TIMING.—The Commission or the 

5 franchising authority conducting a proceeding 

6 under this paragraph shall render a decision on 

7 any complaint filed under this paragraph within 

8 90 days of its filing. 

9 ‘‘(5) LOCAL FRANCHISING ORDERS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) REQUIRING COMPLIANCE.—In a pro11 ceeding commenced by a franchising authority, 

12 a franchising authority may issue an order re13 quiring compliance with the Commission’s re14 vised consumer protection rules, but a fran15 chising authority may not create any new 

16 standard or regulation, or expand upon or mod17 ify the Commission’s revised consumer protec18 tion rules. 

19 ‘‘(B) ACCESS TO RECORDS.—In such a 

20 proceeding, the franchising authority may issue 

21 an order requiring the filing of any data, docu22 ments, or records (including any contract, 

23 agreement, or arrangement between the sub24 scriber and the cable operator) that are directly 

25 related to the alleged violation. 


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1 ‘‘(C) COST OF FRANCHISING AUTHORITY

2 ORDERS.—A franchising authority may charge 

3 a cable operator franchised under this section a 

4 nominal fee to cover the costs of issuing orders 

5 under this paragraph. 

6 ‘‘(6) COMMISSION REMEDIES; APPEALS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) REMEDIES.—An order of a fran8 chising authority under this subsection shall be 

9 enforced by the Commission under this Act if— 

10 ‘‘(i) the order is not appealed to the 

11 Commission; 

12 ‘‘(ii) the Commission does not agree 

13 to grant review during the 30-day period 

14 described in subparagraph (B); or 

15 ‘‘(iii) the order is sustained on appeal 

16 by the Commission. 

17 ‘‘(B) APPEALS.—Any party may file a no18 tice of appeal of an order of a franchising au19 thority under this subsection with the Commis20 sion, and shall transmit a copy of such notice 

21 to the other parties to the franchising authority 

22 proceeding. Such appeal shall be deemed denied 

23 at the end of the 30-day period beginning on 

24 the date of the filing unless the Commission 


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1 agrees within such period to grant review of the 

2 appeal. 

3 ‘‘(C) TIMING.—After the filing of a notice 

4 of appeal under subparagraph (B), if such no5 tice is not denied by operation of such subpara6 graph, the Commission shall render a decision 

7 within 90 days of such filing. 

8 ‘‘(7) ANNUAL REPORT.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

10 after the date of enactment of this section, and 

11 annually thereafter, the Commission shall sub12 mit a report to the Committee on Energy and 

13 Commerce of the House of Representatives and 

14 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

15 Transportation of the Senate on the implemen16 tation of this subsection, including the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(i) The number of complaints filed 

19 with franchising authorities under clause 

20 (4)(A)(i). 

21 ‘‘(ii) Any trends concerning com22 plaints, such as increases in the number of 

23 particular types of complaints or in new 

24 types of complaints. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) The timeliness of the response 

2 of such franchising authorities and the re3 sults of the complaints filed with such 

4 franchising authorities, if not appealed to 

5 the Commission. 

6 ‘‘(iv) The number of complaints filed 

7 with the Commission under clause 

8 (4)(A)(ii). 

9 ‘‘(v) The number of appeals filed with 

10 the Commission under paragraph (6)(B) 

11 and the number of such appeals which the 

12 Commission agreed to hear. 

13 ‘‘(vi) The timeliness of the Commis14 sion’s responses to such complaints and 

15 appeals. 

16 ‘‘(vii) The results of such complaints 

17 and appeals filed with the Commission. 

18 ‘‘(B) SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION BY

19 FRANCHISING AUTHORITIES.—The Commission 

20 may request franchising authorities to submit 

21 information about the complaints filed with the 

22 franchising authorities under subparagraph 

23 (4)(A)(i), including the number of such com24 plaints and the timeliness of the response and 

25 the results of such complaints. 


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1 ‘‘(8) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this sub2 section, the term ‘Commission’s revised consumer 

3 protection rules’ means the national consumer pro4 tection and customer service rules under section 

5 632(b) as revised by the Commission pursuant to 

6 paragraph (2) of this subsection. 

7 ‘‘(h) ANTIDISCRIMINATION.— 

8 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—A cable operator with a 

9 national franchise under this section to provide cable 

10 service in a franchise area shall not deny access to 

11 its cable service to any group of potential residential 

12 cable service subscribers in such franchise area be13 cause of the income of that group. 

14 ‘‘(2) ENFORCEMENT.— 

15 ‘‘(A) COMPLAINT.—If a franchising au16 thority in a franchise area has reasonable cause 

17 to believe that a cable operator is in violation 

18 of this subsection with respect to such franchise 

19 area, the franchising authority may, after com20 plying with subparagraph (B), file a complaint 

21 with the Commission alleging such violation. 

22 ‘‘(B) NOTICE BY FRANCHISING AUTHOR23 ITY.—Before filing a complaint with the Com24 mission under subparagraph (A), a franchising 

25 authority— 


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1 ‘‘(i) shall give notice of each alleged 

2 violation to the cable operator; 

3 ‘‘(ii) shall provide a period of not less 

4 than 30 days for the cable operator to re5 spond to such allegations; and 

6 ‘‘(iii) during such period, may require 

7 the cable operator to submit a written re8 sponse stating the reasons why the oper9 ator has not violated this subsection. 

10 ‘‘(C) BIANNUAL REPORT.—A cable oper11 ator with a national franchise under this section 

12 for a franchise area, not later than 180 days 

13 after the effective date of such national fran14 chise, and biannually thereafter, shall submit a 

15 report to the Commission and the franchising 

16 authority in the franchise area— 

17 ‘‘(i) identifying the geographic areas 

18 in the franchise area where the cable oper19 ator offers cable service; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) describing the cable operator’s 

21 progress in extending cable service to other 

22 areas in the franchise area. 

23 ‘‘(D) NOTICE BY COMMISSION.—Upon re24 ceipt of a complaint under this paragraph alleg25 ing a violation of this subsection by a cable opVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:27 Oct 01, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\H5252.RS H5252

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1 erator, the Commission shall give notice of the 

2 complaint to the cable operator. 

3 ‘‘(E) INVESTIGATION.—In investigating a 

4 complaint under this paragraph, the Commis5 sion may require a cable operator to disclose to 

6 the Commission such information and docu7 ments as the Commission deems necessary to 

8 determine whether the cable operator is in com9 pliance with this subsection. The Commission 

10 shall maintain the confidentiality of any infor11 mation or document collected under this sub12 paragraph. 

13 ‘‘(F) DEADLINE FOR RESOLUTION OF

14 COMPLAINTS.—Not more than 60 days after 

15 the Commission receives a complaint under this 

16 paragraph, the Commission shall issue a deter17 mination with respect to each violation alleged 

18 in the complaint. 

19 ‘‘(G) DETERMINATION.—If the Commis20 sion determines (in response to a complaint 

21 under this paragraph or on its own initiative) 

22 that a cable operator with a franchise under 

23 this section to provide cable service in a fran24 chise area has denied access to its cable service 

25 to a group of potential residential cable service 


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1 subscribers in such franchise area because of 

2 the income of that group, the Commission shall 

3 ensure that the cable operator extends access to 

4 that group within a reasonable period of time. 

5 ‘‘(H) REMEDIES.— 

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—This subsection 

7 shall be enforced by the Commission under 

8 titles IV and V. 

9 ‘‘(ii) MAXIMUM FORFEITURE PEN10 ALTY.—For purposes of section 503, the 

11 maximum forfeiture penalty applicable to a 

12 violation of this subsection shall be 

13 $750,000 for each day of the violation. 

14 ‘‘(iii) PAYMENT OF PENALTIES TO

15 FRANCHISING AUTHORITY.—The Commis16 sion shall order any cable operator subject 

17 to a forfeiture penalty under this sub18 section to pay the penalty directly to the 

19 franchising authority involved. 

20 ‘‘(i) CHILD PORNOGRAPHY.—Not later than 180 

21 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Com22 mission shall promulgate regulations to require a cable op23 erator with a national franchise under this section to pre24 vent the distribution of child pornography (as such term 

25 is defined in section 254(h)(7)(F)) over its network. 


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1 ‘‘(j) LEASED ACCESS.—The provisions of section 

2 612(i) regarding the carriage of programming from a 

3 qualified minority programming source or from any quali4 fied educational programming source shall apply to a cable 

5 operator franchised under this section to provide cable 

6 service in a franchise area. 

7 ‘‘(k) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER PROVISIONS.—The 

8 provisions of this title that apply to a cable operator shall 

9 apply in a franchise area to a person or group with a na10 tional franchise under this section to provide cable service 

11 in such franchise area, except that the following sections 

12 shall not apply in a franchise area to a person or group 

13 franchised under this section in such franchise area, or 

14 confer any authority to regulate or impose obligations on 

15 such person or group in such franchise area: Sections 

16 611(a), 611(b), 611(c), 613(a), 617, 621 (other than sub17 sections (b)(3)(A), (b)(3)(B), (b)(3)(C), and (c)), 624(b), 

18 624(c), 624(h), 625, 626, 627, and 632(a). 

19 ‘‘(l) EMERGENCY ALERTS.—Nothing in this section 

20 shall be construed to prohibit a State or local government 

21 from accessing the emergency alert system of a cable oper22 ator with a franchise under this section in the area served 

23 by the State or local government to transmit local or re24 gional emergency alerts. 

25 ‘‘(m) REPORTING, RECORDS, AND AUDITS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) REPORTING.—A cable operator with a 

2 franchise under this section to provide cable service 

3 in a franchise area shall make such periodic reports 

4 to the Commission and the franchising authority for 

5 such franchise area as the Commission may require 

6 to verify compliance with the fee obligations of sub7 sections (c)(1) and (e)(2). 

8 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY OF BOOKS AND RECORDS.— 

9 Upon request under paragraph (3) by a franchising 

10 authority for a franchise area, and upon request by 

11 the Commission, a cable operator with a national 

12 franchise for such franchise area shall make avail13 able its books and records to periodic audit by such 

14 franchising authority or the Commission, respec15 tively. 

16 ‘‘(3) FRANCHISING AUTHORITY AUDIT PROCE17 DURE.—A franchising authority may, upon reason18 able written request, but no more than once in any 

19 12-month period, review the business records of such 

20 cable operator to the extent reasonably necessary to 

21 ensure payment of the fees required by subsections 

22 (c)(1) and (e)(2). Such review may include the meth23 odology used by such cable operator to assign por24 tions of the revenue from cable service that may be 

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1 ices, capabilities, or applications. Such review shall 

2 be conducted in accordance with procedures estab3 lished by the Commission. 

4 ‘‘(4) COST RECOVERY.— 

5 ‘‘(A) To the extent that the review under 

6 paragraph (3) identifies an underpayment of an 

7 amount meeting the minimum percentage speci8 fied in subparagraph (B) of the fee required 

9 under subsection (c)(1) or (e)(2) for the period 

10 of review, the cable operator shall reimburse the 

11 franchising authority the reasonable costs of 

12 any such review conducted by an independent 

13 third party, as determined by the Commission, 

14 with respect to such fee. The costs of any con15 tingency fee arrangement between the fran16 chising authority and the independent reviewer 

17 shall not be subject to reimbursement. 

18 ‘‘(B) The Commission shall determine by 

19 rule the minimum percentage underpayment 

20 that requires cost reimbursement under sub21 paragraph (A). 

22 ‘‘(5) LIMITATION.—Any fee that is not reviewed 

23 by a franchising authority within 3 years after it is 

24 paid or remitted shall not be subject to later review 

25 by the franchising authority under this subsection 


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1 and shall be deemed accepted in full payment by the 

2 franchising authority. 

3 ‘‘(6) FEE DISPUTE RESOLUTION.— 

4 ‘‘(A) COMPLAINT.—A franchising author5 ity or a cable operator may file a complaint at 

6 the Commission to resolve a dispute between 

7 such authority and operator with respect to the 

8 amount of any fee required under subsection 

9 (c)(1) or (e)(2) if— 

10 ‘‘(i) the franchising authority or the 

11 cable operator provides the other entity 

12 written notice of such dispute; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) the franchising authority and the 

14 cable operator have not resolved the dis15 pute within 90 calendar days after receipt 

16 of such notice. 

17 ‘‘(B) MEETINGS.—Within 30 calendar 

18 days after receipt of notice of a dispute pro19 vided pursuant to subparagraph (A)(i), rep20 resentatives of the franchising authority and 

21 the cable operator, with authority to resolve the 

22 dispute, shall meet to attempt to resolve the 

23 dispute. 

24 ‘‘(C) LIMITATION.—A complaint under 

25 subparagraph (A) shall be filed not later than 


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1 3 years after the end of the period to which the 

2 disputed amount relates, unless such time is ex3 tended by written agreement between the fran4 chising authority and cable operator. 

5 ‘‘(D) RESOLUTION.—The Commission 

6 shall issue an order resolving any complaint 

7 filed under subparagraph (A) within 90 days of 

8 filing. 

9 ‘‘(n) ACCESS TO PROGRAMMING FOR SHARED FA10 CILITIES.— 

11 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—A cable programming ven12 dor in which a cable operator has an attributable in13 terest shall not deny a cable operator with a national 

14 franchise under this section access to video program15 ming solely because such cable operator with a na16 tional franchise uses a headend for its cable system 

17 that is also used, under a shared ownership or leas18 ing agreement, as the headend for another cable sys19 tem. 

20 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—The term ‘cable program21 ming vendor’ means a person engaged in the produc22 tion, creation, or wholesale distribution for sale of 

23 video programming which is primarily intended for 

24 the direct receipt by cable operators for their re25 transmission to cable subscribers. 


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1 ‘‘(o) GROSS REVENUES.—As used in this section: 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2) 

3 and (3), the term ‘gross revenues’ means all consid4 eration of any kind or nature, including cash, cred5 its, property, and in-kind contributions (services or 

6 goods) received by the cable operator from the provi7 sion of cable service within the franchise area. 

8 ‘‘(2) INCLUDED ITEMS.—Subject to paragraph 

9 (3), the term ‘gross revenues’ shall include the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(A) all charges and fees paid by sub12 scribers for the provision of cable service, in13 cluding fees attributable to cable service when 

14 sold individually or as part of a package or bun15 dle, or functionally integrated, with services 

16 other than cable service; 

17 ‘‘(B) any franchise fee imposed on the 

18 cable operator that is passed on to subscribers; 

19 ‘‘(C) compensation received by the cable 

20 operator for promotion or exhibition of any 

21 products or services over the cable service, such 

22 as on ‘home shopping’ or similar programming; 

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1 gramming or other programming service on 

2 that operator’s cable service; 

3 ‘‘(E) all revenue derived from the cable op4 erator’s cable service pursuant to compensation 

5 arrangements for advertising; and 

6 ‘‘(F) any advertising commissions paid to 

7 an affiliated third party for cable services ad8 vertising. 

9 ‘‘(3) EXCLUDED ITEMS.—The term ‘gross reve10 nues’ shall not include the following: 

11 ‘‘(A) any revenue not actually received, 

12 even if billed, such as bad debt net of any re13 coveries of bad debt; 

14 ‘‘(B) refunds, rebates, credits, or discounts 

15 to subscribers or a municipality to the extent 

16 not already offset by subparagraph (A) and to 

17 the extent such refund, rebate, credit, or dis18 count is attributable to the cable service; 

19 ‘‘(C) subject to paragraph (4), any reve20 nues received by the cable operator or its affili21 ates from the provision of services or capabili22 ties other than cable service, including tele23 communications services, Internet access serv24 ices, and services, capabilities, and applications 

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1 dle, or functionally integrated, with cable serv2 ice; 

3 ‘‘(D) any revenues received by the cable 

4 operator or its affiliates for the provision of di5 rectory or Internet advertising, including yellow 

6 pages, white pages, banner advertisement, and 

7 electronic publishing; 

8 ‘‘(E) any amounts attributable to the pro9 vision of cable service to customers at no 

10 charge, including the provision of such service 

11 to public institutions without charge; 

12 ‘‘(F) any tax, fee, or assessment of general 

13 applicability imposed on the customer or the 

14 transaction by a Federal, State, or local govern15 ment or any other governmental entity, col16 lected by the provider, and required to be remit17 ted to the taxing entity, including sales and use 

18 taxes and utility user taxes; 

19 ‘‘(G) any forgone revenue from the provi20 sion of cable service at no charge to any person, 

21 except that any forgone revenue exchanged for 

22 trades, barters, services, or other items of value 

23 shall be included in gross revenue; 

24 ‘‘(H) sales of capital assets or surplus 

25 equipment; 


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1 ‘‘(I) reimbursement by programmers of 

2 marketing costs actually incurred by the cable 

3 operator for the introduction of new program4 ming; and 

5 ‘‘(J) the sale of cable services for resale to 

6 the extent the purchaser certifies in writing 

7 that it will resell the service and pay a franchise 

8 fee with respect thereto. 

9 ‘‘(4) FUNCTIONALLY INTEGRATED SERVICES.— 

10 In the case of a cable service that is bundled or inte11 grated functionally with other services, capabilities, 

12 or applications, the portion of the cable operator’s 

13 revenue attributable to such other services, capabili14 ties, or applications shall be included in gross rev15 enue unless the cable operator can reasonably iden16 tify the division or exclusion of such revenue from 

17 its books and records that are kept in the regular 

18 course of business. 

19 ‘‘(5) AFFILIATE REVENUE.—Revenue of an af20 filiate shall be included in the calculation of gross 

21 revenues to the extent the treatment of such revenue 

22 as revenue of the affiliate has the effect (whether in23 tentional or unintentional) of evading the payment 

24 of franchise fees which would otherwise be paid for 

25 cable service. 


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1 ‘‘(6) AFFECT ON OTHER LAW.—Nothing in this 

2 section is intended to limit a franchising authority’s 

3 rights pursuant to section 622(h). 

4 ‘‘(p) ADDITIONAL DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of 

5 this section: 

6 ‘‘(1) CABLE OPERATOR.—The term ‘cable oper7 ator’ has the meaning provided in section 602(5) ex8 cept that such term also includes a person or group 

9 with a national franchise under this section. 

10 ‘‘(2) FRANCHISE FEE.— 

11 ‘‘(A) The term ‘franchise fee’ includes any 

12 fee or assessment of any kind imposed by a 

13 franchising authority or other governmental en14 tity on a person or group providing cable serv15 ice in a franchise area under this section, or on 

16 a subscriber of such person or group, or both, 

17 solely because of their status as such. 

18 ‘‘(B) The term ‘franchise fee’ does not in19 clude— 

20 ‘‘(i) any tax, fee, or assessment of 

21 general applicability (including any such 

22 tax, fee, or assessment imposed on both 

23 utilities and a person or group providing 

24 cable service in a franchise area under this 

25 section (or the services of such person or 


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1 group) but not including a fee or assess2 ment which is unduly discriminatory 

3 against such person or group or the sub4 scribers of such person or group); 

5 ‘‘(ii) any fee assessed under sub6 section (e)(2) for support of public, edu7 cational, and governmental use and institu8 tional networks (as such term is defined in 

9 section 611(f)); 

10 ‘‘(iii) requirements or charges under 

11 subsection (f)(2) for the management of 

12 public rights-of-way, including payments 

13 for bonds, security funds, letters of credit, 

14 insurance, indemnification, penalties, or 

15 liquidated damages; or 

16 ‘‘(iv) any fee imposed under title 17, 

17 United States Code. 

18 ‘‘(3) INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE.—The term 

19 ‘Internet access service’ means a service that enables 

20 users to access content, information, electronic mail, 

21 or other services offered over the Internet. 

22 ‘‘(4) UNIT OF GENERAL LOCAL GOVERN23 MENT.—The term ‘unit of general local government’ 

24 means— 


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1 ‘‘(A) a county, township, city, or political 

2 subdivision of a county, township, or city; 

3 ‘‘(B) the District of Columbia; or 

4 ‘‘(C) the recognized governing body of an 

5 Indian tribe or Alaskan Native village that car6 ries out substantial governmental duties and 

7 powers.’’. 

8 (b) IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS.—The Federal 

9 Communications Commission shall prescribe regulations 

10 to implement the amendment made by subsection (a) with11 in 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 

12 SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS. 

13 Section 602 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

14 U.S.C. 522) is amended— 

15 (1) in paragraph (4), by inserting before the 

16 semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘, or its equiva17 lent as determined by the Commission’’; 

18 (2) in paragraph (5)(A), by inserting ‘‘(regard19 less of whether such person or group provides such 

20 service separately or combined with a telecommuni21 cations service or information service)’’ after ‘‘over 

22 a cable system’’; 

23 (3) by striking paragraph (6) and inserting the 

24 following: 

25 ‘‘(6) the term ‘cable service’ means— 


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1 ‘‘(A)(i) the one-way transmission to sub2 scribers of (I) video programming, or (II) other 

3 programming service; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) subscriber interaction, if any, which is 

5 required for the selection or use of such video 

6 programming or other programming service; or 

7 ‘‘(B) the transmission to subscribers of 

8 video programming or other programming serv9 ice provided through wireline facilities located 

10 at least in part in the public rights-of-way, 

11 without regard to delivery technology, including 

12 Internet protocol technology, except to the ex13 tent that such video programming or other pro14 gramming service is provided as part of— 

15 ‘‘(i) a commercial mobile service (as 

16 such term is defined in section 332(d)); or 

17 ‘‘(ii) an Internet access service (as 

18 such term is defined in section 630(p));’’; 

19 (4) in paragraph (7)(D), by inserting after 

20 ‘‘section 653 of this title’’ the following; ‘‘except in 

21 a franchise area in which such system is used to 

22 provide cable service under a national franchise pur23 suant to section 630’’; 

24 (5) in paragraph (9)— 

25 (A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘means’’; and 


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1 (B) by inserting before the semicolon at 

2 the end the following: ‘‘; and (B) a national 

3 franchise that is effective under section 630 on 

4 the basis of a certification with the Commis5 sion’’; and 

6 (6) in paragraph (10), by inserting before the 

7 semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘, but does not 

8 include the Commission with respect to a national 

9 franchise under section 630’’. 

10 SEC. 103. MONITORING AND REPORTING. 

11 (a) REPORT ON CABLE SERVICE DEPLOYMENT.— 

12 The Federal Communications Commission shall, com13 mencing not later than one year after the date of enact14 ment of this Act, issue a report annually on the deploy15 ment of cable service pursuant to the amendments made 

16 by this title. In its report, the Commission shall describe 

17 in detail— 

18 (1) with respect to deployment by new cable op19 erators— 

20 (A) the progress of deployment of such 

21 service within the telephone service area of 

22 cable operators, if the operator is also an in23 cumbent local exchange carrier, including a 

24 comparison with the progress of deployment of 


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1 broadband services not defined as cable services 

2 within such telephone service area; 

3 (B) the number of franchise areas in which 

4 such service is being deployed and offered; 

5 (C) where such service is not being de6 ployed and offered; and 

7 (D) the number and locations of franchise 

8 areas in which the cable operator is serving only 

9 a portion of the franchise area, and the extent 

10 of such service within the franchise area; 

11 (2) the number and locations of franchise areas 

12 in which a cable operator with a franchise under sec13 tion 621 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

14 U.S.C. 541) on the date of enactment of this Act 

15 withdraws service from any portion of the franchise 

16 area for which it previously offered service, and the 

17 extent of such withdrawal of service within the fran18 chise area; 

19 (3) the rates generally charged for cable service; 

20 (4) the rates charged by overlapping, competing 

21 multichannel video programming distributors and by 

22 competing cable operators for comparable service or 

23 cable service; 

24 (5) the average household income of those fran25 chise areas or portions of franchise areas where 


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1 cable services is being offered, and the average 

2 household income of those franchise areas, or por3 tions of franchise areas, where cable service is not 

4 being offered; 

5 (6) the proportion of rural households to urban 

6 households, as defined by the Bureau of the Census, 

7 in those franchise areas or portions of franchise 

8 areas where cable service is being offered, and the 

9 proportion of rural households to urban households 

10 in those franchise areas or portions of franchise 

11 areas where cable service is not being offered, in12 cluding a State-by-State breakdown of such data 

13 and a comparison with the overall ratio of rural and 

14 urban households in each State; and 

15 (7) a comparison of the services and rates in 

16 areas served by national franchisees under section 

17 630 of the Communications Act of 1934 (as added 

18 by section 101 of this Act) and the services and 

19 rates in other areas. 

20 (b) CABLE OPERATOR REPORTS.—The Federal Com21 munications Commission is authorized— 

22 (1) to require cable operators to report to the 

23 Commission all of the information that the Commis24 sion needs to compile the report required by this sec25 tion; and 


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1 (2) to require cable operators to file the same 

2 information with the relevant franchising authorities 

3 and State commissions. 

4 SEC. 104. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

5 Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 

6 Act shall affect the application or interpretation of section 

7 224 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 224). 

8 TITLE II—ENFORCEMENT OF 

9 BROADBAND POLICY STATE10 MENT 

11 SEC. 201. ENFORCEMENT OF BROADBAND POLICY STATE12 MENT. 

13 Title VII of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

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

15 following new section: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 715. ENFORCEMENT OF BROADBAND POLICY STATE17 MENT. 

18 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—The Commission shall have the 

19 authority to enforce the Commission’s broadband policy 

20 statement and the principles incorporated therein. 

21 ‘‘(b) ENFORCEMENT.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—This section shall be en23 forced by the Commission under titles IV and V. A 

24 violation of the Commission’s broadband policy 


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1 statement or the principles incorporated therein 

2 shall be treated as a violation of this Act. 

3 ‘‘(2) MAXIMUM FORFEITURE PENALTY.—For 

4 purposes of section 503, the maximum forfeiture 

5 penalty applicable to a violation described in para6 graph (1) of this subsection shall be $500,000 for 

7 each violation. 

8 ‘‘(3) ADJUDICATORY AUTHORITY.—The Com9 mission shall have exclusive authority to adjudicate 

10 any complaint alleging a violation of the broadband 

11 policy statement and the principles incorporated 

12 therein. The Commission shall complete an adjudica13 tory proceeding under this subsection not later than 

14 90 days after receipt of the complaint. If, upon com15 pletion of an adjudicatory proceeding pursuant to 

16 this section, the Commission determines that such a 

17 violation has occurred, the Commission shall have 

18 authority to adopt an order to require the entity 

19 subject to the complaint to comply with the 

20 broadband policy statement and the principles incor21 porated therein. Such authority shall be in addition 

22 to the authority specified in paragraph (1) to en23 force this section under titles IV and V. In addition, 

24 the Commission shall have authority to adopt proce25 dures for the adjudication of complaints alleging a 


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1 violation of the broadband policy statement or prin2 ciples incorporated therein. 

3 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding paragraph 

4 (1), the Commission’s authority to enforce the 

5 broadband policy statement and the principles incor6 porated therein does not include authorization for 

7 the Commission to adopt or implement rules or reg8 ulations regarding enforcement of the broadband 

9 policy statement and the principles incorporated 

10 therein, with the sole exception of the authority to 

11 adopt procedures for the adjudication of complaints, 

12 as provided in paragraph (3). 

13 ‘‘(c) STUDY.—Within 180 days after the date of en14 actment of this section, the Commission shall conduct, and 

15 submit to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce 

16 and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

17 Transportation, a study regarding whether the objectives 

18 of the broadband policy statement and the principles in19 corporated therein are being achieved. 

20 ‘‘(d)(1) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

21 section shall be construed to modify, impair, or supersede 

22 the applicability of the antitrust laws or the jurisdiction 

23 of the district courts of the United States to hear claims 

24 arising under the antitrust laws. 


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1 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION OF ANTITRUST LAWS.—The term 

2 ‘antitrust laws’ has the meaning given it in subsection (a) 

3 of the first section of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12(a)), 

4 except that such term includes section 5 of the Federal 

5 Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) to the extent that 

6 such section 5 applies to unfair methods of competition. 

7 ‘‘(e) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 

8 term ‘Commission’s broadband policy statement’ means 

9 the policy statement adopted on August 5, 2005, and 

10 issued on September 23, 2005, In the Matters of Appro11 priate Framework for Broadband Access to the Internet 

12 over Wireline Facilities, and other Matters (FCC 05–151; 

13 CC Docket No. 02–33; CC Docket No. 01–337; CC Dock14 et Nos. 95–20, 98–10; GN Docket No. 00–185; CS Dock15 et No. 02–52).’’. 

16 TITLE III—VOIP/911 

17 SEC. 301. EMERGENCY SERVICES; INTERCONNECTION. 

18 Title VII of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

19 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is further amended by adding after 

20 section 715 (as added by section 201 of this Act) the fol21 lowing new sections: 

22 ‘‘SEC. 716. EMERGENCY SERVICES. 

23 ‘‘(a) 911 AND E–911 SERVICES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each VOIP service pro2 vider has a duty to ensure that 911 and E–911 serv3 ices are provided to subscribers of VOIP services. 

4 ‘‘(2) USE OF EXISTING REGULATIONS.—A 

5 VOIP service provider that complies with the Com6 mission’s regulations requiring providers of VOIP 

7 service to supply 911 and E911 capabilities to their 

8 customers (Report and Order in WC Docket Nos. 

9 04–36 and 05–196) and that are in effect on the 

10 date of enactment of this section shall be considered 

11 to be in compliance with the requirements of this 

12 section, other than subsection (c), until such regula13 tions are modified or superseded by subsequent reg14 ulations. 

15 ‘‘(b) NON-DISCRIMINATORY ACCESS TO CAPABILI16 TIES.— 

17 ‘‘(1) ACCESS.—Each incumbent local exchange 

18 carrier (as such term is defined in section 251(h)) 

19 or government entity with ownership or control of 

20 the necessary E–911 infrastructure shall provide any 

21 requesting VOIP service provider with nondiscrim22 inatory access to such infrastructure. Such carrier 

23 or entity shall provide access to the infrastructure at 

24 just and reasonable, nondiscriminatory rates, terms, 

25 and conditions. Such access shall be consistent with 


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1 industry standards established by the National 

2 Emergency Number Association or other applicable 

3 industry standards organizations. 

4 ‘‘(2) ENFORCEMENT.—The Commission or a 

5 State commission may enforce the requirements of 

6 this subsection and the Commission’s regulations 

7 thereunder. A VOIP service provider may obtain ac8 cess to such infrastructure pursuant to section 717 

9 by asserting the rights described in such section. 

10 ‘‘(c) NEW CUSTOMERS.—A VOIP service provider 

11 shall make 911 service available to new customers within 

12 a reasonable time in accordance with the following require13 ments: 

14 ‘‘(1) CONNECTION TO SELECTIVE ROUTER.— 

15 For all new customers not within the geographic 

16 areas where a VOIP service provider can imme17 diately provide 911 service to the geographically ap18 propriate PSAP, a VOIP service provider, or its 

19 third party vendor, shall have no more than 30 days 

20 from the date the VOIP provider has acquired a cus21 tomer to order service providing connectivity to the 

22 selective router so that 911 service, or E911 service 

23 where the PSAP is capable of receiving and proc24 essing such information, can be provided through 

25 the selective router. 


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1 ‘‘(2) INTERIM SERVICE.—For all new customers 

2 not within the geographic areas where the VOIP 

3 service provider can immediately provide 911 service 

4 to the geographically appropriate PSAP, a VOIP 

5 service provider shall provide 911 service through— 

6 ‘‘(A) an arrangement mutually agreed to 

7 by the VOIP service provider and the PSAP or 

8 PSAP governing authority; or 

9 ‘‘(B) an emergency response center with 

10 national call routing capabilities. 

11 Such service shall be provided 24 hours a day from 

12 the date a VOIP service provider has acquired a cus13 tomer until the VOIP service provider can provide 

14 911 service to the geographically appropriate PSAP. 

15 ‘‘(3) NOTICE.—Before providing service to any 

16 new customer not within the geographic areas where 

17 the VOIP service provider can immediately provide 

18 911 service to the geographically appropriate PSAP, 

19 a VOIP service provider shall provide such customer 

20 with clear notice that 911 service will be available 

21 only as described in paragraph (2). 

22 ‘‘(4) RESTRICTION ON ACQUISITION OF NEW

23 CUSTOMERS.—A VOIP service provider may not ac24 quire new customers within a geographic area served 

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1 quiring a new customer in the area served by the se2 lective router, the VOIP service provider does not 

3 provide 911 service, or E911 service where the 

4 PSAP is capable of receiving and processing such in5 formation, to the geographically appropriate PSAP 

6 for all existing customers served by the selective 

7 router. 

8 ‘‘(5) ENFORCEMENT: NO FIRST WARNINGS.— 

9 Paragraph (5) of section 503(b) shall not apply to 

10 the assessment of forfeiture penalties for violations 

11 of this subsection or the regulations thereunder. 

12 ‘‘(d) STATE AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this Act or any 

13 Commission regulation or order shall prevent the imposi14 tion on or collection from a VOIP service provider, of any 

15 fee or charge specifically designated or presented as dedi16 cated by a State, political subdivision thereof, or Indian 

17 tribe on an equitable, and non-discriminatory basis for the 

18 support of 911 and E–911 services if no portion of the 

19 revenue derived from such fee or charge is obligated or 

20 expended for any purpose other than support of 911 and 

21 E–911 services or enhancements of such services. 

22 ‘‘(e) FEASIBILITY.—In establishing requirements or 

23 obligations under subsections (a) and (b), the Commission 

24 shall ensure that such standards impose requirements or 

25 obligations on VOIP service providers and entities with 


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1 ownership or control of necessary E–911 infrastructure 

2 that the Commission determines are technologically and 

3 operationally feasible. In determining the requirements 

4 and obligations that are technologically and operationally 

5 feasible, the Commission shall take into consideration 

6 available industry technological and operational standards. 

7 ‘‘(f) PROGRESS REPORTS.—To the extent that the 

8 Commission concludes that it is not technologically or 

9 operationally feasible for VOIP service providers to comply 

10 with E–911 requirements or obligations, then the Com11 mission shall submit reports to the Committee on Energy 

12 and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the 

13 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

14 the Senate on the progress in attaining and deploying E– 

15 911 service. Such reports shall be submitted semiannually 

16 until the Commission concludes that it is technologically 

17 and operationally feasible for all VOIP service providers 

18 to comply with E–911 requirements and obligations. Such 

19 reports may include any recommendations the Commission 

20 considers appropriate to encourage the migration of emer21 gency services to TCP/IP protocol or other advanced serv22 ices. 

23 ‘‘(g) ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—The Commission 

24 shall have the authority to compile a list of PSAP contact 

25 information, testing procedures, and classes and types of 


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1 services supported by PSAPs, or other information con2 cerning the necessary E–911 infrastructure, for the pur3 pose of assisting providers in complying with the require4 ments of this section. 

5 ‘‘(h) EMERGENCY ROUTING NUMBER ADMINIS6 TRATOR.—Within 30 days after the date of enactment of 

7 this section, the Federal Communications Commission 

8 shall establish an emergency routing number adminis9 trator to enable VOIP service providers to acquire non10 dialable pseudo-automatic number identification numbers 

11 for 9–1-1 routing purposes on a national scale. The Com12 mission may adopt such rules and practices as are nec13 essary to guide such administrator in the fair and expedi14 tious assignment of these numbers. 

15 ‘‘(i) EMERGENCY RESPONSE SYSTEMS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) NOTICE PRIOR TO INSTALLATION OR NUM17 BER ACTIVATION OF VOIP SERVICE.—Prior to instal18 lation or number activation of VOIP service for a 

19 customer, a VOIP service provider shall provide 

20 clear and conspicuous notice to the customer that— 

21 ‘‘(A) such customer should arrange with 

22 his or her emergency response system provider, 

23 if any, to test such system after installation; 


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1 ‘‘(B) such customer should notify his or 

2 her emergency response system provider after 

3 VOIP service is installed; and 

4 ‘‘(C) a battery backup is required for cus5 tomer premises equipment installed in connec6 tion with the VOIP service in order for the sig7 naling of such system to function in the event 

8 of a power outage. 

9 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—In this subsection: 

10 ‘‘(A) The term ‘emergency response sys11 tem’ means an alarm or security system, or per12 sonal security or medical monitoring system, 

13 that is connected to an emergency response cen14 ter by means of a telecommunications carrier or 

15 VOIP service provider. 

16 ‘‘(B) The term ‘emergency response center’ 

17 means an entity that monitors transmissions 

18 from an emergency response system. 

19 ‘‘(j) MIGRATION TO IP-ENABLED EMERGENCY NET20 WORK.— 

21 ‘‘(1) NATIONAL REPORT.—No more than 18 

22 months after the date of the enactment of this sec23 tion, the National 911 Implementation and Coordi24 nation Office shall develop a report to Congress on 

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1 work capable of receiving and responding to all cit2 izen activated emergency communications. 

3 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report re4 quired by paragraph (1) shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) outline the potential benefits of such 

6 a migration; 

7 ‘‘(B) identify barriers that must be over8 come and funding mechanisms to address those 

9 barriers; 

10 ‘‘(C) include a proposed timetable, an out11 line of costs and potential savings; 

12 ‘‘(D) provide recommendations on specific 

13 legislative language, 

14 ‘‘(E) provide recommendations on any leg15 islative changes, including updating definitions, 

16 to facilitate a national IP-enabled emergency 

17 network; and 

18 ‘‘(F) assess, collect, and analyze the expe19 riences of the PSAPs and related public safety 

20 authorities who are conducting trial deploy21 ments of IP-enabled emergency networks as of 

22 the date of enactment of this section. 

23 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION.—In developing the report 

24 required by paragraph (1), the Office shall consult 

25 with representatives of the public safety community, 


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1 technology and telecommunications providers, and 

2 others it deems appropriate. 

3 ‘‘(k) IMPLEMENTATION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) DEADLINE.—The Commission shall pre5 scribe regulations to implement this section within 

6 120 days after the date of enactment of this section. 

7 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this section 

8 shall be construed to permit the Commission to issue 

9 regulations that require or impose a specific tech10 nology or technological standard. 

11 ‘‘(l) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

12 ‘‘(1) VOIP SERVICE.—The term ‘VOIP service’ 

13 means a service that— 

14 ‘‘(A) provides real-time 2-way voice com15 munications transmitted through customer 

16 premises equipment using TCP/IP protocol, or 

17 a successor protocol (including when the voice 

18 communication is converted to or from TCP/IP 

19 protocol by the VOIP service provider and 

20 transmitted to the subscriber without use of cir21 cuit switching), for a fee or without a fee; 

22 ‘‘(B) is offered to the public, or such class23 es of users as to be effectively available to the 

24 public (whether part of a bundle of services or 

25 separately); and 


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1 ‘‘(C) has the capability so that the service 

2 can originate traffic to, and terminate traffic 

3 from, the public switched telephone network. 

4 ‘‘(2) VOIP SERVICE PROVIDER.—The term 

5 ‘VOIP service provider’ means any person who pro6 vides or offers to provide a VOIP service. 

7 ‘‘(3) NECESSARY E–911 INFRASTRUCTURE.— 

8 The term ‘necessary E–911 infrastructure’ means 

9 the originating trucks to the selective routers, selec10 tive routers, databases (including automatic location 

11 information databases and master street address 

12 guides), trunks, or other related facilities necessary 

13 for the delivery and completion of 911 and E–911 

14 calls, or other 911 and E–911 equipment, facilities, 

15 databases, interfaces, and related capabilities speci16 fied by the Commission. 

17 ‘‘(4) NON-DIALABLE PSEUDO-AUTOMATIC NUM18 BER IDENTIFICATION NUMBER.—The term ‘non19 dialable pseudo-automatic number identification 

20 number’ means a number, consisting of the same 

21 number of digits as numbers used for automatic 

22 number identification, that is not a North American 

23 Numbering Plan telephone directory number and 

24 that may be used in place of an automatic number 

25 identification number to convey special meaning. 


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1 The special meaning assigned to the non-dialable 

2 pseudo-automatic number identification number is 

3 determined by nationally standard agreements, or by 

4 individual agreements, as necessary, between the 

5 system originating the call, intermediate systems 

6 handling and routing the call, and the destination 

7 system. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 717. RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF VOIP SERVICE 

9 PROVIDERS. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

11 ‘‘(1) FACILITIES-BASED VOIP SERVICE PRO12 VIDERS.—A facilities-based VOIP service provider 

13 shall have the same rights, duties, and obligations as 

14 a requesting telecommunications carrier under sec15 tions 251 and 252, if the provider elects to assert 

16 such rights. 

17 ‘‘(2) VOIP SERVICE PROVIDERS.—A VOIP serv18 ice provider that is not a facilities-based VOIP serv19 ice provider shall have only the same rights, duties, 

20 and obligations as a requesting telecommunications 

21 carrier under sections 251(b), 251(e), and 252, if 

22 the provider elects to assert such rights. 

23 ‘‘(3) CLARIFYING TREATMENT OF VOIP SERV24 ICE.—A telecommunications carrier may use inter25 connection, services, and network elements obtained 


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1 pursuant to sections 251 and 252 from an incum2 bent local exchange carrier (as such term is defined 

3 in section 251(h)) to exchange VOIP service traffic 

4 with such incumbent local exchange carrier regard5 less of the provider originating such VOIP service 

6 traffic, including an affiliate of such telecommuni7 cations carrier. 

8 ‘‘(b) DISABLED ACCESS.—A VOIP service provider 

9 or a manufacturer of VOIP service equipment shall have 

10 the same rights, duties, and obligations as a telecommuni11 cations carrier or telecommunications equipment manufac12 turer, respectively, under sections 225, 255, and 710 of 

13 the Act. Within 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

14 Act, the Commission, in consultation with the Architec15 tural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, 

16 shall prescribe such regulations as are necessary to imple17 ment this section. In implementing this subsection, the 

18 Commission shall consider whether a VOIP service pro19 vider or manufacturer of VOIP service equipment pri20 marily markets such service or equipment as a substitute 

21 for telecommunications service, telecommunications equip22 ment, customer premises equipment, or telecommuni23 cations relay services. 

24 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 


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1 ‘‘(1) FACILITIES-BASED VOIP SERVICE PRO2 VIDER.—The term ‘facilities-based VOIP service 

3 provider’ means an entity that provides VOIP serv4 ice over a physical facility that terminates at the end 

5 user’s location and which such entity or an affiliate 

6 owns or over which such entity or affiliate has exclu7 sive use. An entity or affiliate shall be considered a 

8 facilities-based VOIP service provider only in those 

9 geographic areas where such terminating physical 

10 facilities are located. 

11 ‘‘(2) VOIP SERVICE PROVIDER; VOIP SERVICE.— 

12 The terms ‘VOIP service provider’ and ‘VOIP serv13 ice’ have the meanings given such terms by section 

14 716(l).’’. 

15 SEC. 302. COMPENSATION AND CONTRIBUTION. 

16 (a) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

17 (including the amendments made by this Act) shall be con18 strued to exempt a VOIP service provider from require19 ments imposed by the Federal Communications Commis20 sion or a State commission on all VOIP service providers 

21 to— 

22 (1) pay appropriate compensation for the trans23 mission of a VOIP service over the facilities and 

24 equipment of another provider; or 


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1 (2) contribute on an equitable and non-discrimi2 natory basis to the preservation and advancement 

3 of universal service. 

4 (b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 

5 (1) the terms ‘‘VOIP service provider’’ and 

6 ‘‘VOIP service’’ have the meanings given such terms 

7 in section 716(h) of the Communications Act of 

8 1934, as added by section 301 of this Act; and 

9 (2) the term ‘‘State commission’’ has the mean10 ing given such term in section 3 of the Communica11 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153). 

12 TITLE IV—MUNICIPAL 

13 PROVISION OF SERVICES 

14 SEC. 401. GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE SERV15 ICES. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Neither the Communications Act 

17 of 1934 nor any State statute, regulation, or other State 

18 legal requirement may prohibit or have the effect of pro19 hibiting any public provider of telecommunications service, 

20 information service, or cable service (as such terms are 

21 defined in sections 3 and 602 of such Act) from providing 

22 such services to any person or entity. 

23 (b) COMPETITION NEUTRALITY.—Any State or polit24 ical subdivision thereof, or any agency, authority, or in25 strumentality of a State or political subdivision thereof, 


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1 that is, owns, controls, or is otherwise affiliated with a 

2 public provider of telecommunications service, information 

3 service, or cable service shall not grant any preference or 

4 advantage to any such provider. Such entity shall apply 

5 its ordinances, rules, and policies, including those relating 

6 to the use of public rights-of-way, permitting, performance 

7 bonding, and reporting without discrimination in favor of 

8 any such provider as compared to other providers of such 

9 services. 

10 (c) COMPLIANCE WITH OTHER LAWS NOT AF11 FECTED.—Nothing in this section shall exempt a public 

12 provider from any law or regulation that applies to pro13 viders of telecommunications service, information service, 

14 or cable service. 

15 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

16 of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Communications 

17 Commission shall submit to the Congress a report on the 

18 status of the provision of telecommunications service, in19 formation service, and cable service by States and political 

20 subdivisions thereof. 

21 (e) DEFINITION OF PUBLIC PROVIDER.—For pur22 poses of this section, the term ‘‘public provider’’ means 

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1 formation service, or cable service, or any entity that is 

2 owned, controlled, or is otherwise affiliated with such 

3 State or political subdivision thereof, or agency, authority, 

4 or instrumentality of a State or political subdivision there5 of. 

6 TITLE V—BROADBAND SERVICE 

7 SEC. 501. STAND-ALONE BROADBAND SERVICE. 

8 Title VII of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

9 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is further amended by adding after 

10 section 717 (as added by section 301 of this Act) the fol11 lowing new section: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 718. STAND-ALONE BROADBAND SERVICE. 

13 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—A broadband service provider 

14 shall not require a subscriber, as a condition on the pur15 chase of any broadband service the provider offers, to pur16 chase any cable service, telecommunications service, or 

17 VOIP service offered by the provider. 

18 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 ‘‘(1) The term ‘broadband service’ means a two20 way transmission service that connects to the Inter21 net and transmits information at an average rate of 

22 at least 200 kilobits per second in at least one direc23 tion. 

24 ‘‘(2) The term ‘broadband service provider’ 

25 means a person or entity that controls, operates, or 


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1 resells and controls any facility used to provide 

2 broadband service to the public, by whatever tech3 nology and whether provided for a fee, in exchange 

4 for an explicit benefit, or for free. 

5 ‘‘(3) The term ‘VOIP service’ has the meaning 

6 given such term by section 716(l).’’. 

7 SEC. 502. STUDY OF INTERFERENCE POTENTIAL OF 

8 BROADBAND OVER POWER LINE SYSTEMS. 

9 Within 90 days after the date of enactment of this 

10 Act, the Federal Communications Commission shall con11 duct, 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 study of the interference potential of broadband over 

15 power line systems. 

16 TITLE VI—SEAMLESS MOBILITY 

17 SEC. 601. DEVELOPMENT OF SEAMLESS MOBILITY. 

18 (a) STREAMLINED REVIEW.— 

19 (1) The Commission shall further the develop20 ment of seamless mobility. 

21 (2) Within 120 days after the date of enact22 ment of this Act, the Commission shall implement a 

23 process for streamlined review and authorization of 

24 multi-mode devices that permit communication 


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1 across multiple Internet protocol-enabled broadband 

2 platforms, facilities, and networks. 

3 (b) STUDY.—The Commission shall undertake an in4 quiry to identify barriers to the achievement of seamless 

5 mobility. Within 180 days after the date of enactment of 

6 this Act, the Commission shall report to the Congress on 

7 its findings and its recommendations for steps to eliminate 

8 those barriers. 

9 (c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

10 term ‘‘seamless mobility’’ means the ability of a commu11 nications device to select between and utilize multiple 

12 Internet protocol-enabled technology platforms, facilities, 

13 and networks in a real-time manner to provide a unified 

14 service. 

15 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

16 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Advanced Telecommuni17 cations and Opportunities Reform Act’’ or the ‘‘Commu18 nications Act of 2006’’. 

19 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934. 

20 Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 

21 this title an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of 

22 an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, 

23 the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or 

24 other provision of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

25 U.S.C. 151 et seq.). 


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1 SEC. 3. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Amendment of Communications Act of 1934. 

Sec. 3. Table of contents. 

TITLE I—WAR ON TERRORISM 

Subtitle A—Call Home 

Sec. 101. Telephone rates for members of armed forces deployed abroad. 

Sec. 102. Repeal of existing authorization. 

Subtitle B—Interoperability 

Sec. 151. Interoperable emergency communications. 

Sec. 152. Transfer of Public Safety Grant Program to the Department of Homeland Security. 

Sec. 153. Public safety interoperable communications grants. 

Sec. 154. Eligibility of IP-enabled services. 

TITLE II—UNIVERSAL SERVICE REFORM; INTERCONNECTION 

Sec. 201. Short title. 

Subtitle A—Contributions to Universal Service 

Sec. 211. Stabilization of universal service funding. 

Sec. 212. Modification of rural video service exemption. 

Sec. 213. Interconnection. 

Sec. 214. Treatment of substitute services under section 254(g). 

Subtitle B—Distributions from Universal Service 

Sec. 251. Encouraging broadband deployment. 

Sec. 252. Establishment of broadband program. 

Sec. 253. Competitive neutrality principle. 

Sec. 254. Transition rules for modifications adversely affecting carriers. 

Sec. 255. Eligibility guidelines. 

Sec. 256. Primary line. 

Sec. 257. Phantom traffic. 

Sec. 258. Random audits. 

Sec. 259. Integrity and accountability. 

Sec. 260. Improving effectiveness of rural health care support mechanism. 

Sec. 261. Communications services for libraries. 

Sec. 262. USF support for insular areas. 

TITLE III—STREAMLINING THE FRANCHISING PROCESS 

Sec. 301. Short title. 

Subtitle A—Updating the 1934 Act and Leveling the Regulatory Playing Field 

Sec. 311. Application of title VI to video services and video service providers. 

Sec. 312. Franchise applications; scope. 

Sec. 313. Standard franchise application form. 

Sec. 314. Definitions. 


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Sec. 315. Family tier study. 

Sec. 316. Notice of inquiry on violent programming. 

Subtitle B—Streamlining the Provision of Video Services 

Sec. 331. Franchise requirements and related provisions. 

Sec. 332. Renewal; revocation. 

Sec. 333. PEG and institutional network obligations. 

Sec. 334. Services, facilities, and equipment. 

Sec. 335. Shared facilities. 

Sec. 336. Consumer protection and customer service. 

Sec. 337. Redlining. 

Sec. 338. Application of section 503(b). 

Sec. 339. Application of title VII cable provisions to video services. 

Sec. 340. Children’s Television Act amendment. 

Subtitle C—Miscellaneous and Conforming Amendments 

Sec. 351. Miscellaneous amendments. 

Subtitle D—Effective Dates and Transition Rules 

Sec. 381. Effective dates; phase-in. 

TITLE IV—VIDEO CONTENT 

Subtitle A—National Satellite 

Sec. 401. Availability of certain licensed services in noncontiguous States. 

Subtitle B—Video and Audio Flag 

Sec. 451. Short title. 

Sec. 452. Protection of digital broadcast video content. 

Sec. 453. Protection of digital audio broadcasting content. 

Sec. 454. Digital Audio Review Board. 

TITLE V—MUNICIPAL BROADBAND 

Sec. 501. Short title. 

Sec. 502. State regulation of municipal broadband networks. 

TITLE VI—WIRELESS INNOVATION NETWORKS 

Sec. 601. Short title. 

Sec. 602. Eligible television spectrum made available for wireless use. 

TITLE VII—DIGITAL TELEVISION 

Sec. 701. Analog and digital television sets and converter boxes; consumer education and requirements to reduce the government cost of the 

converter box program. 

Sec. 702. Digital stream requirement for the blind. 

Sec. 703. Status of international coordination. 

Sec. 704. Certain border stations. 

TITLE VIII—PROTECTING CHILDREN 

Sec. 801. Video transmission of child pornography. 

Sec. 802. Additional child pornography amendments. 


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Sec. 803. Prevention of interactivity with commercial matter during children’s 

programming. 

Sec. 804. FCC study of bus-casting. 

TITLE IX—INTERNET CONSUMER BILL OF RIGHTS ACT 

Sec. 901. Short title. 

Sec. 902. Findings. 

Sec. 903. Consumer Internet bill of rights. 

Sec. 904. Application of the First Amendment. 

Sec. 905. Stand-alone Internet service shall be offered to the public. 

Sec. 906. Network security, worms, viruses, denial of service, parental controls, 

and blocking child pornography. 

Sec. 907. Enforcement. 

Sec. 908. Commission prohibited from issuing regulations. 

Sec. 909. FCC review. 

Sec. 910. Exceptions. 

Sec. 911. FCC to revisit broadband speeds. 

Sec. 912. Protection of emergency communications. 

Sec. 913. Definitions. 

TITLE X—MISCELLANEOUS 

Sec. 1001. Commissioner participation in forums and meetings. 

Sec. 1002. Office of Indian Affairs. 

Sec. 1003. Office of Consumer Advocate. 

Sec. 1004. Data on local competition in different product markets. 

Sec. 1005. Improved enforcement options. 

Sec. 1006. Mobile services term and conditions. 

Sec. 1007. Severability. 

Sec. 1008. Clarification of certain jurisdictional issues. 

Sec. 1009. FCC to issue a further notice of proposed rulemaking before changing 

broadcast media ownership rules. 

Sec. 1010. Diversity in media ownership. 

Sec. 1011. Broadband reporting requirements. 

Sec. 1012. Application of one-year restrictions to certain positions. 

Sec. 1013. Internet Tax Freedom Act Amendment. 

Sec. 1014. Status of E–911 Implementation and Coordination Office. 

Sec. 1015. Federal Communications Commission telemedicine report. 

Sec. 1016. Federal information and communications technology research. 

Sec. 1017. Forbearance. 

Sec. 1018. Deadline for certain Commission proceedings. 

TITLE XI—LOCAL COMMUNITY RADIO ACT 

Sec. 1101. Short title. 

Sec. 1102. Repeal of prior law. 

Sec. 1103. Minimum distance separation requirements. 

Sec. 1104. Protection of radio reading services. 

Sec. 1105. Ensuring availability of spectrum for LPFM stations. 

Sec. 1106. Federal Communications Commission rules. 

TITLE XII—CELL PHONE TAX MORATORIUM 

Sec. 1201. Short title. 

Sec. 1202. Moratorium. 


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TITLE XIII—TRUTH IN CALLER ID 

Sec. 1301. Short title. 

Sec. 1302. Prohibition regarding manipulation of caller identification information. 

TITLE XIV—RURAL WIRELESS AND BROADBAND SERVICE 

Sec. 1401. Short title. 

Sec. 1402. Small geographic licensing areas. 

Sec. 1403. Report on the impact of secondary market transactions. 

Sec. 1404. Radio spectrum review. 

Sec. 1405. 700 MHz license areas. 

Sec. 1406. No interference with DTV transition. 

Sec. 1407. Effective date. 

1 TITLE I—WAR ON TERRORISM 

2 Subtitle A—Call Home 

3 SEC. 101. TELEPHONE RATES FOR MEMBERS OF ARMED 

4 FORCES DEPLOYED ABROAD. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Communications Com6 mission shall take such action as may be necessary to reduce 

7 the cost of calling home for Armed Forces personnel who 

8 are stationed outside the United States under official mili9 tary orders or deployed outside the United States in support 

10 of military operations, training exercises, or other purposes 

11 as approved by the Secretary of Defense, including the re12 duction of such costs through the waiver of government fees, 

13 assessments, or other charges for such calls. The Commission 

14 may not regulate rates in order to carry out this section. 

15 (b) FACTORS TO CONSIDER.—In taking the action de16 scribed in subsection (a), the Commission, in coordination 

17 with the Department of Defense and the Department of 

18 State, shall— 


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1 (1) evaluate and analyze the costs to Armed 

2 Forces personnel of such telephone calls to and from 

3 military bases abroad; 

4 (2) evaluate methods of reducing the rates im5 posed on such calls, including deployment of new 

6 technology such as voice over Internet protocol or suc7 cessor protocol technology; 

8 (3) encourage providers of telecommunications to 

9 adopt flexible billing procedures and policies for 

10 Armed Forces personnel and their dependents for tele11 phone calls to and from such Armed Forces personnel; 

12 and 

13 (4) seek agreements with foreign governments to 

14 reduce international surcharges on such telephone 

15 calls. 

16 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 (1) ARMED FORCES.—The term ‘‘Armed Forces’’ 

18 has the meaning given that term by section 2101(2) 

19 of title 5, United States Code. 

20 (2) MILITARY BASE.—The term ‘‘military base’’ 

21 includes official duty stations, including vessels, 

22 whether such vessels are in port or underway outside 

23 of the United States. 


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1 SEC. 102. REPEAL OF EXISTING AUTHORIZATION. 

2 Section 213 of the Telecommunications Authorization 

3 Act of 1992 (47 U.S.C. 201 note) is repealed. 

4 Subtitle B—Interoperability 

5 SEC. 151. INTEROPERABLE EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3006 of Public Law 109– 

7 171 (47 U.S.C. 309 note) is amended by redesignating sub8 section (d) as subsection (i) and by inserting after sub9 section (c) the following: 

10 ‘‘(d) INTEROPERABLE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM

11 EQUIPMENT DEPLOYMENT.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

13 Security shall allocate at least 25 percent of the funds 

14 made available to carry out this section to make 

15 interoperable communications system equipment 

16 grants for equipment that can utilize, or enable inter17 operability with systems or networks that can utilize, 

18 reallocated public safety spectrum. 

19 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—The Secretary 

20 shall allocate— 

21 ‘‘(A) a majority of the amounts allocated 

22 under paragraph (1) for distribution to public 

23 safety agencies based on the threat and risk fac24 tors used by the Secretary for the purposes of al25 locating discretionary grants under the heading 

26 ‘OFFICE FOR DOMESTIC PREPAREDNESS, STATE


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1 AND LOCAL PROGRAMS’ in the Department of 

2 Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2006; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(B) the remainder equally to each State for 

5 distribution by the States to public safety agen6 cies. 

7 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY.—A State may not receive 

8 funds allocated to it under paragraph (2) unless it 

9 has established a statewide interoperable communica10 tions plan approved by the Secretary. 

11 ‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.—A public safety agency 

12 shall use any funds received under this subsection for 

13 the purchase of interoperable communications system 

14 equipment and infrastructure that is consistent with 

15 SAFECOM guidance, including any standards that 

16 may be referenced by SAFECOM guidance, and inter17 operable communications system equipment and in18 frastructure that improves interoperability that uses 

19 Internet protocol or any successor protocol. 

20 ‘‘(e) COORDINATION, PLANNING, AND TRAINING GRANT

21 INITIATIVE.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

23 Security shall allocate at least 25 percent of the funds 

24 made available to carry out this section for interoper25 able emergency communications coordination, planVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:27 Oct 01, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00075 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5252.RS H5252

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1 ning, and training grants. The grants shall supple2 ment, and be in addition to, any Federal funds other3 wise made available by grant or otherwise to the 

4 States for emergency coordination, planning, or 

5 training. 

6 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION.—The Secretary shall allo7 cate— 

8 ‘‘(A) a majority of the amounts allocated 

9 under paragraph (1) for distribution to the 

10 States based on the threat and risk factors used 

11 by the Secretary for the purposes of allocating 

12 discretionary grants under the heading ‘‘OFFICE

13 FOR DOMESTIC PREPAREDNESS, STATE AND

14 LOCAL PROGRAMS’’ in the Department of Home15 land Security Appropriations Act, 2006; and 

16 ‘‘(B) the remainder equally to each State for 

17 distribution to public safety agencies. 

18 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION, PLANNING, AND TRAINING

19 GUIDELINES.—A State shall use its emergency com20 munication coordination, planning, and training 

21 grant to establish a statewide plan consistent with the 

22 State communications interoperability planning 

23 methodology developed by the SAFECOM program 

24 within the Department of Homeland Security or a re25 gional plan established by a regional planning agency 


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1 consistent with this section and to establish training 

2 programs designed to ensure effective implementation 

3 of coordination and interoperability plans. In estab4 lishing the statewide plan, the Governor or the Gov5 ernor’s designee shall consult with the Secretary of 

6 Homeland Security or the Secretary of Homeland Se7 curity’s designee. A State shall submit its statewide 

8 plan to the Federal Communications Commission and 

9 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

10 ‘‘(4) MEDICAL SERVICES.—As part of its state11 wide plan, a State shall ensure that— 

12 ‘‘(A) there are effective 2-way communica13 tions and information sharing between medical 

14 services and other emergency response entities, 

15 including communications among key strategic 

16 emergency responders, emergency medical care 

17 facilities, and Federal, State, and local authori18 ties in the event of a national, regional, or other 

19 large-scale emergency, and redundancy in the 

20 event of a failure of the primary communica21 tions systems; and 

22 ‘‘(B) medical emergency responses are inte23 grated into all planning and decision-making 

24 practices for emergency response. 


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1 ‘‘(5) STATE-SPECIFIC COORDINATION, PLANNING, 

2 AND TRAINING.—Grants under this section shall be 

3 available for emergencies and disasters, such as hurri4 canes, forest fires, and mining accidents. 

5 ‘‘(f) STRATEGIC TECHNOLOGY RESERVES INITIA6 TIVE.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

8 Security shall allocate up to 25 percent of the funds 

9 made available to carry out this section to establish 

10 and implement a strategic technology reserve to pre11 position or secure interoperable communications sys12 tems in advance for immediate deployment in an 

13 emergency or major disaster (as defined in section 

14 102(2) of Public Law 93–288 (42 U.S.C. 5122)). In 

15 carrying out this paragraph, the Secretary shall take 

16 into consideration the continuing technological evo17 lution of communications technologies and devices, 

18 with its implicit risk of obsolescence, and ensure that, 

19 to the maximum extent feasible, a substantial part of 

20 the reserve involves prenegotiated contracts and other 

21 arrangements for rapid deployment of equipment, 

22 supplies, and systems rather than the warehousing or 

23 storage of equipment and supplies currently available 

24 at the time the reserve is established. 


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1 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS AND CHARACTERISTICS.—A 

2 reserve established under paragraph (1) shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) be capable of re-establishing commu4 nications when existing infrastructure is dam5 aged or destroyed in an emergency or a major 

6 disaster; 

7 ‘‘(B) include appropriate current, widely8 used equipment, such as Land Mobile Radio Sys9 tems, cellular telephones, satellite equipment, 

10 Cells-On-Wheels, Cells-On-Light-Trucks, or other 

11 self-contained mobile cell sites that can be towed, 

12 backup batteries, generators, fuel, and computers; 

13 ‘‘(C) include equipment on hand for the 

14 Governor of each State, key emergency response 

15 officials, and appropriate State or local per16 sonnel; 

17 ‘‘(D) include contracts (including 

18 prenegotiated contracts) for rapid delivery of the 

19 most current technology available from commer20 cial sources; and 

21 ‘‘(E) include arrangements for training to 

22 ensure that personnel are familiar with the oper23 ation of the equipment and devices to be deliv24 ered pursuant to such contracts. 


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1 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL CHARACTERISTICS.—Portions 

2 of the reserve may be virtual and may include items 

3 donated on an in-kind contribution basis. 

4 ‘‘(4) CONSULTATION.—In developing the reserve, 

5 the Secretary shall seek advice from the Secretary of 

6 Defense, as well as national public safety organiza7 tions, emergency managers, State, local, and tribal 

8 governments, and commercial providers of such sys9 tems and equipment. 

10 ‘‘(5) ALLOCATION AND USE OF FUNDS.—The Sec11 retary shall allocate— 

12 ‘‘(A) a portion of the reserve’s funds for 

13 block grants to States to enable each State to es14 tablish a strategic technology reserve within its 

15 borders in a secure location to allow immediate 

16 deployment; and 

17 ‘‘(B) a portion of the reserve’s funds for re18 gional Federal strategic technology reserves to fa19 cilitate any Federal response when necessary, to 

20 be held in each of the Federal Emergency Man21 agement Agency’s regional offices, including Bos22 ton, Massachusetts (Region 1), New York, New 

23 York (Region 2), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 

24 (Region 3), Atlanta, Georgia (Region 4), Chi25 cago, Illinois (Region 5), Denton, Texas (Region 


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1 6), Kansas City, Missouri (Region 7), Denver, 

2 Colorado (Region 8), Oakland, California (Re3 gion 9), Bothell, Washington (Region 10), and 

4 each of the noncontiguous States for immediate 

5 deployment. 

6 ‘‘(g) CONSENSUS STANDARDS; APPLICATIONS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) CONSENSUS STANDARDS.—In carrying out 

8 this section, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

9 identify, and if necessary encourage the development 

10 and implementation of, consensus standards for inter11 operable communications systems to the greatest ex12 tent practicable. 

13 ‘‘(2) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for assist14 ance under the programs established in this section, 

15 each State shall submit an application, at such time, 

16 in such form, and containing such information as the 

17 Secretary may require, including— 

18 ‘‘(A) a detailed explanation of how assist19 ance received under the program would be used 

20 to improve local communications interoper21 ability and ensure interoperability with other 

22 appropriate public safety agencies in an emer23 gency or a major disaster; and 

24 ‘‘(B) assurance that the equipment and sys25 tem would— 


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1 ‘‘(i) be compatible with the commu2 nications architecture developed under sec3 tion 7303(a)(1)(E) of the Intelligence Re4 form and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 

5 (6 U.S.C. 194(a)(1)(E)); 

6 ‘‘(ii) meet any voluntary consensus 

7 standards developed under section 

8 7303(a)(1)(D) of that Act (6 U.S.C. 

9 194(a)(1)(D); and 

10 ‘‘(iii) be compatible with the common 

11 grant guidance established under section 

12 7303(a)(1)(H) of that Act (6 U.S.C. 

13 194(a)(1)(H)). 

14 ‘‘(h) DEADLINE FOR IMPLEMENTATION REGULA15 TIONS.—Within 90 days after the date of enactment of the 

16 Advanced Telecommunications and Opportunities Reform 

17 Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the Federal Com18 munications Commission, shall promulgate regulations for 

19 the implementation of subsections (d) through (f) of this sec20 tion.’’. 

21 (b) SEAMLESS MOBILITY.—Within 180 days after the 

22 date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Communications 

23 Commission shall streamline its process for certifying 

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1 tiple platforms, facilities, or networks in a manner con2 sistent with the public interest. 

3 (c) FCC REPORT ON EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS

4 BACK-UP SYSTEM.— 

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

6 the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Commu7 nications Commission, in coordination with the Sec8 retary of Homeland Security, shall evaluate the tech9 nical feasibility of creating a back-up emergency com10 munications system that complements existing com11 munications resources and takes into account next 

12 generation and advanced telecommunications tech13 nologies. The overriding objective for the evaluation 

14 shall be providing a framework for the development of 

15 a resilient interoperable communications system for 

16 emergency responders in an emergency. The Commis17 sion shall evaluate all reasonable options, including 

18 satellites, wireless, and terrestrial-based communica19 tions systems and other alternative transport mecha20 nisms that can be used in tandem with existing tech21 nologies. 

22 (2) FACTORS TO BE EVALUATED.—The evalua23 tion under paragraph (1) shall include— 

24 (A) a survey of all Federal agencies that use 

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1 tions security and an evaluation of the feasi2 bility of using existing systems for the purpose 

3 of creating such an emergency back-up public 

4 safety communications system; 

5 (B) the feasibility of using private satellite, 

6 wireless, or terrestrial networks for emergency 

7 communications; 

8 (C) the technical options, cost, and deploy9 ment methods of software, equipment, handsets, 

10 or desktop communications devices for public 

11 safety entities in major urban areas, and nation12 wide; and 

13 (D) the feasibility and cost of necessary 

14 changes to the network operations center of ter15 restrial-based or satellite systems to enable the 

16 centers to serve as emergency back-up commu17 nications systems. 

18 (3) REPORT.—Upon the completion of the eval19 uation under paragraph (1), the Commission shall 

20 submit a report to Congress that details the findings 

21 of the evaluation, including a full inventory of exist22 ing public and private resources most efficiently ca23 pable of providing emergency communications. 

24 (d) INTEROPERABLE COMMUNICATIONS AND E–911 

25 SERVICES.—The Secretary of Homeland Security shall take 


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1 into consideration the role of public safety answering points 

2 and E-911 systems, and shall reserve a portion of the funds 

3 made available to carry out section 3006 of Public Law 

4 109–171 (47 U.S.C. 309 note) to provide interoperable com5 munication system grants for projects to public safety an6 swering points that enable interoperability and that ad7 vance E-911 deployment. 

8 SEC. 152. TRANSFER OF PUBLIC SAFETY GRANT PROGRAM 

9 TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECU10 RITY. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3006 of Public Law 109– 

12 171 (47 U.S.C. 309 note) is amended— 

13 (1) by striking ‘‘The Assistant Secretary, in con14 sultation with the’’ in subsection (a) and inserting 

15 ‘‘The’’; and 

16 (2) by striking ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’ each place 

17 it appears in subsection (b) and inserting ‘‘Secretary 

18 of Homeland Security’’. 

19 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—In carrying out section 3006(a) 

20 of Public Law 109–171 (47 U.S.C. 309 note), as amended 

21 by subsection (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security may 

22 not use funds under that section for any purpose other than 

23 those provided in section 3006 of that Act. 


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1 SEC. 153. PUBLIC SAFETY INTEROPERABLE COMMUNICA2 TIONS GRANTS. 

3 Pursuant to section 3006 of Public Law 109–171 (47 

4 U.S.C. 309 note), the Secretary of Homeland Security, in 

5 coordination with the Secretary of Commerce, shall award 

6 no less than $1,000,000,000 for public safety interoperable 

7 communications grants no later than September 30, 2006. 

8 SEC. 154. ELIGIBILITY OF IP-ENABLED SERVICES. 

9 Section 158(a)(1)(A) of the National Telecommuni10 cations and Information Administration Organization Act 

11 (47 U.S.C. 942(a)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘services;’’ 

12 and inserting ‘‘services and services related to the migration 

13 to an IP-enabled emergency network that provides E–911 

14 services;’’. 

15 TITLE II—UNIVERSAL SERVICE 

16 REFORM; INTERCONNECTION 

17 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 

18 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Internet and Universal 

19 Service Act of 2006’’. 

20 Subtitle A—Contributions to 

21 Universal Service 

22 SEC. 211. STABILIZATION OF UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND23 ING. 

24 (a) ENSURING AN EQUITABLE CONTRIBUTION BASE

25 FOR UNIVERSAL SERVICE.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 254(d) (47 U.S.C. 

2 254(d)) is amended to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(d) UNIVERSAL SERVICE SUPPORT CONTRIBU4 TIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) CONTRIBUTION MECHANISM.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each communications 

7 service provider shall contribute as provided in 

8 this subsection to support universal service. 

9 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—The Commission 

10 shall ensure that the contributions required by 

11 this subsection are— 

12 ‘‘(i) applied in a manner that is as 

13 competitively and technologically neutral as 

14 possible; 

15 ‘‘(ii) specific, predictable, and suffi16 cient to sustain the funding of networks 

17 used to preserve and advance universal serv18 ice; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) applied in such a manner that 

20 no methodology results in a communica21 tions services provider being required to 

22 contribute more than once to support Fed23 eral universal service for the same trans24 action, activity, or service. 


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1 ‘‘(C) ADJUSTMENTS.—The Commission 

2 shall adjust the contribution for communication 

3 service providers for their low-call volume, non4 business customers. 

5 ‘‘(2) EXEMPTIONS.—The Commission may ex6 empt a communications service provider or any class 

7 of communications service providers from the require8 ments of this subsection in the following cir9 cumstances: 

10 ‘‘(A) The services of such a provider are 

11 limited to such an extent that the level of its con12 tributions would be de minimis. 

13 ‘‘(B) The communications service is pro14 vided pursuant to the Commission’s Lifeline As15 sistance Program. 

16 ‘‘(C) The communications service is pro17 vided only to in-vehicle emergency communica18 tions customers. 

19 ‘‘(D) The communications service is pro20 vided by a not-for-profit communications service 

21 provider that is neither an affiliate of a for-prof22 it organization nor has a for-profit affiliate and 

23 which provides voice mailboxes to low income 

24 consumers and the homeless. 


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1 ‘‘(3) CONTRIBUTION ASSESSMENT FLEXI2 BILITY.— 

3 ‘‘(A) METHODOLOGY.—To achieve the prin4 ciples in this section, the Commission may base 

5 universal service contributions upon— 

6 ‘‘(i) revenue from communications 

7 service; 

8 ‘‘(ii) in-use working phone numbers or 

9 any other identifier protocol or connection 

10 to the networks; or 

11 ‘‘(iii) network capacity. 

12 ‘‘(B) USE OF MORE THAN 1 METHOD13 OLOGY.—If no single methodology employed 

14 under subparagraph (A) achieves the principles 

15 described in this subsection, the Commission may 

16 employ a combination of any such methodologies. 

17 ‘‘(C) REMOVAL OF INTERSTATE/INTRASTATE

18 DISTINCTION.—Notwithstanding section 2(b) of 

19 this Act, the Commission may assess the inter20 state, intrastate, and international portions of 

21 communications service for the purpose of uni22 versal service contributions. 

23 ‘‘(D) GROUP PLAN DISCOUNT.—If the Com24 mission utilizes a methodology under subpara25 graph (A) based in whole or in part on in-use 


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1 working phone numbers, it may provide a dis2 count for additional numbers provided under a 

3 group or family pricing plan for residential cus4 tomers provided in 1 bill. 

5 ‘‘(4) NON-DISCRIMINATORY ELIGIBILITY RE6 QUIREMENT.—A communications service provider is 

7 not exempted from the requirements of this subsection 

8 solely on the basis that such provider is not eligible 

9 to receive support under this section. 

10 ‘‘(5) BILLING.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A communications 

12 service provider that contributes to universal 

13 service under this section may place on any cus14 tomer bill a separate line item charge that does 

15 not exceed the amount for the customer that the 

16 provider is required to contribute under this sub17 section that shall be identified as the ‘Federal 

18 Universal Service Fee’. 

19 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—A communications serv20 ice provider may not separately bill customers 

21 for administrative costs associated with its col22 lection and remission of universal service fees 

23 under this subsection. 

24 ‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(A) BROADBAND SERVICE.—The term 

2 ‘broadband service’ means any service (whether 

3 part of a bundle of services or offered separately) 

4 used for transmission of information of a user’s 

5 choosing with a transmission speed of at least 

6 200 kilobits per second in at least 1 direction, re7 gardless of the transmission medium or tech8 nology employed, that connects to the public 

9 Internet directly— 

10 ‘‘(i) to the public; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) to such classes of users as to be ef12 fectively available directly to the public. 

13 ‘‘(B) COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE.—The term 

14 ‘communications service’ means telecommuni15 cations service, broadband service, or IP-enabled 

16 voice service (whether part of a bundle of services 

17 or offered separately). 

18 ‘‘(C) CONNECTION.—The term ‘connection’ 

19 means the facilities that provide customers with 

20 access to a public or private network, regardless 

21 of whether the connection is circuit-switched, 

22 packet-switched, wireline or wireless, or leased 

23 line. 

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1 nications’ means services and technology, includ2 ing automatic crash notification, roadside assist3 ance, SOS distress calls, remote diagnostics, 

4 navigation or location-based services, and other 

5 driver assistance services, which are integrated 

6 into passenger automobiles to facilitate commu7 nications from the automobile to emergency re8 sponse professionals. 

9 ‘‘(E) IP-ENABLED VOICE SERVICE.—The 

10 term ‘IP-enabled voice service’ means the provi11 sion of real-time 2-way voice communications of12 fered to the public, or such classes of users as to 

13 be effectively available to the public, transmitted 

14 through customer premises equipment using 

15 Internet protocol, or a successor protocol, for a 

16 fee (whether part of a bundle of services or of17 fered separately) with 2-way interconnection ca18 pability such that the service can originate traf19 fic to, and terminate traffic from, the public 

20 switched telephone network. 

21 ‘‘(F) WORKING PHONE NUMBERS.—The 

22 term ‘working phone number’ means an assigned 

23 number (as defined in section 52.15 of the Com24 mission’s regulations (47 C.F.R. 52.15)) or an 


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1 intermediate number (as defined in that sec2 tion).’’. 

3 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

4 254(b)(4) (47 U.S.C. 254(b)(4)) is amended by strik5 ing ‘‘telecommunications services’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘communications services (as defined in subsection 

7 (d)(6)(B)’’. 

8 (3) STATE AUTHORITY.—Section 254(f) (47 

9 U.S.C. 254(f)) is amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(f) STATE AUTHORITY.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State may adopt regula12 tions not inconsistent with the Commission’s rules to 

13 preserve and advance universal service. In adopting 

14 those rules, a State may require telecommunications 

15 service providers and IP-enabled voice service (as de16 fined in subsection (d)(6)(E)) providers to contribute 

17 to universal service on the basis of— 

18 ‘‘(A) revenue; 

19 ‘‘(B) in-use working phone numbers or any 

20 other identifier protocol or connection to the net21 works; 

22 ‘‘(C) network capacity; or 

23 ‘‘(D) any combination of such methodolo24 gies. 


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1 ‘‘(2) DISREGARD OF INTERSTATE COMPONENT.— 

2 A State may require telecommunications service pro3 viders and IP-enabled voice service providers to con4 tribute under paragraph (1) regardless of whether the 

5 service contains an interstate component. 

6 ‘‘(3) BUNDLING.—If a telecommunications serv7 ice or IP-enabled voice service is offered as part of a 

8 bundle of services, the Commission shall determine a 

9 fair allocation of revenue between the telecommuni10 cations service or IP-enabled voice service and other 

11 bundled services if the primary place of use of such 

12 bundled services is within the State. 

13 ‘‘(4) GUIDELINES.—Regulations adopted by a 

14 State under this subsection shall result in a specific, 

15 predictable, and sufficient mechanism to support uni16 versal service and shall be competitively and techno17 logically neutral, equitable, and nondiscriminatory.’’. 

18 (b) PROPER ACCOUNTING OF UNIVERSAL SERVICE

19 CONTRIBUTIONS.— 

20 (1) FROM ALL BUDGETS.—Notwithstanding any 

21 other provision of law, the receipts and disbursements 

22 of universal service under section 254 of the Commu23 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254) shall not be 

24 counted as new budget authority, outlays, receipts, or 

25 deficit or surplus for purposes of— 


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1 (A) the budget of the United States Govern2 ment as submitted by the President; 

3 (B) the Congressional budget; 

4 (C) the Balanced Budget and Emergency 

5 Deficit Control Act of 1985; or 

6 (D) any other law requiring budget seques7 ters. 

8 (2) ADDITIONAL EXEMPTIONS.—Section 1341, 

9 subchapter II of chapter 15, and sections 3302, 3321, 

10 3322, and 3325 of title 31, United States Code, shall 

11 not apply to— 

12 (A) the collection and receipt of universal 

13 service contributions, including the interest 

14 earned on such contributions; or 

15 (B) disbursements or other obligations au16 thorized by the Federal Communications Com17 mission under section 254 and 254A of the Com18 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254 and 

19 254A). 

20 (c) FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT.—The Federal Commu21 nications Commission and the Administrator of the Uni22 versal Service Fund— 

23 (1) shall account for the financial transactions of 

24 the Fund in accordance with generally accepted ac25 counting principles for Federal agencies; 


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1 (2) shall maintain the accounts of the Fund in 

2 accordance with the United States Government 

3 Standard General Ledger; and 

4 (3) may invest unexpended balances only in Fed5 eral securities (as defined in section 113(b)(5) of Of6 fice of Management and Budget circular OMB A–11 

7 or any revision of that circular). 

8 (d) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 180 days after the 

9 date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Communications 

10 Commission shall issue a rule to implement section 254(d) 

11 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(d)) as 

12 amended by this section. 

13 (e) CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW.—Any rule issued under 

14 subsection (d) shall— 

15 (1) be submitted to Congress, along with any 

16 data and information relied upon to establish such 

17 rule; and 

18 (2) not take effect until the date that is 90 days 

19 after the date of such submission. 

20 SEC. 212. MODIFICATION OF RURAL VIDEO SERVICE EXEMP21 TION. 

22 (a) RURAL TELEPHONE COMPANIES.—Section 

23 251(f)(1) (47 U.S.C. 251(f)(1)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘Subsection’’ in subparagraph 

2 (A) and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in subpara3 graph (B), subsection’’; 

4 (2) by striking ‘‘interconnection, services, or net5 work elements’’ in subparagraphs (A) and (B) and 

6 inserting ‘‘services or network elements’’; 

7 (3) by striking ‘‘(under subparagraph (B))’’ in 

8 subparagraph (A) and inserting ‘‘(under subpara9 graph (C))’’; 

10 (4) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) and (C) 

11 as subparagraphs (D) and (E); 

12 (5) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(B) CERTAIN CARRIERS.—Subsection (c) 

15 (other than paragraphs (1) and (2) thereof) of 

16 this section shall not apply to a rural telephone 

17 company in Alaska with fewer than 10 access 

18 lines per square mile installed in the aggregate 

19 in its service area (as defined in section 

20 214(e)(5)). 

21 ‘‘(C) INTERCONNECTION.—Notwithstanding 

22 subparagraphs (A) and (D), paragraphs (1) and 

23 (2) of subsection (c) of this section shall not 

24 apply to a rural telephone company until such 


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1 company has received a bona fide request for 

2 interconnection.’’; and 

3 (6) by striking subparagraph (E), as redesig4 nated. 

5 (b) OTHER RURAL CARRIERS.—Section 251(f)(2) (47 

6 U.S.C. 251(f)(2)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(other than 

7 paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (c))’’ after ‘‘subsection 

8 (b) or (c)’’ in the first sentence. 

9 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Notwithstanding any other 

10 provision of this Act, the amendments made by this section 

11 shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act. 

12 SEC. 213. INTERCONNECTION. 

13 Title VII (47 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended by adding 

14 after section 714 the following new section: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 715. RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF IP-ENABLED 

16 VOICE SERVICE PROVIDERS. 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A facilities-based IP-enabled voice 

18 service provider shall have the same rights, duties, and obli19 gations, including any obligation imposed under section 

20 276, as a requesting telecommunications carrier under sec21 tions 251 and 252, if the provider elects to assert such 

22 rights. A telecommunications carrier may not refuse to 

23 transport or terminate IP-enabled voice traffic solely on the 

24 basis that it is IP-enabled. A provider originating, trans25 mitting, or terminating IP-enabled voice traffic shall not 


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1 be exempted from paying compensation for interstate traffic 

2 owed to another provider or carrier solely on the basis that 

3 such traffic is IP-enabled, and any obligations to pay com4 pensation with respect to traffic that originates or termi5 nates on the public switched telephone network shall be re6 ciprocal, including any payment to an IP-enabled voice 

7 service provider that receives traffic from, or sends traffic 

8 to, the public switched telephone network. 

9 ‘‘(b) DISABLED ACCESS.—An IP-enabled voice service 

10 provider or a manufacturer of IP-enabled voice service 

11 equipment shall have the same rights, duties, and obliga12 tions as a telecommunications carrier or telecommuni13 cations equipment manufacturer, respectively, under sec14 tions 225, 255, and 710 of the Act. Within 1 year after 

15 the date of enactment of the Internet and Universal Service 

16 Act of 2006, the Commission, in consultation with the Ar17 chitectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance 

18 Board, shall prescribe such regulations as are necessary to 

19 implement this section. In prescribing the regulations, the 

20 Commission shall take into account the differences between 

21 IP-enabled voice service and circuit-switched communica22 tions, and the functionalities required by the disabled com23 munity. Every 2 years after the date of enactment of the 

24 Internet and Universal Service Act of 2006, the Commission 

25 shall submit a report to the Committee on Commerce, 


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1 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Com2 mittee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Represent3 atives that assesses the level of compliance with this section 

4 and evaluates the extent to which any accessibility barriers 

5 still exist with respect to new technologies and hearing aid 

6 compatibility. 

7 ‘‘(c) IP-ENABLED EMERGENCY RESPONSE SYS8 TEMS.—Prior to installation or activation of an IP-enabled 

9 voice service for a customer, an IP-enabled voice service pro10 vider shall provide clear and conspicuous notice to the cus11 tomer that— 

12 ‘‘(1) such customer should arrange with his or 

13 her emergency response system provider, if any, to 

14 test such system after installation; 

15 ‘‘(2) such customer should notify his or her emer16 gency response system provider as soon as the IP-en17 abled voice service is installed; and 

18 ‘‘(3) a battery backup may be required for cus19 tomer premises equipment installed in connection 

20 with the IP-enabled voice service in order for the sig21 naling of such system to function in the event of a 

22 power outage. 

23 ‘‘(e) NO EFFECT ON TAX LAWS.—Nothing in this sec24 tion shall be construed to modify, impair, supersede, or auVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:27 Oct 01, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00100 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5252.RS H5252

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1 thorize the modification, impairment, or supersession of, 

2 any State or local tax law. 

3 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) EMERGENCY RESPONSE SYSTEM.—The term 

5 ‘emergency response system’ means an alarm or secu6 rity system, or personal security or medical moni7 toring system, that is connected to an emergency re8 sponse center by means of a telecommunications car9 rier or IP-enabled voice service provider. 

10 ‘‘(2) EMERGENCY RESPONSE CENTER.—The term 

11 ‘emergency response center’ means an entity that 

12 monitors transmissions from an emergency response 

13 system. 

14 ‘‘(3) FACILITIES-BASED.—The term ‘facilities15 based’ includes an IP-enabled voice service provider 

16 with control and operation within a local access 

17 transport area of— 

18 ‘‘(A) communications switching and routing 

19 equipment; 

20 ‘‘(B) long-haul trunks; or 

21 ‘‘(C) local transmission facilities. 

22 ‘‘(4) IP-ENABLED VOICE SERVICE.—The term 

23 ‘IP-enabled voice service’ means the provision of real24 time 2-way voice communications offered to the pub25 lic, or such classes of users as to be effectively availVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:27 Oct 01, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00101 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5252.RS H5252

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1 able to the public, transmitted through customer 

2 premises equipment using Internet protocol, or a suc3 cessor protocol, for a fee (whether part of a bundle of 

4 services or offered separately) with interconnection ca5 pability such that the service can originate traffic to, 

6 and terminate traffic from, the public switched tele7 phone network.’’. 

8 SEC. 214. TREATMENT OF SUBSTITUTE SERVICES UNDER 

9 SECTION 254(g). 

10 Section 254(g) (47 U.S.C. 254(g)) is amended by in11 serting after ‘‘State.’’ the following: ‘‘This section shall also 

12 apply to any services within the jurisdiction of the Commis13 sion that can be used as effective substitutes for inter14 exchange telecommunications services, including any such 

15 substitute classified as an information service that uses tele16 communications.’’. 

17 Subtitle B—Distributions From 

18 Universal Service 

19 SEC. 251. ENCOURAGING BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning 2 years after the date 

21 of enactment of this Act, and biennially thereafter, an eligi22 ble communications carrier shall submit a report to the 

23 Commission and to the State commission in each State in 

24 which it provides communications service that sets forth the 

25 following: 


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1 (1) The percentage of households to which it of2 fers broadband service in each of its service areas. 

3 (2) The percentage of households that subscribe to 

4 broadband service in each of its service areas. 

5 (3) The service plans and speeds at which 

6 broadband service is offered in each of its service 

7 areas. 

8 (4) The types of technologies used in offering 

9 broadband service in each of its service areas. 

10 (5) Any planned upgrade or deployment of 

11 broadband service in the next 2 years in each of its 

12 service areas. 

13 (b) INFORMATION TREATED AS CONFIDENTIAL.—The 

14 Commission and State commissions shall treat information 

15 received pursuant to subsection (a) as confidential and pro16 prietary, and shall protect sensitive business information 

17 from disclosure in any reports made public. 

18 (c) COMMISSION REPORT.—The Commission shall in19 corporate the data from reports it receives under subsection 

20 (a) into its advanced telecommunications capability reports 

21 under section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. 

22 SEC. 252. ESTABLISHMENT OF BROADBAND PROGRAM. 

23 Part I of title II (47 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended 

24 by inserting after section 254 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 254A. BROADBAND FOR UNSERVED AREAS PROGRAM. 

2 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall estab4 lish a new separate program to be known as the 

5 ‘Broadband for Unserved Areas Program’. 

6 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Program is 

7 to provide financial assistance for the deployment of 

8 broadband equipment and infrastructure necessary 

9 for the deployment of broadband service (including 

10 installation costs) to unserved areas throughout the 

11 United States. 

12 ‘‘(3) FUNDING.—The Program shall be funded by 

13 amounts collected under section 254(d). 

14 ‘‘(b) IMPLEMENTATION.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Within 180 days after the 

16 date of enactment of the Internet and Universal Serv17 ice Act of 2006, the Commission shall issue rules es18 tablishing— 

19 ‘‘(A) guidelines for determining which areas 

20 may be considered to be unserved areas for pur21 poses of this section, which may be portions of 

22 service areas or study areas; 

23 ‘‘(B) criteria for determining which facili24 ties-based providers of broadband service and 

25 which projects are eligible for support from the 

26 Program; 


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1 ‘‘(C) procedural guidelines for awarding as2 sistance from the Program on a merit-based and 

3 competitive basis; 

4 ‘‘(D) guidelines for application procedures, 

5 accounting and reporting requirements, and 

6 other appropriate fiscal controls for assistance 

7 made available from the Program, including 

8 random audits with respect to the receipt and 

9 use of funds under this section; 

10 ‘‘(E) a procedure for making funds in the 

11 Program available among the several States on 

12 an equitable basis; and 

13 ‘‘(F) the Universal Service Administrative 

14 Company as the administrator of the Program, 

15 subject to Commission rules and oversight. 

16 ‘‘(2) FACILITIES-BASED PROVIDER ELIGI17 BILITY.—For purposes of this section, satellite 

18 broadband service providers, terrestrial wireless 

19 broadband service providers, and wireline broadband 

20 service providers shall be considered to be facilities21 based providers eligible for support from the Program. 

22 The deployment of satellite broadband service cus23 tomer premises equipment shall be considered to be a 

24 project eligible for support from the Program. 


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1 ‘‘(3) DE MINIMIS SUBSCRIBERSHIP EXCEP2 TION.—The availability of satellite broadband service 

3 in an area shall not preclude the designation of that 

4 area as an unserved area if the Commission deter5 mines that subscribership to broadband satellite serv6 ice in the area is de minimis. 

7 ‘‘(4) MULTIPLE AREAS WITHIN STATE.—There 

8 may be more than 1 unserved area within a State. 

9 ‘‘(c) LIMITATIONS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL AMOUNT.—Amounts obligated or 

11 expended under subsection (b) for any fiscal year may 

12 not exceed $500,000,000. 

13 ‘‘(2) UNOBLIGATED BALANCES.—To the extent 

14 that the full amount in the program is not obligated 

15 for financial assistance under this section within a 

16 fiscal year, any unobligated balance shall be used to 

17 support universal service under section 254. 

18 ‘‘(3) SUPPORT LIMITED TO SINGLE FACILITIES19 BASED PROVIDER PER UNSERVED AREA.—Assistance 

20 under this section may be provided only to 1 facili21 ties-based provider of broadband service in each 

22 unserved area. 

23 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION WITH SECTION 410.—Section 410 

24 shall not apply to the Broadband for Unserved Areas Pro25 gram. 


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1 ‘‘(e) BROADBAND SERVICE DEFINED.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section, except to the 

3 extent revised by the Commission under paragraph 

4 (2), the term ‘broadband service’ means any service 

5 used for transmission of information of a user’s choos6 ing at a transmission speed of at least 400 kilobits 

7 per second in at least 1 direction, regardless of the 

8 transmission medium or technology employed, that 

9 connects to the public Internet directly— 

10 ‘‘(A) to the public; or 

11 ‘‘(B) to such classes of users as to be effec12 tively available directly to the public. 

13 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL REVIEW OF TRANSMISSION

14 SPEED.—The Commission shall review the trans15 mission speed component of the definition in para16 graph (1) biannually and revise that component as 

17 appropriate. 

18 ‘‘(f) REPORT.—The Commission shall transmit an an19 nual report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, 

20 and Transportation and the House of Representatives Com21 mittee on Energy and Commerce making recommendations 

22 for an increase or decrease, if necessary, in the amounts 

23 credited to the program under this section.’’. 


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1 SEC. 253. COMPETITIVE NEUTRALITY PRINCIPLE. 

2 Section 254(b) (47 U.S.C. 254(b)) is amended by re3 designating paragraph (7) as paragraph (8), and inserting 

4 after paragraph (6) the following: 

5 ‘‘(7) COMPETITIVE NEUTRALITY.—Universal 

6 service support mechanisms and rules should be com7 petitively neutral. In this context, competitively neu8 tral means that universal service support mechanisms 

9 and rules neither unfairly advantage nor disadvan10 tage one provider over another, and neither unfairly 

11 favor nor disfavor one technology over another.’’. 

12 SEC. 254. TRANSITION RULES FOR MODIFICATIONS AD13 VERSELY AFFECTING CARRIERS. 

14 If the Federal Communications Commission modifies 

15 the high-cost distribution rules under section 254 of the 

16 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254), it shall adopt 

17 transition mechanisms of not less than 5 years in duration 

18 designed to alleviate any harmful affect of those modifica19 tions on existing eligible communications carriers and their 

20 customers. 

21 SEC. 255. ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES. 

22 Section 214(e) (47 U.S.C. 214(e)) is amended by add23 ing at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(7) ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A common carrier may 

2 not be designated as a new eligible communica3 tions carrier unless it— 

4 ‘‘(i) is committed to providing service 

5 throughout its proposed designated service 

6 area, using its own facilities or a combina7 tion of facilities and resale of another car8 rier’s facilities, to all customers making a 

9 reasonable request for service; 

10 ‘‘(ii) has certified to the State commis11 sion or the Commission that it will provide 

12 service on a timely basis to requesting cus13 tomers within its service area, if service can 

14 be provided at reasonable cost; 

15 ‘‘(iii) has submitted a plan to the 

16 State commission or the Commission that 

17 describes with specificity proposed improve18 ments or upgrades to its network that will 

19 be accomplished with high-cost support over 

20 the first 2 years following its designation as 

21 an eligible communications carrier; 

22 ‘‘(iv) has demonstrated to the State 

23 commission or the Commission its ability to 

24 remain functional in emergency situations, 

25 including a demonstration that it has a 


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1 reasonable amount of back-up power to en2 sure functionality without an external 

3 power source; 

4 ‘‘(v) is committed to following applica5 ble consumer protection and service quality 

6 standards; and 

7 ‘‘(vi) has complied with annual report8 ing requirements established by the Com9 mission or by State Commissions for all 

10 carriers receiving universal service support 

11 to ensure that such support is used for the 

12 provision, maintenance, and upgrading of 

13 the facilities for which support is intended. 

14 ‘‘(B) APPLICATION LIMITED TO POST DATE15 OF-ENACTMENT DESIGNATIONS.—Subparagraph 

16 (A) applies only to an entity designated as an 

17 eligible communications carrier after the date of 

18 enactment of the Internet and Universal Service 

19 Act of 2006. 

20 ‘‘(C) 6-MONTH DESIGNATION DEADLINE.— 

21 Beginning 6 months after the date of enactment 

22 of the Internet and Universal Service Act of 

23 2006, a State commission or the Commission 

24 shall grant or deny an application for designa25 tion as an eligible communications carrier withVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:27 Oct 01, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00110 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5252.RS H5252

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1 in 6 months after the date on which it receives 

2 a complete application. 

3 ‘‘(D) ELIGIBLE COMMUNICATIONS CAR4 RIER.—In this paragraph, the term ‘eligible 

5 communications carrier’ means an entity des6 ignated under paragraph (2), (3), or (6) of this 

7 subsection. Any reference to eligible telecommuni8 cations carrier in this section or in section 254 

9 refers also to an eligible communications car10 rier.’’. 

11 SEC. 256. PRIMARY LINE. 

12 Section 214(e) (47 U.S.C. 214(e)), as amended by sec13 tion 255 of this Act, is amended by adding at the end the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(8) PRIMARY LINE.—In implementing the re16 quirements of this Act with respect to the distribution 

17 and use of Federal universal service support, the 

18 Commission shall not limit such distribution and use 

19 to a single connection or primary line, and all resi20 dential and business lines served by an eligible com21 munications carrier shall be eligible for Federal uni22 versal service support.’’. 

23 SEC. 257. PHANTOM TRAFFIC. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 254 (47 U.S.C. 254) is 

25 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(m) NETWORK TRAFFIC IDENTIFICATION ACCOUNT2 ABILITY STANDARDS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) NETWORK TRAFFIC IDENTIFICATION AC4 COUNTABILITY STANDARDS.—A provider of voice com5 munications services shall ensure, to the degree tech6 nically possible, that all traffic that originates on its 

7 network contains, or, in the case of nonoriginated 

8 traffic, preserves, sufficient information to allow for 

9 traffic identification by other voice communications 

10 service providers that transport or terminate such 

11 traffic, including information on the identity of the 

12 originating provider, the class of service of the origi13 nating line as required under Commission orders in 

14 effect on the date of enactment of the Internet and 

15 Universal Service Act of 2006, the calling and called 

16 parties, and such other information as the Commis17 sion deems appropriate. Except as otherwise per18 mitted by the Commission, a provider that transports 

19 traffic between communications service providers shall 

20 signal-forward without altering call signaling infor21 mation it receives from another provider. 

22 ‘‘(2) NETWORK TRAFFIC IDENTIFICATION RULE23 MAKING.—The Commission, in consultation with the 

24 State commissions, shall initiate a single rulemaking 

25 no later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 


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1 the Internet and Universal Service Act of 2006 to es2 tablish rules and enforcement provisions for traffic 

3 identification. 

4 ‘‘(3) NETWORK TRAFFIC IDENTIFICATION EN5 FORCEMENT.—The Commission shall adopt and en6 force clear penalties, fines, and sanctions under this 

7 section. 

8 ‘‘(4) VOICE COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE DE9 FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘voice commu10 nications service’ means telecommunications service 

11 or IP-enabled voice service (as defined in section 

12 254(d)(6)(E)).’’. 

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 276(d) (47 

14 U.S.C. 276(d)) is amended— 

15 (1) by striking ‘‘DEFINITION.—’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘DEFINITIONS.—’’; and 

17 (2) by striking ‘‘services.’’ and inserting ‘‘serv18 ices, and the term ‘call’ includes any communication 

19 coming within the definition of ‘communications serv20 ice’ (as defined in section 254(d)) when it originated 

21 from a payphone.’’. 

22 SEC. 258. RANDOM AUDITS. 

23 Section 254 (47 U.S.C. 254), as amended by section 

24 257 of this Act, is amended by adding at the end the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(n) AUDITS.—The Commission shall provide for ran2 dom periodic audits, to be administered by the Universal 

3 Service Administrative Company, of each recipient of funds 

4 collected pursuant to subsection (d) with respect to its re5 ceipt and use of such support. With respect to an eligible 

6 communications carrier, the audit shall include a review 

7 of its relative cost to provide service compared to other, 

8 similarly situated, universal service recipients based on 

9 their respective service areas (as defined in section 

10 214(e)(5)). The Commission shall take such remedial action 

11 as it deems necessary if any audit under this subsection 

12 reveals improper use of universal service support, including 

13 the imposition of fines or other appropriate remedies.’’. 

14 SEC. 259. INTEGRITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Communications Com16 mission, in consultation with the Administrator of the Uni17 versal Service Administrative Company, shall— 

18 (1) ensure the integrity and accountability of all 

19 programs established under sections 254 and 254A of 

20 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254 and 

21 254A); and 

22 (2) not later than 180 days after the date of en23 actment of this Act, establish rules— 


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1 (A) identifying appropriate fiscal controls 

2 and accountability standards that shall be ap3 plied to programs under sections 254 and 254A; 

4 (B) establishing a memorandum of under5 standing, or contractual relationships, as the 

6 Commission determines appropriate, defining the 

7 administrative structure and processes by which 

8 the Universal Service Administrative Company 

9 administers programs under sections 254 and 

10 254A; 

11 (C) creating performance goals and meas12 ures for programs under sections 254 and 254A, 

13 that shall be used by the Commission to deter14 mine— 

15 (i) how efficiently and cost-effectively 

16 the Universal Service Administrative Com17 pany spends funds pursuant to its oper18 ation of all universal service programs; and 

19 (ii) areas for improving operations; 

20 (D) creating performance goals and meas21 urements for the Schools and Libraries Program 

22 under section 254(h) that— 

23 (i) determine the progress of schools 

24 and libraries toward achieving advances in 

25 connectivity goals; and 


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1 (ii) reflect the evolving level of ad2 vanced services; and 

3 (E) establishing appropriate enforcement 

4 actions, including the imposition of sanctions on 

5 applicants and vendors who repeatedly and 

6 knowingly violate program rules set forth in sec7 tion 254(h) or adopted by the Commission, such 

8 as debarment from the program for individuals 

9 convicted of crimes or held civilly liable for ac10 tions taken in connection with the Schools and 

11 Libraries Program. 

12 (b) PERMANENT BAN OF VENDORS CONVICTED OF

13 CRIMINAL FRAUD.—A vendor that has been convicted of a 

14 criminal fraud violation in connection with the provision 

15 of goods or services under section 254(h) of the Communica16 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(h)) is not eligible to pro17 vide goods or services to any school, library, or other entity 

18 under the program authorized by that section. 

19 SEC. 260. IMPROVING EFFECTIVENESS OF RURAL HEALTH 

20 CARE SUPPORT MECHANISM. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 254(h) (47 U.S.C. 254(h)) 

22 is amended— 

23 (1) by resetting so much of paragraph (1)(A) as 

24 follows ‘‘AREAS.—’’ as an indented paragraph 6 ems 


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1 from the left margin and inserting ‘‘(i) IN GEN2 ERAL.—’’ before ‘‘A telecommunications’’; 

3 (2) by inserting ‘‘deployment of reasonable infra4 structure and’’ after ‘‘including’’ in the first sentence 

5 of paragraph (1)(A)(i), as designated by paragraph 

6 (1) of this subsection; 

7 (3) by striking ‘‘service.’’ in paragraph (1)(A)(i), 

8 as designated by paragraph (1) of this subsection, and 

9 inserting ‘‘service, and to receive reimbursement 

10 promptly of any amount in excess of such obligations 

11 to participate in universal service mechanisms.’’; 

12 (4) by adding at the end of paragraph (1)(A) the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—The discount re15 quired under clause (i) shall be available 

16 only to a public or nonprofit health care 

17 provider located in a rural area. 

18 ‘‘(iii) DEFINITION.—For purposes of 

19 this subparagraph, the term ‘rural area’ 

20 means— 

21 ‘‘(I) any incorporated or unincor22 porated area in the United States, or 

23 in the territories or insular possessions 

24 of the United States that has not more 

25 than 20,000 inhabitants based on the 


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1 most recent available population statis2 tics published in the most recent decen3 nial census issued by the Census Bu4 reau; 

5 ‘‘(II) any area located outside the 

6 boundaries of any incorporated or un7 incorporated city, county, or borough 

8 that has more than 20,000 inhabitants 

9 based on the most recent available pop10 ulation statistics published in the most 

11 recent decennial census issued by the 

12 Census Bureau; or 

13 ‘‘(III) any area that qualified as 

14 a rural area under the rules of the 

15 Commission in effect on December 1, 

16 2004.’’; 

17 (5) by striking ‘‘and’’ in paragraph (7)(B)(vi); 

18 and 

19 (6) by striking paragraph (7)(B)(vii) and insert20 ing the following: 

21 ‘‘(vii) not-for-profit nursing homes or 

22 skilled nursing facilities; 

23 ‘‘(viii) critical access hospitals; 

24 ‘‘(ix) emergency medical services facili25 ties; 


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1 ‘‘(x) hospice providers; 

2 ‘‘(xi) rural dialysis facilities; 

3 ‘‘(xii) tribal health clinics; 

4 ‘‘(xiii) not-for-profit dental offices; 

5 ‘‘(xiv) school health clinics; 

6 ‘‘(xv) residential treatment facilities; 

7 ‘‘(xvi) rural pharmacies; 

8 ‘‘(xvii) consortia of health care pro9 viders consisting of 1 or more entities de10 scribed in clauses (i) through (xv); and 

11 ‘‘(xviii) any other entity the Commis12 sion determines— 

13 ‘‘(I) eligible to receive discounted 

14 telecommunications service under 

15 paragraph (1)(A); and 

16 ‘‘(II) essential to the public 

17 health.’’. 

18 (b) SCHOOLS, LIBRARIES, RURAL HEALTH CARE, 

19 LIFE-LINE, LINK-UP, AND TOLL LIMITATION HOLD HARM20 LESS.—Except as provided in subsections (h)(1)(A), 

21 (h)(7)(B), and (h)(7)(J) of section 254 of the Communica22 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254), as amended by subsection 

23 (a)— 

24 (1) nothing in this Act (or the amendments 

25 made by this Act) shall be construed as limiting, 


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1 changing, modifying, or altering the amount of sup2 port or means of distribution for the schools, libraries, 

3 rural health care, life-line, link-up, and toll limita4 tion programs; and 

5 (2) the Federal Communications Commission 

6 shall ensure that such amendments do not result in 

7 a decrease of such support to a level below the level 

8 for the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year in which 

9 this Act is enacted. 

10 (c) AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY RESIDENTIAL

11 INTERNET ACCESS QUESTION.—The Secretary of Com12 merce, in consultation with the Federal Communications 

13 Commission, shall expand the American Community Sur14 vey conducted by the Bureau of the Census to elicit informa15 tion for residential households, including those located on 

16 Indian land (as defined in section 4(9) of the American 

17 Indian Agricultural Resource Management Act (25 U.S.C. 

18 3703(9))), as to what technology such households use to ac19 cess the Internet from home. 

20 SEC. 261. COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES FOR LIBRARIES. 

21 Section 254(h)(4) of the Communications Act of 1934 

22 (47 U.S.C. 254(h)(4)) is amended to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(4) CERTAIN USERS NOT ELIGIBLE.—Notwith24 standing any other provision of this subsection, the 


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1 following entities are not entitled to preferential rates 

2 or treatment as required by this subsection: 

3 ‘‘(A) An entity operated as a for-profit busi4 ness. 

5 ‘‘(B) A school described in paragraph 

6 (7)(A) with an endowment of more than 

7 $50,000,000. 

8 ‘‘(C) A library or library consortium not el9 igible for assistance under the Library Services 

10 and Technology Act (20 U.S.C. 9101 et seq.) 

11 from a State library administrative agency. 

12 ‘‘(D) A library or library consortium not el13 igible for assistance funded by a grant under sec14 tion 261 of the Library Services and Technology 

15 Act (20 U.S.C. 9161) from an Indian tribe or 

16 other organization.’’. 

17 SEC. 262. USF SUPPORT FOR INSULAR AREAS. 

18 Within 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

19 Act, the Federal Communications Commission shall issue 

20 an order in FCC Docket 96–45 establishing a predictable 

21 and sufficient support mechanism for eligible carriers in 

22 insular areas, including any insular area that is a State 

23 comprised entirely of islands, that includes assistance for 

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1 riers whose service territory includes multiple noncontig2 uous service areas. 

3 TITLE III—STREAMLINING THE 

4 FRANCHISING PROCESS 

5 SEC. 301. SHORT TITLE. 

6 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Video Competition and 

7 Savings for Consumers Act of 2006’’. 

8 Subtitle A—Updating the 1934 Act 

9 and Leveling the Regulatory 

10 Playing Field 

11 SEC. 311. APPLICATION OF TITLE VI TO VIDEO SERVICES 

12 AND VIDEO SERVICE PROVIDERS. 

13 (a) TERMINOLOGY.—Title VI (47 U.S.C. 521 et seq.), 

14 except for section 602 (47 U.S.C. 522), is amended— 

15 (1) by striking ‘‘cable operator’’, ‘‘cable opera16 tor’s’’, and ‘‘cable operators’’ each place they appear 

17 and inserting ‘‘video service provider’’, ‘‘video service 

18 provider’s’’, or ‘‘video service providers’’, respectively; 

19 (2) by striking ‘‘cable’’ when used in ‘‘cable aux20 iliary’’, ‘‘cable communications’’, ‘‘cable network’’, 

21 ‘‘cable programmer’’, ‘‘cable programmers’’, ‘‘cable 

22 service’’, ‘‘cable services’’, ‘‘cable subscriber’’, ‘‘cable 

23 system’’, ‘‘cable systems’’, or ‘‘cable telecommuni24 cations’’, each place it appears and inserting ‘‘video 

25 service’’; 


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1 (3) by striking ‘‘noncable’’ in section 

2 614(h)(1)(C)(ii)(IV) and inserting ‘‘non-video serv3 ice’’; 

4 (4) except where amended by paragraph (1), by 

5 striking ‘‘operator’’, ‘‘operator’s’’, and ‘‘operators’’ 

6 each place they appear and inserting ‘‘provider’’, 

7 ‘‘provider’s’’, or ‘‘providers’’, respectively; 

8 (5) by striking ‘‘cassette’’ each place it appears; 

9 and 

10 (6) by striking ‘‘tape’’ each place it appears and 

11 inserting ‘‘record’’. 

12 (b) HEADINGS.—Title VI (47 U.S.C. 521 et seq.) is 

13 amended— 

14 (1) by striking the heading for title VI and in15 serting ‘‘TITLE VI—VIDEO SERVICES’’; 

16 (2) by striking the heading for part II and in17 serting ‘‘PART II—USE OF VIDEO SERV18 ICES; RESTRICTIONS’’; 

19 (3) by striking the heading for part III and in20 serting ‘‘PART III—FRANCHISING’’; and 

21 (4) striking ‘‘CABLE’’ in the heading for sec22 tions 633 and 640 and inserting ‘‘VIDEO’’. 

23 (c) REGULATIONS.—Notwithstanding section 381(a) of 

24 this Act: 


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1 (1) NEW REGULATIONS.—Within 120 days after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission 

3 shall issue regulations to implement sections 603, 611, 

4 612, 621, and 622 of the Communications Act of 

5 1934, as amended by this Act. 

6 (2) UPDATING EXISTING REGULATIONS.—Within 

7 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

8 Commission shall issue, as necessary, updated regula9 tions needed under title VI or other provisions of the 

10 Communications Act of 1934 to reflect the amend11 ments made by this Act. 

12 SEC. 312. FRANCHISE APPLICATIONS; SCOPE. 

13 Part I of title VI (47 U.S.C. 521 et seq.) is amended 

14 by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 603. FRANCHISE APPLICATIONS. 

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

17 ‘‘(1) EXPEDITED PROCESS.—Except as otherwise 

18 provided in this subsection, a franchising authority 

19 shall grant a franchise to provide video service within 

20 its franchise area to a video service provider within 

21 90 calendar days after receiving a franchise applica22 tion that is complete from the video service provider 

23 except for— 

24 ‘‘(A) the franchise fee percentage, as pro25 vided by section 622(b)(1); 


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1 ‘‘(B) the number of public, educational, or 

2 governmental use channels required by section 

3 611; 

4 ‘‘(C) any fee percentage that may be as5 sessed under section 622(b)(4); and 

6 ‘‘(D) the point of contact for the franchising 

7 authority. 

8 ‘‘(2) STANDARDIZED APPLICATION FORM.—A 

9 video service provider shall use the standard franchise 

10 application form promulgated by the Commission 

11 under section 612. 

12 ‘‘(3) RESPONSIBILITIES OF FRANCHISING AU13 THORITY—After receiving a franchise application 

14 under paragraph (1), a franchising authority shall— 

15 ‘‘(A) publish public notice of the applica16 tion within 15 days after receiving a complete 

17 application from a video service provider if pub18 lic notice is required by State or local law; and 

19 ‘‘(B) complete and return the application 

20 form by providing the information described in 

21 subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), and (D) of para22 graph (1) in a manner that is consistent with 

23 the requirements of this title within 90 calendar 

24 days after the date on which it was received. 


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1 ‘‘(4) ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS.—A franchising 

2 agreement shall take effect 15 calendar days after the 

3 date that the completed franchise application is re4 ceived by the applicant under paragraph (3)(B) un5 less the applicant notifies the franchising authority 

6 within that 15-day period that the terms offered are 

7 not accepted. 

8 ‘‘(5) EXCEPTION.—This subsection does not re9 quire a franchising authority to approve or complete 

10 an application from a video service provider if a 

11 franchise held by that provider has been revoked 

12 under section 625(b) by the franchising authority. 

13 ‘‘(b) DEEMED APPROVAL.—Except as provided in sub14 section (a)(5), if a franchising authority fails to act on a 

15 franchise application that meets the requirements of this 

16 title within the 90-day period described in subsection 

17 (a)(3)(B), the franchise application shall be deemed grant18 ed— 

19 ‘‘(1) effective on the 91st day after the fran20 chising authority received the application; 

21 ‘‘(2) for a term of 15 years; 

22 ‘‘(3) with— 

23 ‘‘(A) the same percentage of gross revenue 

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1 scribers offering cable service in the franchise 

2 area; or 

3 ‘‘(B) if there is no cable operator offering 

4 cable service in the franchise area, 5 percent of 

5 gross revenue; and 

6 ‘‘(4) with an obligation to provide the number of 

7 public, educational, or governmental use channels re8 quired by section 611. 

9 ‘‘(c) PROCEDURE.—If an application is not granted 

10 within the 90-day period described in subsection (a)(3)(B) 

11 because of subsection (a)(5), the applicant may avail itself 

12 of the procedures in section 635 of this Act. 

13 ‘‘SEC. 604. NO EFFECT ON STATE LAWS OF GENERAL APPLI14 CABILITY. 

15 ‘‘Nothing in this title is intended to affect State or 

16 local laws of general applicability, except to the extent that 

17 such laws are inconsistent with this title. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 605. DIRECT BROADCAST SATELLITE SERVICE. 

19 ‘‘No State or local government may regulate direct 

20 broadcast satellite services (as that term is used in section 

21 335 of this Act). This section shall not be construed to pre22 vent taxation of a provider of direct-to-home satellite service 

23 by a State, to the extent otherwise permissible, and shall 

24 not preempt State or local laws of general applicability.’’. 


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1 SEC. 313. STANDARD FRANCHISE APPLICATION FORM. 

2 Section 612 (47 U.S.C. 532) is amended to read as 

3 follows: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 612. STANDARD FRANCHISE APPLICATION FORM. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Within 30 days after the date of 

6 enactment of the Video Competition and Savings for Con7 sumers Act of 2006, the Commission shall promulgate a 

8 standard franchise application form, the use of which by 

9 franchising authorities shall be mandatory. 

10 ‘‘(b) COMPLIANCE COMMITMENTS.—The franchise ap11 plication form shall include a statement, to be signed by 

12 the video service provider— 

13 ‘‘(1) that it agrees to comply with all applicable 

14 Federal and State statutes and regulations that are 

15 consistent with this title; 

16 ‘‘(2) that it agrees to comply with all applicable 

17 municipal regulations regarding the use and occupa18 tion of public rights-of-way in the delivery of video 

19 service, including the police powers of the municipali20 ties in which the service is delivered that are con21 sistent with this title; 

22 ‘‘(3) geographically identifying the franchise 

23 area in which the provider intends to offer cable serv24 ice pursuant to the standard franchise; and 

25 ‘‘(4) certifying that the information contained in 

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1 vider will immediately notify the franchising author2 ity of any material changes in that information dur3 ing the franchise term. 

4 ‘‘(c) PROVISIONS TO BE SUPPLIED.—The franchise 

5 application form shall include only the following blank 

6 spaces to be filled in by the video service provider and the 

7 franchising authority, as appropriate: 

8 ‘‘(1) The name of the video service provider. 

9 ‘‘(2) The name and business address of each di10 rector and principal executive officer. 

11 ‘‘(3) A point of contact for the video service pro12 vider. 

13 ‘‘(4) A point of contact for the franchising au14 thority. 

15 ‘‘(5) The franchise fee percentage under section 

16 622(b)(1). 

17 ‘‘(6) Any fee percentage that may be assessed 

18 under section 622(b)(4). 

19 ‘‘(7) The period during which the franchising 

20 agreement shall be in effect. 

21 ‘‘(8) The public, educational, or governmental 

22 capacity to be provided. 

23 ‘‘(9) The physical location of the headend. 

24 ‘‘(10) A description of the video service to be pro25 vided. 


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1 ‘‘(11) Signatures. 

2 ‘‘(12) Dates for each signature.’’. 

3 SEC. 314. DEFINITIONS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 602 (47 U.S.C. 522) is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘cable system’’ in paragraphs (1) 

7 and (9) and inserting ‘‘video service system’’; 

8 (2) by striking ‘‘regulation);’’ in paragraph (4) 

9 and inserting ‘‘regulation) or its equivalent (as deter10 mined by the Commission).’’; 

11 (3) by inserting after paragraph (11) the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(11A) HEADEND.—The term ‘headend’ means 

14 the headend of a cable system or its equivalent as de15 termined by the Commission.’’; 

16 (4) by inserting after paragraph (12) the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(12A) INSTITUTIONAL NETWORK.—The term 

19 ‘institutional network’ means a communication net20 work constructed by a cable operator that is generally 

21 available only to subscribers who are not residential 

22 subscribers.’’; 

23 (5) by striking ‘‘cable operator’’ in paragraph 

24 (14) and inserting ‘‘video service provider’’; 


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1 (6) by inserting after paragraph (16) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(16A) SATELLITE CARRIER.—The term ‘satellite 

4 carrier’ means an entity that uses the facilities of a 

5 satellite or satellite service licensed by the Commis6 sion and operates in the Fixed-Satellite Service under 

7 part 25 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or 

8 the Direct Broadcast Satellite Service under part 100 

9 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, to establish 

10 and operate a channel of communications for point11 to-multipoint distribution of television station sig12 nals, and that owns or leases capacity or service on 

13 a satellite in order to provide such point-to14 multipoint distribution, except to the extent that such 

15 entity provides such distribution pursuant to tariff 

16 under this Act, for purposes other than for private 

17 home viewing.’’; 

18 (7) by striking ‘‘cable service’’ in paragraph (17) 

19 and inserting ‘‘video service’’; 

20 (8) by striking ‘‘cable operator’’ each place it ap21 pears in paragraph (17) and inserting ‘‘video service 

22 provider’’; and 

23 (9) by inserting after paragraph (20) the fol24 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(24) VIDEO SERVICE.—The term ‘video service’ 

2 means— 

3 ‘‘(A) the transmission to subscribers of— 

4 ‘‘(i) video programming; 

5 ‘‘(ii) interactive on-demand service; or 

6 ‘‘(iii) other programming service; and 

7 ‘‘(B) subscriber interaction, if any, required 

8 for the selection or use of such video program9 ming, interactive on-demand service, or other 

10 programming service regardless of the trans11 mission technology used and regardless of how 

12 the subscriber interacts with the service. 

13 ‘‘(25) VIDEO SERVICE PROVIDER.—The term 

14 ‘video service provider’— 

15 ‘‘(A) means a facilities-based (as determined 

16 by the Commission) provider of video service 

17 that utilizes a public right-of-way in the provi18 sion of such service (including cable operators 

19 and providers offering open video systems under 

20 section 653), regardless of the transmission tech21 nology used and regardless of how the subscriber 

22 interacts with the service; but 

23 ‘‘(B) does not include any person to the ex24 tent that the person is providing— 


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1 ‘‘(i) satellite service, including if such 

2 service is bundled with, or offered in con3 junction with, an Internet access service or 

4 other broadband capability; 

5 ‘‘(ii) video programming using radio 

6 communication directly to the recipient’s 

7 premises; or 

8 ‘‘(iii) service via commercial mobile 

9 service (as defined in section 332(d)).’’. 

10 (b) STYLISTIC CONSISTENCY.—Section 602 (47 U.S.C. 

11 522), as amended by subsection (a), is amended— 

12 (1) by striking ‘‘title—’’ and inserting ‘‘title:’’; 

13 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (20) 

14 as paragraphs (1) through (23); 

15 (3) by striking the semicolon at the end of each 

16 such paragraph and inserting a period; and 

17 (4) by striking ‘‘Commission; and’’ in paragraph 

18 (22), as redesignated, and inserting ‘‘Commission.’’; 

19 (5) except in paragraphs (12), (14), and (19), as 

20 redesignated— 

21 (A) by inserting after the designation of 

22 each such paragraph a heading, in a form con23 sistent with the form of the heading of para24 graphs (24) and (25), as added by subsection (a) 

25 of this section consisting of the term defined by 


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1 such paragraph, or the first term so defined if 

2 the paragraph defines more than 1 term; and 

3 (B) by striking ‘‘the’’ the first place it ap4 pears and inserting ‘‘The’’. 

5 SEC. 315. FAMILY TIER STUDY. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Congress endorses and com7 mends cable operators, satellite providers, and other multi8 channel video programming distributors for their voluntary 

9 efforts to offer family program tiers that seek to meet con10 sumer demand for programming packages free of indecent 

11 and obscene programming suitable for family audiences. 

12 (b) DATA COLLECTION.—Every multichannel video 

13 programming distributor shall submit an annual report to 

14 the Federal Communications Commission on family tiers 

15 that includes whether it offers a family tier, the retail price 

16 of such tier, a description of the channels included in such 

17 tier, a description of the distributor’s efforts to market such 

18 tier, and the subscribership level for every tier and package 

19 offered by such distributor. The Commission shall keep con20 fidential any data that is not available in the public do21 main on the date of submission. 

22 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Within 1 year after the 

23 date of enactment of this Act, and every year thereafter for 

24 5 years, the Commission shall submit a report to Congress 

25 aggregating the data it receives pursuant to subsection (b). 


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1 SEC. 316. NOTICE OF INQUIRY ON VIOLENT PROGRAMMING. 

2 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

3 of this Act, the Federal Communications Commission shall 

4 complete its Notice of Inquiry and issue its finding in the 

5 matter of Violent Television Programming and Its Impact 

6 on Children, MB Docket No. 04–261. 

7 Subtitle B—Streamlining the 

8 Provision of Video Services 

9 SEC. 331. FRANCHISE REQUIREMENTS AND RELATED PRO10 VISIONS. 

11 (a) GENERAL FRANCHISE REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

12 621 (47 U.S.C. 541) is amended— 

13 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

16 ‘‘(1) AWARD OF FRANCHISE.—A franchising au17 thority may not— 

18 ‘‘(A) grant an exclusive franchise; or 

19 ‘‘(B) grant a franchise for a term shorter 

20 than 5 years or longer than 15 years as provided 

21 in section 603. 

22 ‘‘(2) PRESERVATION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AU23 THORITY TO MANAGE PUBLIC RIGHTS-OF-WAY; EASE24 MENTS.— 

25 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

26 this title, no State or local law may prohibit, or 


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1 have the effect of prohibiting, a video service pro2 vider from offering video service. 

3 ‘‘(B) HOLD HARMLESS.—A State or local 

4 government shall apply its laws or regulations 

5 in a manner that is reasonable, competitively 

6 neutral, nondiscriminatory, and consistent with 

7 State police powers, including permitting, pay8 ments for bonds, security funds, letters of credit, 

9 insurance, indemnification, penalties, or liq10 uidated damages to ensure compliance with such 

11 laws and regulations. Any permitting fees im12 posed by a State or local government shall be for 

13 the purpose of compensating that government for 

14 the costs incurred in managing public rights-of15 way. Any law or regulation that meets the re16 quirements of this subparagraph shall not be 

17 held to violate subparagraph (A). 

18 ‘‘(C) PROPERTY OWNERS.—Nothing in this 

19 title precludes a State or local government from 

20 requiring that a property owner be justly com21 pensated by a video service provider for damage 

22 caused by the installation, construction, oper23 ation, or removal of facilities by the video service 

24 provider. 


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1 ‘‘(D) DISPUTE RESOLUTION.—If a dispute 

2 arises concerning the application of subpara3 graph (A), (B), or (C), the sole recourse of any 

4 party to the dispute shall be to file an action in 

5 a court of competent jurisdiction. 

6 ‘‘(3) USE OF PUBLIC RIGHTS-OF-WAY.—Any 

7 franchise shall be construed to authorize the construc8 tion of a video service system over public rights-of9 way, and through easements, which is within the area 

10 to be served by the video service system and which 

11 have been dedicated for compatible uses, except that 

12 in using such easements the video service provider 

13 shall ensure— 

14 ‘‘(A) that the safety and functioning of the 

15 property and the safety of other persons not be 

16 adversely affected by the installation or construc17 tion of facilities necessary for a video service sys18 tem; and 

19 ‘‘(B) that the cost of the installation, con20 struction, operation, or removal of such facilities 

21 be borne by the video service provider or sub22 scriber, or a combination of both.’’; and 

23 (2) by striking paragraph (1) of subsection (b) 

24 and inserting ‘‘(1) Except to the extent provided in 


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1 subsection (f), a video service provider may not pro2 vide video service without a franchise.’’. 

3 (b) FRANCHISE FEE.—Section 622 (47 U.S.C. 542) is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) by striking subsections (a) and (b) and in6 serting the following: 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A franchising authority may im8 pose and collect a franchise fee from a video service provider 

9 that provides video services within the local franchise area 

10 of that authority. A franchising authority may not dis11 criminate among video service providers in imposing or col12 lecting any fee assessed under this section. 

13 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The franchise fee imposed by 

15 a franchising authority under subsection (a) for any 

16 12-month period may not exceed 5 percent of the 

17 video service provider’s gross revenue derived in such 

18 period. For purposes of this section, the 12-month pe19 riod shall be the 12-month period applicable under 

20 the franchise for accounting purposes. 

21 ‘‘(2) PREPAID OR DEFERRED PAYMENT AR22 RANGEMENTS.—Nothing in this subsection prohibits a 

23 franchising authority and a video service provider 

24 from agreeing that franchise fees which lawfully could 

25 be collected for any such 12-month period shall be 


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1 paid on a prepaid or deferred basis, except that the 

2 sum of the fees paid during the term of the franchise 

3 may not exceed the amount, including the time value 

4 of money, which would have lawfully been collected if 

5 such fees had been paid per annum. 

6 ‘‘(3) FRANCHISING AUTHORITY AND VIDEO SERV7 ICE PROVIDER AGREEMENTS.—Nothing in this section 

8 precludes a State or local government and a video 

9 service provider from entering into a voluntary com10 mercial agreement, whereby in consideration for a 

11 mutually agreed upon reduction in the franchise fee 

12 under paragraph (1), the video service provider makes 

13 available to the local unit of government services, 

14 equipment, capabilities, or other valuable consider15 ation. 

16 ‘‘(4) PEG AND INSTITUTIONAL NETWORK FINAN17 CIAL SUPPORT.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

19 subparagraph (D), a video service provider may 

20 be required to pay a fee equal to— 

21 ‘‘‘(i) not more than 1 percent of the 

22 video service provider’s gross revenue in the 

23 franchise area to the franchising authority 

24 for the support of public, educational, and 


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1 governmental access facilities and institu2 tional networks; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) the value, on a per subscriber 

4 basis, of all monetary grants or in-kind 

5 services or facilities for public, educational, 

6 or governmental access facilities provided 

7 by the cable operator in the franchise area 

8 with the most cable service subscribers in 

9 the calendar year preceding the date of en10 actment of the Video Competition and Sav11 ings for Consumers Act of 2006, pursuant to 

12 that cable operator’s existing franchise in 

13 effect on the date of enactment of that Act. 

14 ‘‘(B) CALCULATION DATA.—A franchising 

15 authority may require a cable operator to pro16 vide information sufficient to calculate the per17 subscriber equivalent fee allowed by subpara18 graph (A)(ii). The information shall be treated 

19 as confidential and proprietary business infor20 mation. The payments made by a video service 

21 provider pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be 

22 assessed and collected in a manner consistent 

23 with this section. 

24 ‘‘(C) EXISTING INSTITUTIONAL NET25 WORKS.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) CONTINUED SERVICE.—Except as 

2 provided in subparagraph (D), a fran3 chising authority may require a cable oper4 ator or video service provider with a fran5 chise in effect on the date of enactment of 

6 the Video Competition and Savings for Con7 sumers Act of 2006 to continue to provide 

8 any institutional network it was required to 

9 provide on the date of enactment of that Act 

10 notwithstanding the expiration or termi11 nation of that franchise pursuant to section 

12 381(b) of the Video Competition and Sav13 ings for Consumers Act of 2006. 

14 ‘‘(ii) NEW NETWORK NOT REQUIRED.— 

15 A franchising authority may not require a 

16 video service provider to construct a new in17 stitutional network. 

18 ‘‘(D) SPECIAL RULE.—In Hawaii— 

19 ‘‘(i) subparagraph (A)(ii) shall be ap20 plied by inserting ‘and institutional net21 works’ after ‘governmental access facilities’; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(ii) subparagraph (C)(i) shall be ap24 plied by inserting ‘or had committed to pro25 vide’ after ‘required to provide’.’’; and 


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1 (2) by striking subsections (d) through (h), redes2 ignating subsection (i) as subsection (h), and insert3 ing the following after subsection (c): 

4 ‘‘(d) OTHER TAXES, FEES, AND ASSESSMENTS NOT

5 AFFECTED.—Except as otherwise provided in this section, 

6 nothing in this section shall be construed to modify, impair, 

7 supersede, or authorize the modification, impairment, or 

8 supersession of, any State or local law pertaining to tax9 ation. 

10 ‘‘(e) ANNUAL REVIEW.— 

11 ‘‘(1) FRANCHISING AUTHORITY AUDIT PROCE12 DURE.—A franchising authority may, upon reason13 able written request, but no more than once in any 

14 12-month period, review the business records of a 

15 video service provider to the extent reasonably nec16 essary to ensure payment of the fees required by this 

17 section. The review may include the methodology used 

18 by the video service provider to assign portions of the 

19 revenue from video service that may be bundled or 

20 functionally integrated with other services, capabili21 ties, or applications. The review shall be conducted in 

22 accordance with procedures established by the Com23 mission. 

24 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY OF BOOKS AND RECORDS.— 

25 Upon request under paragraph (1), a video service 


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1 provider shall make available its books and records 

2 for periodic audit by a franchising authority. The 

3 franchising authority shall treat information obtained 

4 in the course of such an audit as confidential and 

5 proprietary and protect sensitive information from 

6 public disclosure. 

7 ‘‘(3) COST RECOVERY.—To the extent that the re8 view under paragraph (1) identifies an under9 payment of more than 5 percent of any fee required 

10 by this section for the period of review, the video serv11 ice provider shall reimburse the franchising authority 

12 the reasonable costs of any such review conducted by 

13 an independent third party with respect to such fee. 

14 The costs of any contingency fee arrangement between 

15 the franchising authority and the independent re16 viewer shall not be subject to reimbursement. 

17 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION.—Any fee that is not reviewed 

18 by a franchising authority within 3 years after it is 

19 paid or remitted shall not be subject to later review 

20 by the franchising authority under this subsection 

21 and shall be deemed accepted in full payment by the 

22 franchising authority. 

23 ‘‘(f) GAAP STANDARDS.—For purposes of this section, 

24 all financial determinations and computations shall be 


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1 made in accordance with generally accepted accounting 

2 principles except as otherwise provided. 

3 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) FRANCHISE FEE.—The term ‘franchise 

5 fee’— 

6 ‘‘(A) includes any tax, fee, or assessment of 

7 any kind imposed by a franchising authority or 

8 a State or local governmental entity on a video 

9 service provider or subscriber, or both, solely be10 cause of their status as such; but 

11 ‘‘(B) does not include— 

12 ‘‘(i) any tax, fee, or assessment of gen13 eral applicability (including any such tax, 

14 fee, or assessment imposed on both utilities 

15 and video service providers or their services 

16 but not including a tax, fee, or assessment 

17 which is unduly discriminatory against 

18 video service providers or subscribers); 

19 ‘‘(ii) any fee that is required by the 

20 franchise under subsection (b)(4); 

21 ‘‘(iii) requirements or charges inci22 dental to the use of public rights-of-way, in23 cluding payments for bonds, security funds, 

24 letters of credit, insurance, indemnification, 

25 penalties, or liquidated damages; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) costs of fines, penalties, or 

2 recoupment; or 

3 ‘‘(v) any fee imposed under title 17, 

4 United States Code. 

5 ‘‘(2) GROSS REVENUE.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘gross rev7 enue’ means all consideration of any kind or na8 ture including cash, credits, property, and in9 kind contributions (services or goods) received by 

10 a video service provider from the provision of 

11 video service within a franchise area includ12 ing— 

13 ‘‘(i) all charges and fees paid by sub14 scribers for the provision of video service, 

15 including fees attributable to video service 

16 when that service is sold individually or as 

17 part of a package or bundle, or is function18 ally integrated with services other than 

19 video service; 

20 ‘‘(ii) revenue received by a video serv21 ice provider as compensation for carriage of 

22 video programming on the provider’s sys23 tem; 

24 ‘‘(iii) compensation received by a video 

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1 motion or exhibition of any product or serv2 ice on the provider’s video service, such as 

3 a home shopping or similar channel, subject 

4 to subparagraph (D)(vi); and 

5 ‘‘(iv) a pro rata portion of all revenue 

6 derived by a video service provider or an af7 filiate thereof pursuant to a compensation 

8 arrangement for advertising derived from 

9 the operation of the provider’s video service 

10 or the video service within a franchise area 

11 subject to subparagraph (D)(ii). 

12 ‘‘(B) AFFILIATES.—The gross revenue of a 

13 video service provider includes gross revenue of 

14 an affiliate to the extent the exclusion of the af15 filiate’s gross revenue would have the effect of 

16 permitting the video service provider to evade the 

17 payment of franchise fees which would otherwise 

18 be paid by that video service provider for video 

19 services provided within the franchise area of the 

20 franchising authority imposing the fee. 

21 ‘‘(C) REVENUE FROM BUNDLED OR FUNC22 TIONALLY INTEGRATED SERVICE.—In the case of 

23 a video service that is packaged, bundled, or 

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1 clude only the revenue attributable to the video 

2 service, which shall be reflected on the books and 

3 records of the video service provider kept in the 

4 regular course of business. 

5 ‘‘(D) EXCLUSIONS.—Gross revenue of a 

6 video service provider (or an affiliate to the ex7 tent otherwise included in the gross revenue of 

8 the video service provider under subparagraph 

9 (B)) does not include— 

10 ‘‘(i) any revenue not actually received, 

11 even if billed, such as bad debts, net of any 

12 recoveries of bad debts; 

13 ‘‘(ii) refunds, rebates, credits, or dis14 counts to subscribers or a municipality to 

15 the extent not already excluded under clause 

16 (i); 

17 ‘‘(iii) subject to subparagraph (C), any 

18 revenues received by a video service provider 

19 or its affiliates from the provision of serv20 ices or capabilities other than video service, 

21 including— 

22 ‘‘(I) voice, Internet access, or 

23 other broadband-enabled applications 

24 that are not video service; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) services, capabilities, and 

2 applications that are sold or provided 

3 as part of a package or bundle of serv4 ices or capabilities, or that are func5 tionally integrated with video service; 

6 ‘‘(iv) any revenues received by a video 

7 service provider or its affiliates for the pro8 vision of directory or Internet advertising, 

9 including yellow pages, white pages, banner 

10 advertisement, and electronic publishing; 

11 ‘‘(v) any costs attributable to the pro12 vision of video services to subscribers at no 

13 charge, including the provision of such serv14 ices to public institutions without charge; 

15 ‘‘(vi) any revenue paid by subscribers 

16 to a home shopping programmer directly 

17 from the sale of merchandise through any 

18 home shopping channel offered as part of 

19 the video service provider’s video services, 

20 but not excluding any commissions that are 

21 paid to the video service provider as com22 pensation for promotion or exhibition of 

23 any product or service on the provider’s 

24 video service, such as a home shopping or 

25 similar channel; 


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1 ‘‘(vii) any revenue forgone from the 

2 provision of video service at no charge to 

3 any person other than forgone revenue ex4 changed for trades, barters, services, or other 

5 items of value; 

6 ‘‘(viii) any tax, fee, or assessment of 

7 general applicability imposed on a sub8 scriber or transaction by Federal, State, or 

9 local government that is required to be col10 lected by the video service provider and re11 mitted to the taxing authority, including 

12 sales taxes, use taxes, and utility user taxes; 

13 ‘‘(ix) any revenue from the sale of cap14 ital assets or surplus equipment; 

15 ‘‘(x) the reimbursement by program16 mers for marketing costs actually incurred 

17 by a video service provider for the introduc18 tion of new programming; or 

19 ‘‘(xi) any revenue from the sale of 

20 video services for resale to the extent that 

21 the purchaser certifies in writing that it 

22 will— 

23 ‘‘(I) resell the service; and 

24 ‘‘(II) pay any applicable fran25 chise fee with respect thereto.’’. 


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1 SEC. 332. RENEWAL; REVOCATION. 

2 Part II of title VI (47 U.S.C. 541 et seq.) is amended 

3 by striking sections 625 and 626 and inserting the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 625. RENEWAL; REVOCATION. 

6 ‘‘(a) RENEWAL.—A video service provider may submit 

7 a written application for renewal of its franchise to a fran8 chising authority not more than 180 days before the fran9 chise expires. Any such application shall be made on the 

10 standard application form promulgated by the Commission 

11 under section 612 and shall be treated under section 603 

12 in the same manner as any other franchise application. 

13 ‘‘(b) REVOCATION.—Notwithstanding any other law of 

14 general applicability, a franchising authority may revoke 

15 a video service provider’s franchise if it determines, after 

16 notice and an opportunity for a hearing, that the video 

17 service provider has— 

18 ‘‘(1) violated any Federal or State law, or any 

19 Commission regulation, relating to the provision of 

20 video services in the franchise area; 

21 ‘‘(2) made false statements, or material omis22 sions, in any filing with the franchising authority or 

23 the Commission relating to the provision of video 

24 service in the franchise area; 

25 ‘‘(3) violated the rights-of-way management laws 

26 or regulations of any franchising authority in the 


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1 franchise area relating to the provision of video serv2 ice in the franchise area; or 

3 ‘‘(4) violated the terms of the franchise agree4 ment (including any commercial agreement permitted 

5 under section 622(b)(3)). 

6 ‘‘(c) NOTICE; OPPORTUNITY TO CURE.—A franchising 

7 authority may not revoke a franchise unless it first pro8 vides— 

9 ‘‘(1) written notice to the video service provider 

10 of the alleged violation in which the revocation would 

11 be based; and 

12 ‘‘(2) a reasonable opportunity to cure the viola13 tion. 

14 ‘‘(d) FINALITY OF DECISION.—Any decision of a fran15 chising authority to revoke a franchise under this section 

16 is final for purposes of appeal. A video service provider 

17 whose franchise is revoked by a franchising authority may 

18 avail itself of the procedures in section 635 of this Act.’’. 

19 SEC. 333. PEG AND INSTITUTIONAL NETWORK OBLIGA20 TIONS. 

21 Section 611 (47 U.S.C. 531) is amended to read as 

22 follows: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 611. CHANNELS FOR PUBLIC, EDUCATIONAL, OR GOV2 ERNMENTAL USE. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A video service provider that ob4 tains a franchise shall provide channel capacity for public, 

5 educational, or governmental use that is not less than the 

6 channel capacity required of the cable operator or video 

7 service provider with the greatest number of public, edu8 cational, or governmental use channels in the franchise area 

9 on the effective date of the franchise. If there is no other 

10 video service provider in the franchise area on the effective 

11 date of the franchise, the video service provider may be re12 quired to provide up to 3 channels. 

13 ‘‘(b) ADJUSTMENT.—Every 15 years after the com14 mencement of a franchise granted after April 30, 2006, a 

15 franchising authority may require a video service provider 

16 to increase the channel capacity designated for public, edu17 cational, or governmental use, and the channel capacity 

18 designated for such use on any institutional networks re19 quired under subsection (a). The increase may not exceed 

20 the greater of— 

21 ‘‘(1) 1 channel; or 

22 ‘‘(2) 10 percent of the public, educational, or 

23 governmental channel capacity required of the video 

24 service provider before the required increase. 

25 ‘‘(c) EDITORIAL CONTROL.—Subject to section 

26 624(d)(1), a video service provider shall not exercise any 


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1 editorial control over any public, educational, or govern2 mental use of channel capacity provided pursuant to this 

3 section, but a video service provider may refuse to transmit 

4 any public access program or portion of a public access pro5 gram which contains obscenity. 

6 ‘‘(d) TRANSMISSION AND PRODUCTION OF PROGRAM7 MING.— 

8 ‘‘(1) PEG PROGRAMMING.—A video service pro9 vider shall ensure that all subscribers receive any 

10 public, educational, or governmental programming 

11 carried by the video service provider within the sub12 scriber’s franchise area. 

13 ‘‘(2) PRODUCTION RESPONSIBILITY.—The pro14 duction of any programming provided under this sub15 section shall be the responsibility of the franchising 

16 authority. 

17 ‘‘(3) TRANSMISSION RESPONSIBILITY.—The video 

18 service provider shall be responsible for the trans19 mission from the signal origination point (or points) 

20 of the programming, or from the point of interconnec21 tion with another video service provider already offer22 ing the public, educational, or governmental program23 ming under paragraph (4), to the video service pro24 vider’s subscribers, or any public, educational, or gov25 ernmental programming produced by or for the franVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:27 Oct 01, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00153 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5252.RS H5252

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1 chising authority and carried by the video service 

2 provider pursuant to this section. 

3 ‘‘(4) INTERCONNECTION; COST-SHARING.—Unless 

4 2 video service providers otherwise agree to the terms 

5 for interconnection and cost sharing, such video serv6 ice providers shall comply with regulations prescribed 

7 by the Commission providing for— 

8 ‘‘(A) the interconnection between 2 video 

9 service providers in a franchise area for trans10 mission of public, educational, or governmental 

11 programming, without material degradation in 

12 signal quality or functionality; and 

13 ‘‘(B) the reasonable allocation of the costs of 

14 such interconnection between such video service 

15 providers. 

16 ‘‘(5) DISPLAY OF PROGRAM INFORMATION.—The 

17 video service provider shall display the program in18 formation for public, educational, or governmental 

19 programming in any print or electronic program 

20 guide in the same manner in which it displays pro21 gram information for other video programming in the 

22 franchise area. The video service provider may not 

23 omit public, educational, or governmental program24 ming from any navigational device, guide, or menu 

25 containing other video programming that is available 


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1 to subscribers in the franchise area if the franchising 

2 authority provides such programming to the video 

3 service provider at a location, in the data format, and 

4 in sufficient time normally required for the program5 ming to be displayed on such device, guide, or 

6 menu.’’. 

7 SEC. 334. SERVICES, FACILITIES, AND EQUIPMENT. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 624 (47 U.S.C. 544) is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) by striking subsections (a), (b), (c), (e), and 

11 (h) and redesignating subsections (d), (f), (g), and (i) 

12 as subsections (a) through (d), respectively; and 

13 (2) by inserting ‘‘or wire’’ after ‘‘ any cable’’ in 

14 subsection (d), as redesignated. 

15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 611(c) (47 

16 U.S.C. 531(c)), as amended by section 333 of this Act, is 

17 amended by striking ‘‘624(d)(1)’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘624(a)(1)’’. 

19 SEC. 335. SHARED FACILITIES. 

20 Part III of title VI (47 U.S.C. 541 et seq.) is amend21 ed— 

22 (1) by striking section 627 and redesignating 

23 sections 628 and 629 as sections 626 and 627, respec24 tively; and 

25 (2) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 628. ACCESS TO PROGRAMMING FOR SHARED FACILI2 TIES. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A video service programming ven4 dor in which a video service provider has an attributable 

5 interest may not deny a video service provider with a fran6 chise under this title access to video programming solely 

7 because that video service provider uses a headend for its 

8 video service system that is also used, under a shared owner9 ship or leasing agreement, as the headend for another video 

10 service system. 

11 ‘‘(b) VIDEO SERVICE PROGRAMMING VENDOR DE12 FINED.—The term ‘video service programming vendor’ 

13 means a person engaged in the production, creation, or 

14 wholesale distribution for sale of video programming that 

15 is primarily intended for receipt by video service providers 

16 for retransmission to their video service subscribers.’’. 

17 SEC. 336. CONSUMER PROTECTION AND CUSTOMER SERV18 ICE. 

19 Section 632 (47 U.S.C. 552) is amended to read as 

20 follows: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 632. CONSUMER PROTECTION AND CUSTOMER SERV22 ICE. 

23 ‘‘(a) REGULATIONS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days 

25 after the date of enactment of the Video Competition 

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1 sion, after receiving comments from interested parties, 

2 including national associations representing fran3 chising authorities or consumers, shall promulgate 

4 regulations, which shall include penalties to be paid 

5 to subscribers with respect to customer service and 

6 consumer protection requirements for video service 

7 providers. 

8 ‘‘(2) EFFECTIVE DATE OF REGULATIONS.—The 

9 regulations required by subsection (a) shall take effect 

10 60 days after the date on which a final rule is pro11 mulgated by the Commission. 

12 ‘‘(b) MAXIMUM PENALTY FOR EARLY TERMINATION OF

13 SUBSCRIPTION.—It is unlawful for a video service provider 

14 to charge a subscriber an amount in excess of 1 month’s 

15 subscription fee as a penalty or service charge for termi16 nating a subscription to the video service provider’s service 

17 before the date on which the subscription term ends. 

18 ‘‘(c) ENFORCEMENT.—The regulations promulgated by 

19 the Commission under subsection (a) and the provisions of 

20 subsection (b) shall be enforced by franchising authorities. 

21 A franchising authority may refer a matter for enforcement 

22 to the State attorney general or the State consumer protec23 tion agency on a case-by-case basis. 

24 ‘‘(d) REVIEW BY COMMISSION.—A video service pro25 vider may appeal any enforcement action taken against 


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1 that provider by a franchising authority to the Commis2 sion.’’. 

3 SEC. 337. REDLINING. 

4 Part IV of title VI (47 U.S.C. 551 et seq.) is amended 

5 by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 642. REDLINING. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A video service provider may not 

8 deny access to its video service to any group of potential 

9 residential video service subscribers because of the income, 

10 race, or religion of that group. 

11 ‘‘(b) ENFORCEMENT.— 

12 ‘‘(1) STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ENFORCE13 MENT.—This section may be enforced by the State at14 torney general through a complaint-initiated adju15 dication process under which a complaint may be 

16 filed by a resident of the franchising area who is ag17 grieved by a violation of subsection (a) or by a fran18 chising authority on behalf of residents of its fran19 chise area. Within 180 days after receiving the resi20 dent’s or franchising authority’s complaint, a State 

21 attorney general shall act on such a complaint either 

22 by filing a complaint with a court of competent juris23 diction or notifying the resident or franchising au24 thority that the State attorney general will not file 

25 such a complaint. 


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1 ‘‘(2) EVALUATION OF COMPLAINT.—The totality 

2 of the video service provider’s deployments in its serv3 ice areas shall be considered in any adjudication pur4 suant to an enforcement action under this subsection. 

5 ‘‘(c) REMEDIES.—If a court determines that a video 

6 service provider has violated subsection (a) it— 

7 ‘‘(1) shall ensure that the video service provider 

8 remedies any violation of subsection (a); and 

9 ‘‘(2) may assess a civil penalty in such amount 

10 as may be authorized under State law for the fran11 chising area in which the violation occurred for viola12 tion of that State’s antidiscrimination laws. 

13 ‘‘(d) LIMITATIONS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) NATURAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL BAR15 RIERS.—It is not a violation of subsection (a) if video 

16 service is denied because technical feasibility, com17 mercial feasibility, operational limitations, or phys18 ical barriers preclude the effective provision of video 

19 service. 

20 ‘‘(2) QUOTAS, GOALS, OR TIMETABLES.—Nothing 

21 in this section authorizes the use of quotas, goals, or 

22 timetables as a remedy. 

23 ‘‘(e) REPORTS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL REPORTS TO COMMISSION.—Begin25 ning 3 years after the date of enactment of the Video 


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1 Competition and Savings for Consumers Act of 2006, 

2 each franchising authority shall report to the Com3 mission on video service provider deployment in its 

4 franchise area. The Commission shall develop and 

5 make available to franchising authorities a standard6 ized, electronic data-based, report form to be used in 

7 complying with the requirements of this paragraph. A 

8 video service provider shall provide such information 

9 to the franchising authority as is needed to complete 

10 the report. 

11 ‘‘(2) COMMISSION REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Be12 ginning 4 years after the date of enactment of the 

13 Video Competition and Savings for Consumers Act of 

14 2006, and every 4 years thereafter, the Commission 

15 shall report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, 

16 Science, and Transportation and the House of Rep17 resentatives Committee on Energy and Commerce on 

18 the buildout of video service.’’. 

19 SEC. 338. APPLICATION OF SECTION 503(b). 

20 Section 503(b) (47 U.S.C. 503(b)) is amended by add21 ing at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(7) APPLICATION TO VIDEO SERVICE PROVIDERS.— 

23 In this section the terms ‘cable television operator’ and 

24 ‘cable television system operator’ include a video service 

25 provider (as defined in section 602 of this Act).’’. 


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1 SEC. 339. APPLICATION OF TITLE VII CABLE PROVISIONS 

2 TO VIDEO SERVICES. 

3 Title VII (47 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘cable operators for their retrans5 mission to cable subscribers;’’ in section 705(d)(1) 

6 and inserting ‘‘cable operators or video service pro7 viders (as defined in section 602 of this Act) for their 

8 retransmission to subscribers;’’; 

9 (2) by striking ‘‘and cable television;’’ in section 

10 712(a)(1) and inserting ‘‘cable television, and video 

11 service (as defined in section 602 of this Act);’’; and 

12 (3) by inserting ‘‘video service,’’ in section 

13 714(k)(3) after ‘‘cable,’’. 

14 SEC. 340. CHILDREN’S TELEVISION ACT AMENDMENT. 

15 Section 102(d) of the Children’s Television Act of 1990 

16 (47 U.S.C. 303a(d)) is amended by striking ‘‘a cable oper17 ator,’’ and inserting ‘‘cable operators and video service pro18 viders,’’. 

19 Subtitle C—Miscellaneous and 

20 Conforming Amendments 

21 SEC. 351. MISCELLANEOUS AMENDMENTS. 

22 (a) MUNICIPAL OPERATORS.—Section 621(f) (47 

23 U.S.C. 541(f)) is amended to read as follows: 

24 ‘‘(f) MUNICIPAL OPERATORS.—No provision of this 

25 title shall be construed to prohibit a local or municipal au26 thority that is also, or is affiliated with, a franchising auVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:27 Oct 01, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00161 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5252.RS H5252

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1 thority from operating as a multichannel video program2 ming distributor in the franchise area, notwithstanding the 

3 granting of one or more franchises by the franchising au4 thority.’’. 

5 (b) SUNSET.—Section 626(c)(5), as redesignated by 

6 section 335 of this Act, is amended— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘10 years after the date of enact8 ment of this section,’’ and inserting ‘‘on October 5, 

9 2012,’’; and 

10 (2) by striking ‘‘last year of such 10-year pe11 riod,’’ and inserting ‘‘12-month period ending on that 

12 date,’’. 

13 (c) UPDATING.—Section 613 (47 U.S.C. 533) is 

14 amended— 

15 (1) by striking ‘‘July 1, 1984,’’ in subsection (g) 

16 and inserting ‘‘the date of enactment of the Video 

17 Competition and Savings for Consumers Act of 

18 2006’’; and 

19 (2) by striking subsection (a) and redesignating 

20 subsections (c) through (h) as subsections (a) through 

21 (f), respectively. 

22 (d) REPEAL.—Section 617 (47 U.S.C. 537) is repealed. 

23 (e) RESTRUCTURING PART IV.—Part IV of title VI (47 

24 U.S.C. 551 et seq.) is amended— 

25 (1) by striking sections 636 and 637; and 


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1 (2) by redesignating sections 635A, 638, 639, 

2 640, 641, and 642 (as added by section 337 of this 

3 Act) as sections 636, 637, 638, 639, 640, and 641, re4 spectively. 

5 (f) FEDERAL REGULATION OF IP-ENABLED VIDEO

6 SERVICE.—Title VI (47 U.S.C. 521 et seq.), as amended 

7 by section 337 and subsection (e)(2), is amended by adding 

8 at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 642. IP-ENABLED VIDEO SERVICE. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi11 sion of law, IP-enabled video service is an interstate service 

12 and is subject only to Federal regulations. 

13 ‘‘(b) IP-ENABLED VIDEO SERVICE DEFINED.—In this 

14 section, the term ‘IP-enabled video service’ means a video 

15 service provided over the public Internet utilizing Internet 

16 protocol, or any successor protocol that is not offered by, 

17 or not offered as part of a package of video services offered 

18 by, a video service provider or its affiliate. 

19 ‘‘(c) COMMISSION AUTHORITY.—The commission may 

20 not impose any rule on, apply any regulation to, or other21 wise regulate the offering or provision of IP-enabled video 

22 service. 

23 ‘‘(d) LAW ENFORCEMENT.—Nothing in this section 

24 shall be construed to interfere with any lawful activity of 

25 a law enforcement agency or to limit the application of any 


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1 law the violation of which is punishable by a fine, impris2 onment, or both. 

3 ‘‘(e) NO EFFECT ON TAX LAWS.—Nothing in this sec4 tion shall be construed to modify, impair, supersede, or au5 thorize the modification, impairment, or supersession of, 

6 any State or local tax law.’’. 

7 (g) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS FOR RETRANS8 MISSION.— 

9 (1) Section 325(b) (47 U.S.C. 325(b)) is amend10 ed— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘cable system’’ in para12 graph (1) and inserting ‘‘video service provider’’; 

13 and 

14 (B) by inserting ‘‘The term ‘video service 

15 provider’ has the meaning given it in section 

16 602(25) of this Act.’’ after ‘‘title.’’ in the matter 

17 following subparagraph (E) of paragraph (2). 

18 (2) Section 336(b) (47 U.S.C. 336(b)) is amend19 ed by striking ‘‘section 614 or 615 or be deemed a 

20 multichannel video programming distributor for pur21 poses of section 628;’’ and inserting ‘‘section 614 or 

22 615;’’. 


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1 Subtitle D—Effective Dates and 

2 Transition Rules 

3 SEC. 381. EFFECTIVE DATES; PHASE-IN. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

5 (1) 6-MONTH DELAY.—Except as provided in 

6 paragraph (2), the amendments made by the Video 

7 Competition and Savings for Consumers Act of 2006 

8 shall take effect 180 days after the date of enactment 

9 of that Act. 

10 (2) INITIATION OF CERTAIN PROCEEDINGS.—Not11 withstanding paragraph (1), the Federal Communica12 tions Commission shall initiate any proceeding re13 quired by title VI of the Communications Act of 1934, 

14 as amended by this Act, or made necessary by such 

15 amendment as soon as practicable after the date of 

16 enactment of this Act. 

17 (b) APPLICATION TO EXISTING FRANCHISE AGREE18 MENTS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para20 graph (2), the provisions of title VI of the Commu21 nications Act of 1934, as amended by this Act, shall 

22 not apply to a cable operator with a franchise agree23 ment in effect on the date of enactment of this Act be24 tween a franchising authority and a cable operator 

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1 mined without regard to any renewal or extension of 

2 the agreement. The provisions of title VI of the Com3 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 521 et seq.), as 

4 in effect on the day before the date of enactment of 

5 this Act, shall continue to apply to any such franchise 

6 agreement and the cable operator as provided by sub7 section (c) until the earlier of— 

8 (A) the expiration date of the agreement; or 

9 (B) the date on which a new franchise 

10 agreement that replaces the existing franchise 

11 agreement takes effect. 

12 (2) COMPETITION TRIGGER.— 

13 (A) NOTIFICATION OF EXISTING

14 FRANCHISEE REQUIRED.—If a franchising au15 thority authorizes a video service provider to 

16 provide video service in an area in which cable 

17 service is already being provided under an exist18 ing franchise agreement, the franchising author19 ity shall— 

20 (i) require the video service provider to 

21 notify the franchising authority when the 

22 video service provider commences video serv23 ice in that area; and 

24 (ii) immediately notify any cable oper25 ator providing cable service in that area 


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1 upon receipt of the notice required under 

2 clause (i). 

3 (B) NEW FRANCHISE AGREEMENT SUPER4 SEDES EXISTING AGREEMENT.—Upon receipt of 

5 notice under subparagraph (A)(ii), a cable oper6 ator with an existing franchise to provide cable 

7 service in that area may submit an application 

8 for a franchise under section 603 of the Commu9 nications Act of 1934, as amended by this Act. 

10 When the franchise is granted— 

11 (i) the terms and conditions of the new 

12 franchise agreement supersede the existing 

13 franchise agreement; and 

14 (ii) the provisions of title VI of the 

15 Communications Act of 1934, as amended 

16 by this Act, shall apply. 

17 (c) LIMITED APPLICATION OF PRIOR LAW.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub19 section (b) or otherwise explicitly provided in new 

20 title VI, the provisions of old title VI (and all regula21 tions, rulings, waivers, orders, and franchise agree22 ments under old title VI) shall continue in effect after 

23 the date of enactment of this Act with respect to any 

24 cable operator to which they applied before that date 

25 until the earlier of— 


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1 (A) the expiration date of the franchise 

2 agreement under which the cable operator was 

3 operating on the date of enactment of this Act; 

4 or 

5 (B) that date on which a new franchise 

6 agreement takes effect that replaces a cable oper7 ator’s franchise agreement described in subpara8 graph (A). 

9 (2) PRESERVATION OF BASIC TIER REGULA10 TION.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this 

11 subsection, section 623 of old title VI shall continue 

12 to apply in any franchise area until a franchising 

13 authority receives a notice under subsection 

14 (b)(2)(A)(i). 

15 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 (1) CABLE OPERATOR.—The term ‘‘cable oper17 ator’’ includes a local exchange carrier that provides 

18 video services to video service subscribers in its tele19 phone service area through an open video system that 

20 complies with the requirements of section 653 of the 

21 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 573). 

22 (2) NEW TITLE VI.—The term ‘‘new title VI’’ 

23 means title VI of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

24 U.S.C. 521 et seq.) as amended by this Act. 


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1 (3) OLD TITLE VI.—The term ‘‘old title VI’’ 

2 means title VI of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

3 U.S.C. 521 et seq.) as in effect on the day before the 

4 date of enactment of this Act. 

5 TITLE IV—VIDEO CONTENT 

6 Subtitle A—National Satellite 

7 SEC. 401. AVAILABILITY OF CERTAIN LICENSED SERVICES 

8 IN NONCONTIGUOUS STATES. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 335 (47 U.S.C. 335) is 

10 amended by adding at the end thereof the following: 

11 ‘‘(c) ALASKA AND HAWAII OBLIGATIONS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each satellite carrier shall, 

13 to the extent technically feasible given the carrier’s 

14 satellite constellation in use, provide a comparable 

15 consumer product to subscribers in Alaska and Ha16 waii at prices and terms comparable to those made 

17 available to subscribers in the contiguous United 

18 States. 

19 ‘‘(2) CONDITIONS ON NEW LICENSES.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Before the Commission 

21 grants a license for a new satellite used for serv22 ice in the contiguous United States to a satellite 

23 carrier, it shall ensure that, to the extent tech24 nically feasible, the following minimum condi25 tions are met: 


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1 ‘‘(i) If the satellite is used for direct-to 

2 home video services, the satellite shall be— 

3 ‘‘(I) capable of providing services 

4 to consumers in the cities of Anchor5 age, Fairbanks, and Juneau, Alaska, 

6 using signal power levels of at least 45 

7 dBW effective isotropic radiated power; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(II) capable of providing services 

10 to consumers in the islands of Oahu, 

11 Maui, Kauai, Molokai, and Hawaii, 

12 Hawaii, using signal power levels of at 

13 least 46 dBW effective isotropic radi14 ated power. 

15 ‘‘(ii) If the satellite is used for any 

16 other direct-to-consumer service— 

17 ‘‘(I) with respect to services of18 fered on beams covering substantially 

19 the entire contiguous United States, the 

20 carrier must make best efforts to ensure 

21 that the effective isotropic radiated 

22 power of the satellite on the downlink 

23 and, where applicable, the efficiency of 

24 the satellite receive antenna (G/T) can 

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1 able antenna in Alaska and Hawaii 

2 with a gain that is no more than 4 dB 

3 greater than that used to provide the 

4 service in the contiguous United 

5 States; and 

6 ‘‘(II) with respect to services of7 fered over spot beams covering portions 

8 of the contiguous United States, the 

9 carrier must make best efforts to ensure 

10 that the effective isotropic radiated 

11 power of the satellite on the downlink 

12 and, where applicable, the efficiency of 

13 the satellite receive antenna (G/T) shall 

14 allow the use of the same antenna in 

15 Alaska and Hawaii as provided in the 

16 contiguous United States for the serv17 ice. 

18 ‘‘(B) TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY.—It is 

19 deemed not technically feasible for a satellite 

20 with a look angle to any area of less than 8.25 

21 degrees to provide service to such area at the sig22 nal power levels described in subparagraph (A). 

23 ‘‘(3) SATELLITE CARRIER DEFINED.—In this 

24 subsection, the term ‘satellite carrier’ means an entity 

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1 ellite Service, the Direct Broadcast Satellite service, 

2 the Broadcast Satellite Service, the Mobile-Satellite 

3 Service, or the Digital Audio Radio Service that is li4 censed by the Commission under part 25 of title 47, 

5 Code of Federal Regulations, or is licensed or author6 ized by a foreign government.’’. 

7 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 335(c) of the Commu8 nications Act of 1934, as added by subsection (a), shall take 

9 effect 36 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 

10 (c) EXCEPTION.—Nothing in this section, nor any 

11 amendment made by this section, shall require any satellite 

12 carrier to take any action that the Commision determines 

13 will materially impact the signal quality or availability 

14 of programming available to subscribers of such carrier in 

15 the continental United States. 

16 (d) IMPLEMENTATION BY COMMISSION.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Communications 

18 Commission shall adopt such rules and policies as are 

19 necessary to implement and enforce section 335(c) of 

20 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 335(c)). 

21 (2) AMENDMENT OF RULES.—Within 30 days 

22 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commis23 sion shall amend section 1.4000(a)(1)(i)(B) of its 

24 rules (47 C.F.R. 1.4000(a)(1)(i)(B)) to insert ‘‘and 

25 Hawaii’’ after ‘‘Alaska’’. 


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1 Subtitle B—Video and Audio Flag 

2 SEC. 451. SHORT TITLE. 

3 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Digital Content Pro4 tection Act of 2006’’. 

5 SEC. 452. PROTECTION OF DIGITAL BROADCAST VIDEO 

6 CONTENT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 (47 U.S.C. 303) is 

8 amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(z) Have authority with respect to digital television 

10 receivers to adopt such regulations and certifications as are 

11 necessary to implement the Report and Order in the matter 

12 of Digital Broadcast Content Protection, FCC 03–273, as 

13 ratified by the Congress in section 102(b) of the Consumer 

14 Competition and Broadband Promotion Act, with the exclu15 sive purpose of limiting the indiscriminate redistribution 

16 of digital television content over the Internet or similar dis17 tribution platforms, including the authority to reconsider, 

18 amend, repeal, supplement, and otherwise modify any such 

19 regulations and certifications, in whole or in part, only for 

20 that purpose.’’. 

21 (b) RATIFICATION OF FCC REPORT AND ORDERS.— 

22 The Report and Order in the matter of Digital Broadcast 

23 Content Protection, FCC 03–273, and the Order in the mat24 ter of Digital Output Protection Technology and Recording 

25 Method Certifications, FCC 04–193, are ratified, subject to 


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1 the limitations set forth in subsection (d), and shall become 

2 effective 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 

3 (c) EXPEDITED PROCEEDING FOR CERTIFYING TECH4 NOLOGIES FOR USE IN DISTANCE EDUCATION.—Within 30 

5 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal 

6 Communications Commission shall initiate a further pro7 ceeding for the approval of digital output protection tech8 nologies and recording methods for use in the course of dis9 tance learning activities. The proceeding shall be conducted 

10 in accordance with the expedited procedures established for 

11 the Interim Approval of Authorized Digital Output Protec12 tion Technologies and Authorized Recording Methods in the 

13 Report and Order described in subsection (b). The pro14 ceeding shall have no effect on certifications made pursuant 

15 to the Order in the matter of Digital Output Protection 

16 Technology and Recording Method Certifications described 

17 in subsection (b), as ratified in that subsection. 

18 (d) LIMITATIONS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act or section 

20 303(z) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

21 303(z)), or in regulations of the Commission adopted 

22 pursuant thereto, shall— 

23 (A) limit the Commission’s authority to ap24 prove digital output protection technologies and 

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1 tion of digital broadcast content within the home 

2 or similar environment, or the use of the Internet 

3 to transmit digital broadcast content, where such 

4 technologies and recording methods adequately 

5 protect such content from indiscriminate redis6 tribution; or 

7 (B) be construed to affect rights, remedies, 

8 limitations, or defenses to copyright infringe9 ment, including fair use, under title 17, United 

10 States Code. 

11 (2) USE OF REDISTRIBUTION CONTROL

12 DESCRIPTOR.—Licensees of television broadcast sta13 tions may not utilize the Redistribution Control 

14 Descriptor, as adopted by the Report and Order de15 scribed in subparagraph (b), to limit the redistribu16 tion of news and public affairs programming the pri17 mary commercial value of which depends on timeli18 ness. The Federal Communications Commission shall 

19 allow each broadcaster or broadcasting network to de20 termine whether the primary commercial value of a 

21 particular news program depends on timeliness. The 

22 Commission may review any such determination by 

23 a broadcaster or broadcasting network if it receives 

24 bona fide complaints alleging, or otherwise has reason 


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1 to believe, that particular broadcast digital television 

2 content has violated this subsection. 

3 (3) PROPERTY RIGHTS.—The Commission shall 

4 require that any authorized redistribution control 

5 technology and any authorized recording method tech6 nology approved by the Commission under this sec7 tion that is publicly offered for adoption by licensees, 

8 be licensed on reasonable and nondiscriminatory 

9 terms and conditions, including terms preserving a li10 censee’s ability to assert any patent rights necessary 

11 for implementation of the licensed technology. 

12 SEC. 453. PROTECTION OF DIGITAL AUDIO BROADCASTING 

13 CONTENT. 

14 Part I of title III (47 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) is amended 

15 by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 342. PROTECTION OF DIGITAL AUDIO BROADCASTING 

17 CONTENT. 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to section 454(d)(2) of the 

19 Digital Content Protection Act of 2006, the Commission 

20 may promulgate regulations governing the distribution of 

21 audio content with respect to— 

22 ‘‘(1) digital radio broadcasts; 

23 ‘‘(2) satellite digital radio transmissions; and 

24 ‘‘(3) digital radios. 

25 ‘‘(b) MONITORING ORGANIZATIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall ensure 

2 that a performing rights society or a mechanical 

3 rights organization, or any entity acting on behalf of 

4 such a society or organization, is granted a license for 

5 free or for a de minimis fee to cover only the reason6 able costs to the licensor of providing the license, and 

7 on reasonable, nondiscriminatory terms and condi8 tions, to access and retransmit as necessary any con9 tent contained in such transmissions protected by 

10 content protection or similar technologies, if— 

11 ‘‘(A) the license is used to carry out the ac12 tivities of such society, organization, or entity in 

13 monitoring the public performance or other uses 

14 of copyrighted works; and 

15 ‘‘(B) such society, organization, or entity 

16 employs reasonable methods to protect any such 

17 content accessed from further distribution. 

18 ‘‘(2) PROTECTED ACTIVITIES.—Nothing shall 

19 preclude or prevent a performing rights organization, 

20 a mechanical rights organization, a monitoring serv21 ice, a measuring service, or any entity owned in 

22 whole or in part by, or acting on behalf of, such an 

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1 tained in performances or other uses, or other infor2 mation concerning the content or audience of such 

3 performances or other uses. 

4 ‘‘(3) ALTERNATIVE LICENSING LANGUAGE.—The 

5 Commission may require that any such organization, 

6 service, or entity be given a license on either a gratu7 itous basis or for a de minimis fee to cover only the 

8 reasonable costs to the licensor of providing the li9 cense, and on reasonable, nondiscriminatory terms, to 

10 access, record, and retransmit as necessary any con11 tent contained in any such performance or use pro12 tected by content protection or similar technology, 

13 if— 

14 ‘‘(A) the license is used for carrying out the 

15 activities of such organizations, services, or enti16 ties in monitoring or measuring the public per17 formance or other use of copyrighted works, ad18 vertisements, or announcements, or other infor19 mation concerning the content or audience of 

20 such performances or uses; and 

21 ‘‘(B) the organizations, services, or entities 

22 employ reasonable methods to protect any such 

23 content accessed from further distribution.’’. 


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1 SEC. 454. DIGITAL AUDIO REVIEW BOARD. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Federal Communications 

3 Commission shall establish an advisory committee, to be 

4 known as the Digital Audio Review Board. 

5 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—Members of the Board shall be ap6 pointed by the chairman of the Commission and shall in7 clude representatives nominated by— 

8 (1) the information technology industry; 

9 (2) the software industry; 

10 (3) the consumer electronics industry; 

11 (4) the radio broadcasting industry; 

12 (5) the satellite radio broadcasting industry; 

13 (6) the cable industry; 

14 (7) the audio recording industry; 

15 (8) the music publishing industry; 

16 (9) performing rights societies, including— 

17 (A) the American Society of Composers, Au18 thors and Publishers; 

19 (B) Broadcast Music, Inc.; and 

20 (C) SESAC, Inc.; 

21 (10) public interest organizations; 

22 (11) organizations representing recording artists, 

23 performers and musicians; 

24 (12) organizations representing songwriters; and 


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1 (13) any other group that the Commission deter2 mines will be directly affected by adoption of broad3 cast flag technology regulations. 

4 (c) DUTY.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Within 1 year after the date 

6 of enactment of this Act, the Board shall submit to the 

7 Commission a proposed regulation under section 343 

8 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 343) 

9 that— 

10 (A) represents a consensus of the members of 

11 the Board; and 

12 (B) is consistent with fair use principles. 

13 (2) EXTENSION OF 1-YEAR PERIOD.—The Com14 mission may extend, for good cause shown, the 1-year 

15 period described in paragraph (1) for a period of not 

16 more than 6 months, if the Commission determines 

17 that— 

18 (A) substantial progress has been made by 

19 the Board toward the development of a proposed 

20 regulation; 

21 (B) the members of the Board are con22 tinuing to negotiate in good faith; and 

23 (C) there is a reasonable expectation that 

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1 ulation before the expiration of the extended pe2 riod of time. 

3 (d) COMMISSION TREATMENT OF PROPOSED REGULA4 TION.— 

5 (1) DRAFT REGULATION.—Within 30 days after 

6 the Commission receives a proposed regulation from 

7 the Board under this section the Commission shall 

8 initiate a rulemaking proceeding to implement the 

9 proposed regulation. 

10 (2) DEFERENCE; DEADLINE.—If the Board sub11 mits a proposed regulation under this section the 

12 Commission, in promulgating a regulation under sec13 tion 343 of the Communications Act of 1934, shall— 

14 (A) give substantial deference to the pro15 posed regulation submitted by the Board; and 

16 (B) issue a final rule not later than 6 

17 months after the date on which the proceeding 

18 was initiated. 

19 (3) COMMISSION ACTION IF NO BOARD ACTION.— 

20 If the Board does not submit a proposed regulation 

21 to the Commission within 1 year after the date of en22 actment of this Act, plus any extension granted by the 

23 Commission under subsection (c)— 

24 (A) the Commission may initiate a pro25 ceeding to determine what, if any, regulations 


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1 under section 343 of the Communications Act of 

2 1934 regarding digital audio copy protection are 

3 necessary; and 

4 (B) if the Commission determines that such 

5 regulations are necessary, the Commission may 

6 promulgate a rule implementing such protections 

7 as long as such regulations do not harm or delay 

8 the continued roll-out of HD radio. 

9 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.— 

10 (1) MEETINGS.—The Board shall meet at the call 

11 of the Chairman of the Commission. 

12 (2) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.—The Chairman of 

13 the Commission may, without regard to civil service 

14 laws and regulations, appoint and terminate an Ex15 ecutive Director and such other additional personnel 

16 as may be necessary to enable the Board to perform 

17 its duties. The Executive Director shall be com18 pensated at a rate not to exceed the rate of pay pay19 able for level V of the Executive Schedule under sec20 tion 5316 of title 5, United States Code. 

21 (3) TEMPORARY AND INTERMITTENT SERV22 ICES.—In carrying out its duty, the Board may pro23 cure temporary and intermittent services of consult24 ants and experts under section 3109(b) of title 5, 

25 United States Code, at rates for individuals which do 


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1 not exceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate of 

2 basic pay prescribed for level V of the Executive 

3 Schedule under section 5316 of such title. 

4 (4) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.— 

5 Upon request of the Board, the head of any Federal 

6 agency may detail any Federal Government employee 

7 to the Board without reimbursement, and such detail 

8 shall be without interruption or loss of civil service 

9 status or privilege. 

10 (5) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—Notwith11 standing section 7(c) of the Federal Advisory Com12 mittee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), the Commission shall pro13 vide the Board with such administrative and sup14 portive services as are necessary to ensure that the 

15 Board can carry out its functions. 

16 (6) TERMINATION.—The Board shall terminate 

17 on the date on which it submits a proposed regulation 

18 to the Commission or at the discretion of the Chair19 man of the Federal Communications Commission, but 

20 no later than 18 months after the Board’s first meet21 ing. 


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1 TITLE V—MUNICIPAL 

2 BROADBAND 

3 SEC. 501. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Community Broadband 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 502. STATE REGULATION OF MUNICIPAL BROADBAND 

7 NETWORKS. 

8 Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 

9 U.S.C. 157 note) is amended— 

10 (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection 

11 (i); 

12 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(c) LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROVISION OF ADVANCED

15 COMMUNICATIONS CAPABILITY AND SERVICES.—No State 

16 statute, regulation, or other State legal requirement may 

17 prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting any public pro18 vider from providing, to any person or any public or pri19 vate entity, advanced telecommunications capability or any 

20 service that utilizes the advanced telecommunications capa21 bility provided by such public provider. 

22 ‘‘(d) SAFEGUARDS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) ANTIDISCRIMINATION.—To the extent any 

24 public provider regulates competing providers of ad25 vanced telecommunications capability or any service 


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1 that utilizes the advanced telecommunications capa2 bility provided by such providers, the public provider 

3 shall apply its ordinances, rules, policies, and fees, 

4 including those relating to public rights-of-way, per5 mitting, performance bonding, and reporting, without 

6 discrimination in favor of itself or any other ad7 vanced telecommunications capability provider that 

8 such public provider owns or is affiliated with, as 

9 compared to other providers of such capability or 

10 services. 

11 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION OF GENERAL LAWS.—Nothing 

12 in this subsection or subsections (e) through (g) shall 

13 exempt a public provider from any Federal or State 

14 telecommunications law or regulation that applies to 

15 all providers of— 

16 ‘‘(A) advanced telecommunications capa17 bility; or 

18 ‘‘(B) any service that utilizes the advanced 

19 telecommunications capability provided by such 

20 public provider. 

21 ‘‘(e) PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS ENCOUR22 AGED.—Each public provider that intends to provide ad23 vanced telecommunications capability or any service that 

24 utilizes the advanced telecommunications capability pro25 vided by such public provider to the public shall consider 


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1 the potential benefits of a public-private partnership prior 

2 to providing such capability or services. 

3 ‘‘(f) NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY TO BID FOR THE PRI4 VATE SECTOR.— 

5 ‘‘(1) NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY TO BID RE6 QUIRED.—If a public provider decides not to initiate 

7 a project to provide advanced telecommunications ca8 pability or any service that utilizes the advanced tele9 communications capability provided by such public 

10 provider to the public through a public-private part11 nership, then, before the public provider may provide 

12 such advanced telecommunications capability or any 

13 such service that utilizes the advanced telecommuni14 cations capability provided by such public provider to 

15 the public, the public provider shall— 

16 ‘‘(A)(i) publish notice of its intention in 

17 media generally available to the public in the 

18 area in which it intends to provide such capa19 bility or service; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) utilize such notice procedures as such 

21 provider already had in effect as of the date of 

22 enactment of the Community Broadband Act, if 

23 such notice has the effect of making such notice 

24 generally known to the public; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) provide an opportunity for commercial 

2 enterprises to bid to provide such capability or 

3 service during the 30-day period following publi4 cation of the notice. 

5 ‘‘(2) NOTICE REQUIREMENTS.—The public pro6 vider shall include in the notice required by para7 graph (1) a description of the proposed scope of the 

8 advanced telecommunications capability or any serv9 ice that utilizes the advanced telecommunications ca10 pability provided by such public provider to be pro11 vided, including— 

12 ‘‘(A) the services to be provided (including 

13 network capabilities); 

14 ‘‘(B) the coverage area; 

15 ‘‘(C) service tiers and pricing; and 

16 ‘‘(D) any proposal for providing advanced 

17 telecommunications capability or any service 

18 that utilizes the advanced telecommunications 

19 capability provided by such public provider to 

20 low-income areas, or other demographically or 

21 geographically defined areas. 

22 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC NOTICE AND INPUT ON PROPOSED

23 PROJECTS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each public provider 

25 shall— 


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1 ‘‘(i) publish notice of each proposal to 

2 provide advanced telecommunications capa3 bility or any service that utilizes the ad4 vanced telecommunications capability pro5 vided by such public provider to the public 

6 by a commercial enterprise under para7 graph (1)(B); and 

8 ‘‘(ii) provide local citizens in the juris9 diction of that public provider and such 

10 commercial enterprises with information on 

11 the specifics of each such project, includ12 ing— 

13 ‘‘(I) the cost to taxpayers, and the 

14 benefits of, the proposed public pro15 vider project; and 

16 ‘‘(II) any potential alternatives to 

17 the proposed public provider project, 

18 including any public-private partner19 ships. 

20 ‘‘(B) 30-DAY PERIOD.—In order to provide 

21 local citizens and commercial enterprises with 

22 an adequate opportunity to be informed, a pub23 lic provider shall provide additional notice re24 questing that any public comments on the pro25 posed public provider project be filed not later 


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1 than 30 days after the date of publication of the 

2 notice required under subparagraph (A). 

3 ‘‘(4) APPROVAL PROCESS.—If a public provider 

4 decides to proceed with its own project to provide ad5 vanced telecommunications capability or any service 

6 that utilizes the advanced telecommunications capa7 bility provided by such public provider to the public 

8 despite bids by commercial enterprises received in ac9 cordance with paragraph (1)(B), such public provider 

10 shall authorize that project by whatever process typi11 cally would be utilized by such public provider to ap12 prove projects of comparable cost in the jurisdiction 

13 of such public provider. 

14 ‘‘(5) APPLICATION TO EXISTING ARRANGEMENTS

15 AND PENDING PROPOSALS.—This subsection does not 

16 apply to— 

17 ‘‘(A) any contract or other arrangement 

18 under which a public provider is providing or 

19 upgrading advanced telecommunications capa20 bility or any service that utilizes the advanced 

21 telecommunications capability provided by such 

22 public provider to the public as of April 20, 

23 2006; or 

24 ‘‘(B) any public provider proposal to pro25 vide advanced communications capability or any 


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1 service that utilizes the advanced telecommuni2 cations capability provided by such public pro3 vider to the public that, as of April 20, 2006— 

4 ‘‘(i) is in the request-for-proposals 

5 process; 

6 ‘‘(ii) is in the process of being built; or 

7 ‘‘(iii) has been approved by referendum 

8 but is the subject of a lawsuit brought before 

9 March 1, 2006. 

10 ‘‘(g) NO RECEIPT OF FEDERAL FUNDS.—If any 

11 project to provide advanced telecommunications capability 

12 or any service that utilizes the advanced telecommuni13 cations capability provided by a public provider under this 

14 section fails whether due to bankruptcy, insufficient funds, 

15 or any other reason, no Federal funds may be provided to 

16 such public provider to assist such public provider in main17 taining, reviving, or renewing such project, except if such 

18 failure occurred in any jurisdiction that is subject to a dec19 laration by the President of a major disaster, as defined 

20 under section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

21 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122). 

22 ‘‘(h) TEMPORARY SERVICES DURING STATES OF

23 EMERGENCY.—Nothing in subsections (c) through (g) shall 

24 preclude a public provider from— 


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1 ‘‘(1) immediately deploying a temporary ad2 vanced telecommunications capability or any service 

3 that utilizes the advanced telecommunications capa4 bility provided by such public provider to the public 

5 during a state of emergency declared by the President 

6 or the Governor of the State in which such public pro7 vider is located; and 

8 ‘‘(2) continuing the operation of such capability 

9 or service until the emergency situation is resolved.’’; 

10 and 

11 (3) by adding at the end of subsection (i), as re12 designated, the following: 

13 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC PROVIDER.—The term ‘public pro14 vider’ means— 

15 ‘‘(A) a State or political subdivision thereof; 

16 ‘‘(B) any agency, authority, or instrumen17 tality of a State or political subdivision thereof; 

18 ‘‘(C) an Indian tribe (as defined in section 

19 4(e) of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu20 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e)); or 

21 ‘‘(D) any entity that is owned, controlled, 

22 or otherwise affiliated with a State, political 

23 subdivision thereof, agency, authority, or instru24 mentality, or Indian tribe.’’. 


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1 TITLE VI—WIRELESS 

2 INNOVATION NETWORKS 

3 SEC. 601. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Wireless Innovation Act 

5 of 2006’’ or the ‘‘WIN Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 602. ELIGIBLE TELEVISION SPECTRUM MADE AVAIL7 ABLE FOR WIRELESS USE. 

8 Part I of title III (47 U.S.C. 301 et seq.), as amended 

9 by section 453 of this Act, is further amended by adding 

10 at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 343. ELIGIBLE BROADCAST TELEVISION SPECTRUM 

12 MADE AVAILABLE FOR WIRELESS USE. 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Effective 270 days after the date 

14 of enactment of the WIN Act of 2006, a certified unlicensed 

15 device may use eligible broadcast television frequencies in 

16 a manner that protects licensees from harmful interference. 

17 ‘‘(b) COMMISSION TO FACILITATE USE.—Within 270 

18 days after the date of enactment of that Act, the Commis19 sion shall adopt technical and device rules in ET Docket 

20 No. 04–186 to facilitate the efficient use of eligible broadcast 

21 television frequencies by certified unlicensed devices, which 

22 shall include rules and procedures— 

23 ‘‘(1) to protect licensees from harmful inter24 ference from certified unlicensed devices; 


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1 ‘‘(2) to require certification of unlicensed devices 

2 designed to be operated in the eligible broadcast tele3 vision frequencies that includes testing, which may 

4 include testing in an independent laboratory certified 

5 by the Commission and field testing, that dem6 onstrates— 

7 ‘‘ (A) compliance with the requirements set 

8 forth pursuant to this paragraph; and 

9 ‘‘(B) that such compliance effectively pro10 tects licensees from harmful interference; 

11 ‘‘(3) to require manufacturers of such devices to 

12 include a means of disabling or modifying the device 

13 remotely if the Commission determines that certain 

14 certified unlicensed devices may cause harmful inter15 ference to licensees; 

16 ‘‘(4) to act immediately on any bona fide com17 plaints from licensees that a certified unlicensed de18 vice causes harmful interference including 

19 verification, in the field, of actual harmful inter20 ference; and 

21 ‘‘(5) to limit the operation or use of certified un22 licensed devices within any geographic area in which 

23 a public safety entity is authorized to operate as a 

24 primary licensee within the eligible broadcast tele25 vision frequencies. 


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

2 ‘‘(1) CERTIFIED UNLICENSED DEVICE.—The term 

3 ‘certified unlicensed device’ means a device certified 

4 under subsection (b)(2). 

5 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE BROADCAST TELEVISION FRE6 QUENCIES.—The term ‘eligible broadcast television 

7 frequencies’ means the following frequencies: 

8 ‘‘(A) All frequencies between 54 and 72 

9 megaHertz, inclusive. 

10 ‘‘(B) All frequencies between 76 and 88 

11 megaHertz, inclusive. 

12 ‘‘(C) All frequencies between 174 and 216 

13 megaHertz, inclusive. 

14 ‘‘(D) All frequencies between 470 and 608 

15 megaHertz, inclusive. 

16 ‘‘(E) All frequencies between 614 and 698 

17 megaHertz, inclusive. 

18 ‘‘(3) LICENSEE.—The term ‘licensee’ means a li19 censee, as defined in section 3(24), that is operating 

20 in a manner that is not inconsistent with its li21 cense.’’. 


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1 TITLE VII—DIGITAL TELEVISION 

2 SEC. 701. ANALOG AND DIGITAL TELEVISION SETS AND 

3 CONVERTER BOXES; CONSUMER EDUCATION 

4 AND REQUIREMENTS TO REDUCE THE GOV5 ERNMENT COST OF THE CONVERTER BOX 

6 PROGRAM. 

7 (a) CONSUMER EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

8 330 (47 U.S.C. 330) is amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection 

10 (e); and 

11 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following 

12 new subsection: 

13 ‘‘(d) CONSUMER EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS RE14 GARDING ANALOG RECEIVERS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENTS FOR MANUFACTURERS.— 

16 The manufacturer of any analog only television set 

17 manufactured in the United States or shipped in 

18 interstate commerce shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) place the appropriate removable label 

20 described in paragraph (3) on the screen of such 

21 television set; and 

22 ‘‘(B) display the label required by para23 graph (3) on the outside of the retail packaging 

24 of the television set— 


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1 ‘‘(i) in a clear and conspicuous man2 ner; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) in a manner that cannot be re4 moved. 

5 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS FOR RETAILERS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A retailer of analog 

7 only television sets that sells such television sets 

8 via direct mail, catalog, or electronic means, 

9 shall include in all advertisements or descrip10 tions of such television set the product and the 

11 information described in paragraph (3) within 

12 120 days after the date of enactment of the Ad13 vanced Telecommunications and Opportunities 

14 Reform Act. 

15 ‘‘(B) DUTY TO ADEQUATELY INFORM CON16 SUMERS.—Notwithstanding the requirement in 

17 subparagraph (A), it shall be a violation of this 

18 Act for any retailer of analog-only television 

19 sets— 

20 ‘‘(i) to fail to adequately inform con21 sumers about the availability of digital-to22 analog converter boxes; or 

23 ‘‘(ii) to provide misleading informa24 tion about the availability and cost of such 

25 converter boxes. 


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1 ‘‘(3) PRODUCT AND DIGITAL TELEVISION TRANSI2 TION INFORMATION.— 

3 ‘‘(A) LABEL REQUIREMENT.—The following 

4 product and digital television transition infor5 mation shall be displayed as a label on analog 

6 television sets, in both English and Spanish: 

‘CONSUMER ALERT 

‘This TV has only an ‘‘analog’’ broadcast tuner 

and will require a converter box after February 17, 

2009 to receive over-the-air broadcasts with an antenna because of the Nation’s transition to digital 

broadcasting on that date as required by Federal 

law. It should continue to work as before with 

cable and satellite TV services, gaming consoles, 

VCRs, DVD players, and similar products.’. 

7 ‘‘(B) BLOCKING TECHNOLOGY.—All tele8 vision sets, analog or digital, that have a picture 

9 screen 13 inches or greater in size (measured di10 agonally), shall be equipped with a feature de11 signed to enable viewers to block display of all 

12 programs with a common rating. For additional 

13 information on such technology, visit http:// 

14 www.tvguidelines.org. 

15 ‘‘(4) COMMISSION OUTREACH.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning within 1 

17 month after the date of enactment of the Ad18 vanced Telecommunications and Opportunities 

19 Reform Act, the Commission shall initiate a 

20 public outreach program the purpose of which is 

21 to educate consumers about the digital television 


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1 transition. Not later than October 15, 2007, the 

2 Commission shall complete and submit a na3 tional plan to Congress on how to best carry out 

4 such public outreach program. Such plan shall 

5 include a description of how such public out6 reach program will carry out the purposes, rec7 ommendations, and requirements described in 

8 subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of section 

9 701(b)(3) of the Advanced Telecommunications 

10 and Opportunities Reform Act. 

11 ‘‘(B) WEBSITE.—The Commission shall 

12 maintain and publicize a website, or an easily 

13 accessible page on its website, containing such 

14 consumer information as well as any links to 

15 other websites the Commission determines to be 

16 appropriate. 

17 ‘‘(C) TELEPHONE INFORMATION HOTLINE.— 

18 The Commission shall establish, maintain, and 

19 make public a toll-free information hotline re20 garding the digital television transition. 

21 ‘‘(5) PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each television broad23 cast licensee or permittee shall broadcast at least 

24 2 30-second public service announcements 

25 daily— 


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1 ‘‘(i) during the 3-month period begin2 ning December 1, 2007, such date being 1 

3 month prior to the commencement of the 

4 digital-to-analog converter box subsidy pro5 gram authorized under 3005 of the Digital 

6 Television Transition and Public Safety Act 

7 of 2005 (Public Law 109–171; 120 Stat. 

8 24); and 

9 ‘‘(ii) during the 3-month period begin10 ning on November 17, 2008, such date being 

11 3 months prior to the Nation’s transition to 

12 digital broadcasting as required under sec13 tion 309(j)(14) of the Communications Act 

14 of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(14)). 

15 ‘‘(B) MULTILINGUAL NOTICES.—The infor16 mation required to be provided to consumers 

17 under this paragraph shall be provided in 

18 English and Spanish and may be provided in 

19 such other languages as may be appropriate to 

20 the marketing segments of the public to which the 

21 information is addressed. 

22 ‘‘(C) TIME OF BROADCAST.—The public 

23 service announcements required under subpara24 graph (A) shall be broadcast at such times as the 

25 Commission, in accordance with the Working 


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1 Group established under section 701(b)(3) of the 

2 Advanced Telecommunications and Opportuni3 ties Reform Act, may require in order to assure 

4 the widest possible audience. 

5 ‘‘(D) CONTENT OF BROADCAST.—The public 

6 service announcements required under subpara7 graph (A) shall, at least— 

8 ‘‘(i) notify the public of the— 

9 ‘‘(I) date of the digital transition; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(II) starting date of the digital12 to-analog converter box subsidy pro13 gram described in subparagraph (A); 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(ii) contain the address of the website 

16 and toll-free information hotline provided 

17 by the Commission under subparagraphs 

18 (B) and (C) of paragraph (4). 

19 ‘‘(6) PENALTY.—In addition to any other civil 

20 or criminal penalty provided by law, the Commission 

21 shall issue civil forfeitures for violations of the re22 quirements of this subsection in an amount equal to 

23 not more than 3 times the amount of the forfeiture 

24 penalty established by section 503(a)(2)(A). 


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1 ‘‘(7) SUNSET.—The requirements of this sub2 section, excluding the consumer alert labeling provi3 sion described in paragraph (3), shall cease to apply 

4 to manufacturers and retailers on December 1, 

5 2009.’’. 

6 (b) DTV WORKING GROUP ON CONSUMER EDUCATION, 

7 OUTREACH, AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Within 60 days after the date 

9 of enactment of this Act, the Federal Communications 

10 Commission shall establish an advisory committee, to 

11 be known as the DTV Working Group, to consult with 

12 State and local governments and the National Tele13 communications and Information Administration to 

14 promote consumer outreach and to provide logistical 

15 assistance on a market-by-market basis to consumers 

16 with special needs, including the converter box sub17 sidy program. The Working Group shall ensure that 

18 the digital-to-analog converter box subsidy program 

19 authorized under section 3005 of Digital Television 

20 Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 (Public 

21 Law 109-171; 120 Stat. 24) includes a means by 

22 which to reach and assist elderly, disabled, low-in23 come, and non-English speaking households with the 

24 delivery and installation of such converter boxes. 


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1 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission shall ap2 point to the DTV Working Group representatives of 

3 groups involved with the transition to digital tele4 vision, including the Commission, the National Tele5 communications and Information Administration, 

6 other Federal agencies, commercial and noncommer7 cial television broadcasters, multichannel video pro8 gramming distributors, consumer electronics manu9 facturers and manufacturers of peripheral devices, 

10 broadcast antenna and tuner manufacturers, retail 

11 providers of consumer electronics equipment, as well 

12 as providers of low-income assistance programs, edu13 cational institutions, community groups, consumers, 

14 and public interest groups (including the Television 

15 Ratings Oversight Monitoring Board, the American 

16 Association of Retired Persons, the American Associa17 tion of People with Disabilities, and the Seniors Coa18 lition). Members of the DTV Working Group shall 

19 serve without compensation and shall not be consid20 ered Federal employees by reason of their service on 

21 the advisory committee. 

22 (3) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the DTV Work23 ing Group are— 

24 (A) to advise the Commission through writ25 ten recommendations submitted not later than 


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1 July 15, 2007, about the creation and implemen2 tation of a national plan to inform consumers 

3 about the digital television transition as required 

4 by section 330(d)(4) of the Communications Act 

5 of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 330(d)(6)); 

6 (B) to ensure that the Commission’s na7 tional plan includes— 

8 (i) at a minimum, recommended pro9 cedures for public service announcements by 

10 broadcasters, toll-free information hotlines, 

11 and retail displays or notices, and any 

12 other media or non-media outreach methods 

13 the Commission determines necessary, in14 cluding methods for reaching consumers 

15 after February 17, 2009; 

16 (ii) a requirement that all licensed 

17 broadcasters in a designated market area 

18 submit a joint plan to the Commission and 

19 the DTV Working Group, not later 4 

20 months after the Commission initiates its 

21 public outreach program under section 

22 330(d) of the Communications Act of 1934 

23 (47 U.S.C. 330(d)), that addresses the pub24 lic outreach and public service announce25 ment requirements required by this title to 


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1 inform consumers in those areas of the tran2 sition to digital television and that— 

3 (I) includes a description of how 

4 each commercial television broadcaster 

5 will fulfill the public service announce6 ment requirements required under sec7 tion 330(d)(7) of the Communications 

8 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 330(d)(7)); 

9 (II) includes market research by 

10 each commercial television broadcaster 

11 regarding projected consumer demand 

12 for converter boxes in their designated 

13 market area; and 

14 (III) will be shared with retailers 

15 inside their designated market area so 

16 that such retailers may stock the ap17 propriate amount of converter boxes to 

18 meet the needs of consumers within 

19 each designated market area; 

20 (C) to work with the Commission and the 

21 National Telecommunications and Information 

22 Administration to ensure that the digital-to-ana23 log converter box subsidy program is adminis24 tered in a manner such that those consumers 


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1 with the greatest need, including analog-only 

2 consumers, are adequately served; 

3 (D) to monitor and advise the Commission 

4 through 2 DTV Progress Reports regarding the 

5 course of the outreach program during calendar 

6 year 2008; such reports shall describe planned ef7 forts by the private sector, both nationally and 

8 in various television broadcast markets, to in9 form consumers about the digital transition, and 

10 shall evaluate the effectiveness of the outreach 

11 program and the digital-to-analog converter box 

12 subsidy program authorized under section 3005 

13 of Digital Television Transition and Public 

14 Safety Act of 2005 (public Law 109-171; 120 

15 Stat. 24); 

16 (E) to advise the Commission about modi17 fications necessary to the national plan to mini18 mize potential disruption to consumers attrib19 utable to the transition to digital broadcasting 

20 required under section 309(j)(14) of the Commu21 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(14)); 

22 and 

23 (F) to recommend to the Commission proce24 dures for contacting persons with disabilities, 

25 which shall include— 


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1 (i) use of telecommunications relay 

2 services for persons who are deaf, hard of 

3 hearing, or with speech disabilities; 

4 (ii) distribution of printed items avail5 able in alternative formats for persons with 

6 vision and learning disabilities; and 

7 (iii) other alternative formats, includ8 ing accessible websites for persons with dis9 abilities. 

10 (c) REQUIREMENTS TO PROMOTE SALE OF DIGITAL

11 TELEVISIONS AND CONVERTER BOXES.— 

12 (1) DIGITAL TUNER MANDATE.—Part I of title 

13 III (47 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

14 after section 303 the following: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 303A. REQUIREMENTS FOR DIGITAL TELEVISION 

16 SETS AND CERTAIN OTHER EQUIPMENT. 

17 ‘‘After March 1, 2007, it is unlawful for a manufac18 turer or importer to import into the United States or ship 

19 in interstate commerce for sale or resale to the public, a 

20 television broadcast receiver (as defined in section 15.3(w) 

21 of the Commission’s regulations (47 C.F.R. 15.3(w))) that 

22 is not equipped with a tuner capable of receiving and decod23 ing digital signals.’’. 

24 (2) COMMISSION NOT TO CHANGE SCHEDULE.— 

25 The Federal Communications Commission may not 


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1 revise the digital television reception capability im2 plementation schedule under section 15.117(i) of its 

3 regulations (47 C.F.R. 15.117(i)) except to conform 

4 that section to the requirements of section 303A of the 

5 Communications Act of 1934. 

6 (3) CONVERTER BOXES.— 

7 (A) ENERGY STANDARDS.—Within 1 year 

8 after the date of enactment of this Act, the As9 sistant Secretary of Commerce for Communica10 tions and Information, in consultation with the 

11 Secretary of Energy, shall set the energy stand12 ards for digital-to-analog converter boxes (as de13 fined in section 3005(d) of the Digital Television 

14 Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 (47 

15 U.S.C. 309 note)), taking into consideration the 

16 cost of the converter box. The standards shall 

17 meet the criteria specified in section 325(o) of 

18 the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 

19 U.S.C. 6295(o)). 

20 (B) APPLICATION.—Notwithstanding any 

21 other provision of law, the standards set under 

22 subparagraph (A) shall solely govern the energy 

23 standards for converter boxes manufactured or 

24 imported for use in the United States on and 

25 after the effective date established by the AssistVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:27 Oct 01, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00207 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5252.RS H5252

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1 ant Secretary. This paragraph shall not apply 

2 after May 17, 2010. 

3 (C) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

4 3005(d) of the Digital Television Transition and 

5 Public Safety Act of 2005 (47 U.S.C. 309 note)) 

6 is amended by inserting ‘‘a clock, other inci7 dental features, or’’ after ‘‘include’’. 

8 (d) DOWNCONVERSION FROM DIGITAL SIGNALS TO

9 ANALOG SIGNALS.— 

10 (1) DIGITAL-TO-ANALOG CONVERSION.—Section 

11 614(b)(4) (47 U.S.C. 534(b)(4)) is amended— 

12 (A) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as 

13 subparagraph (I); and 

14 (B) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(B) DIGITAL VIDEO SIGNAL.—With respect 

17 to any television station that is transmitting 

18 broadcast programming exclusively in the digital 

19 television service in a local market, a cable oper20 ator of a cable system in that market shall carry 

21 any digital video signal requiring carriage 

22 under this section and program-related material 

23 in the digital format transmitted by that station, 

24 without material degradation, if the licensee for 

25 that station relies on this section or section 615 


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1 to obtain carriage of the digital video signal and 

2 program-related material on that cable system in 

3 that market. 

4 ‘‘(C) MULTIPLE FORMATS PERMITTED.—A 

5 cable operator of a cable system may offer the 

6 digital video signal and program-related mate7 rial of a local television station described in sub8 paragraph (A) in any analog or digital format 

9 or formats, whether or not doing so requires con10 version from the format transmitted by the local 

11 television station, so long as— 

12 ‘‘(i) the cable operator offers the digital 

13 video signal and program-related material 

14 in the converted analog or digital format or 

15 formats without material degradation; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) also offers the digital video signal 

17 and program-related material in the man18 ner or manners required by this paragraph. 

19 ‘‘(D) TRANSITIONAL CONVERSIONS.—Not20 withstanding the requirement in subparagraph 

21 (B) to carry the digital video signal and pro22 gram-related material in the digital format 

23 transmitted by the local television station, but 

24 subject to the prohibition on material degrada25 tion, until February 17, 2014— 


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1 ‘‘(i) a cable operator— 

2 ‘‘(I) shall offer the digital video 

3 signal and program-related material 

4 in the format or formats necessary for 

5 such signal and material to be 

6 viewable on analog and digital tele7 visions; and 

8 ‘‘(II) may convert the digital 

9 video signal and program-related ma10 terial to standard-definition digital 

11 format in lieu of offering it in the dig12 ital format transmitted by the local tel13 evision station; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) notwithstanding clause (i), a 

15 cable operator of a cable system with an ac16 tivated capacity of 550 megahertz or less— 

17 ‘‘(I) shall offer the digital video 

18 signal and program-related material of 

19 the local television station described in 

20 subparagraph (A), converted to an 

21 analog format; and 

22 ‘‘(II) may, but shall not be re23 quired to, offer the digital video signal 

24 and program-related material in any 

25 digital format or formats. 


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1 ‘‘(E) LOCATION AND METHOD OF CONVER2 SION.—A cable operator of a cable system may 

3 perform any conversion permitted or required by 

4 this paragraph at any location, from the cable 

5 head-end to the customer premises, inclusive. 

6 ‘‘(F) CONVERSIONS NOT TREATED AS DEG7 RADATION.—Any conversion permitted or re8 quired by this paragraph shall not, by itself, be 

9 treated as a material degradation. 

10 ‘‘(G) CARRIAGE OF PROGRAM-RELATED MA11 TERIAL.—The obligation to carry program-re12 lated material under this paragraph is effective 

13 only to the extent technically feasible. 

14 ‘‘(H) DEFINITION OF STANDARD-DEFINITION

15 FORMAT.—For purposes of this paragraph, a sig16 nal shall be in standard definition digital format 

17 if such signal meets the criteria for such format 

18 specified in the standard recognized by the Com19 mission in section 73.682 of its rules (47 C.F.R. 

20 73.682) or a successor regulation.’’. 

21 (2) TIERING.— 

22 (A) AMENDMENT TO COMMUNICATIONS

23 ACT.—Clause (iii) of section 623(b)(7)(A) (47 

24 U.S.C. 543(b)(7)(A)(iii)) is amended to read as 

25 follows: 


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1 ‘‘(iii) Any analog signal and any dig2 ital video signal of any television broadcast 

3 station that is provided by the cable oper4 ator to any subscriber, except a signal 

5 which is secondarily transmitted by a sat6 ellite carrier beyond the local service area of 

7 such station.’’. 

8 (B) EFFECTIVE DATE.—With respect to any 

9 television broadcast station, this subsection and 

10 the amendments made by this paragraph shall 

11 take effect on the date the broadcaster ceases 

12 transmissions in the analog television service. 

13 (3) MATERIAL DEGRADATION.—Section 614 (47 

14 U.S.C. 534) is amended— 

15 (A) by redesignating subsection (h) as sub16 section (i); and 

17 (B) by inserting after subsection (g) the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(h) MATERIAL DEGRADATION.—For purposes of this 

20 section and section 615, transmission of a digital signal 

21 over a cable system in a compressed bitstream shall not be 

22 considered material degradation as long as such compres23 sion does not materially affect the picture quality the con24 sumer receives.’’. 


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1 (e) SATELLITE DOWNCONVERSION.—Section 338 (47 

2 U.S.C. 338) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(l) SPECIFIC CARRIAGE OBLIGATIONS AFTER DIG4 ITAL TRANSITION.— 

5 ‘‘(1) DIGITAL VIDEO SIGNAL.—With respect to 

6 any television broadcast station that is transmitting 

7 broadcast programming exclusively in the digital tele8 vision service in a local market in the United States, 

9 a satellite carrier carrying the digital signal of any 

10 other television broadcast station in that local market 

11 shall carry the station’s primary video required to be 

12 carried and program-related material without mate13 rial degradation, if the licensee for that station relies 

14 on this section to obtain carriage of the station’s video 

15 signal and program-related material on that satellite 

16 carrier’s system in that market. 

17 ‘‘(2) FORMATTING OF PRIMARY VIDEO.—A sat18 ellite carrier shall offer the primary video and pro19 gram-related material of a local television station de20 scribed in paragraph (1) in the digital format trans21 mitted by the station if the satellite carrier carries the 

22 primary video of any other television broadcast sta23 tion in that local market in the same digital format. 

24 ‘‘(3) MULTIPLE FORMATS PERMITTED.—A sat25 ellite carrier may offer the primary video and proVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:27 Oct 01, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00213 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5252.RS H5252

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1 gram-related material of a local television broadcast 

2 station described in paragraph (1) in any analog or 

3 digital format or formats, whether or not doing so re4 quires conversion from the format transmitted by the 

5 local television broadcast station, so long as— 

6 ‘‘(A) the satellite carrier offers the primary 

7 video and program-related material in the con8 verted analog or digital format or formats with9 out material degradation; and 

10 ‘‘(B) also offers the primary video and pro11 gram-related material in the manner or manners 

12 required by this paragraph. 

13 ‘‘(4) TRANSITIONAL CONVERSIONS.—Notwith14 standing any requirement in paragraph (1) or (2) to 

15 carry the primary video and program-related mate16 rial in the digital format transmitted by the local tel17 evision station, but subject to the prohibition on mate18 rial degradation, until February 17, 2014, a satellite 

19 carrier— 

20 ‘‘(A) shall offer the primary video and pro21 gram-related material of any local television 

22 broadcast station required to be carried under 

23 paragraph (1) in the format or formats nec24 essary for such primary video and program-reVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:27 Oct 01, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00214 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5252.RS H5252

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1 lated material to be viewable on analog and dig2 ital televisions; and 

3 ‘‘(B) may convert the primary video and 

4 program-related material to standard-definition 

5 digital format in lieu of offering it in the digital 

6 format transmitted by the local television sta7 tion. 

8 ‘‘(5) LOCATION AND METHOD OF CONVERSION.— 

9 A satellite carrier may perform any conversion per10 mitted or required by this paragraph at any location, 

11 from the local receive facility to the customer prem12 ises, inclusive. 

13 ‘‘(6) CONVERSIONS NOT TREATED AS DEGRADA14 TION.—Any conversion permitted or required by this 

15 paragraph shall not, by itself, be treated as a mate16 rial degradation. 

17 ‘‘(7) CARRIAGE OF PROGRAM-RELATED MATE18 RIAL.—The obligation to carry program-related mate19 rial under this paragraph is effective only to the ex20 tent technically feasible. 

21 ‘‘(8) DEFINITION OF STANDARD-DEFINITION FOR22 MAT.—For purposes of this subsection, the primary 

23 video shall be in standard definition digital format if 

24 such primary video meets the criteria for such format 

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1 sion in section 73.682 of its rules (47 C.F.R. 73.682) 

2 or a successor regulation. 

3 ‘‘(9) MATERIAL DEGRADATION.—For purposes of 

4 this subsection, transmission of a digital signal over 

5 a satellite system in a compressed bitstream shall not 

6 be considered material degradation as long as such 

7 compression does not materially affect the picture 

8 quality the consumer receives.’’. 

9 SEC. 702. DIGITAL STREAM REQUIREMENT FOR THE BLIND. 

10 (a) RULES REINSTATED.—The video description rules 

11 of the Federal Communications Commission contained in 

12 the report and order identified as Implementation of Video 

13 Description of Video Programming, Report and Order, 15 

14 F.C.C.R. 15,230 (2000), shall, notwithstanding the decision 

15 of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of 

16 Columbia Circuit in Motion Picture Association of Amer17 ica, Inc., et al., v. Federal Communications Commission, 

18 et al. (309 F. 3d 796, November 8, 2002), be considered to 

19 be authorized and ratified by law. 

20 (b) CONTINUING AUTHORITY OF COMMISSION.—The 

21 Federal Communications Commission— 

22 (1) shall, within 45 days after the date of enact23 ment of this Act, republish its video description rules 

24 contained in the report and order Implementation of 


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1 Video Description of Video Programming, Report and 

2 Order, 15 F.C.C.R. 15,230 (2000); 

3 (2) may amend, repeal, or otherwise modify such 

4 rules; 

5 (3) shall initiate a proceeding within 120 days 

6 after the date of enactment of this Act, and complete 

7 that proceeding within 1 year, to consider incor8 porating accessible information requirements in its 

9 video description rules; and 

10 (4) shall extend the video description rules under 

11 this section to digital broadcast programming and 

12 video programming (as defined in section 602(23) of 

13 the Communications Act of 1934), as appropriate, in 

14 the public interest. 

15 (c) ACCESSIBLE INFORMATION DEFINED.—In this sec16 tion, the term ‘‘accessible information’’ may include written 

17 information displayed on television screens during regular 

18 programming, hazardous warnings and other emergency 

19 information, local and national news bulletins, and any 

20 other information the Commission deems appropriate. 

21 SEC. 703. STATUS OF INTERNATIONAL COORDINATION. 

22 Until the date on which the international coordination 

23 with Canada and Mexico of the DTV table of allotments 

24 is complete (as determined by the Federal Communications 

25 Commission), the Federal Communications Commission 


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1 shall submit a report every 6 months on the status of that 

2 international coordination to the Senate Committee on 

3 Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House of 

4 Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce. 

5 SEC. 704. CERTAIN BORDER STATIONS. 

6 Section 309(j)(14) (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(14)) is amended 

7 by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(D) BORDER STATIONS.—An analog 

9 broadcast television station, whose programming 

10 is broadcast entirely in the Spanish-language, 

11 that prior to February 17, 2009, is licensed by 

12 the Commission to serve communities located 

13 within 50 miles of the common border with the 

14 United Mexican States and can establish to the 

15 satisfaction of the Federal Communications 

16 Commission that its continued operation in ana17 log is in the public interest, shall be entitled to 

18 the renewal of its television broadcast license au19 thorizing analog television service and to operate 

20 on a channel between 2 and 51 that complies 

21 with the following provisions through February 

22 17, 2011: 

23 ‘‘(i) The channel used for analog oper24 ation may not— 


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1 ‘‘(I) prevent the auction of recov2 ered spectrum, as provided for in para3 graph (15) of this subsection; 

4 ‘‘(II) prevent the use of recovered 

5 spectrum by public safety services, as 

6 provided for by section 337(a)(1) of 

7 this Act; and 

8 ‘‘(III) encumber nor interfere with 

9 any channels reserved for public safety 

10 use as designated in FCC ET Docket 

11 No. 97–157. 

12 ‘‘(ii) The station shall operate on its 

13 assigned analog channel as of February 16, 

14 2009, if that channel— 

15 ‘‘(I) is designated between 2 and 

16 51; 

17 ‘‘(II) has not been assigned to the 

18 station itself or another station for dig19 ital operation after the digital transi20 tion; and 

21 ‘‘(III) could be used by that sta22 tion for analog operation after the dig23 ital transition without causing inter24 ference to previously authorized digital 

25 television stations. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) If the station does not meet the 

2 criteria of clause (ii) for operation on its 

3 assigned analog channel as of February 16, 

4 2009, the station may request, and the Com5 mission shall promptly act upon such re6 quest, to be assigned a new channel for its 

7 analog operation, if the requested channel— 

8 ‘‘(I) is shall between channels 2 

9 and 51; and 

10 ‘‘(II) allows the station to operate 

11 on a primary basis without causing 

12 interference to other analog or digital 

13 television stations or to stations li14 censed to operate in other radio serv15 ices that also operate on channels be16 tween 2 and 51. Where mutually exclu17 sive applications are submitted for 

18 analog television operation on a chan19 nel under the provisions of this section, 

20 the Commission shall award the au21 thority to use that channel through the 

22 application of the procedures of this 

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1 cedures of paragraph (6)(E) of this 

2 subsection. 

3 ‘‘(iv) The station shall, from February 

4 16, 2009, through February 17, 2011, regu5 larly broadcast Spanish-language public 

6 service announcements that serve to educate 

7 the station’s viewers to the digital transi8 tion and the need to secure digital con9 verters or monitors so that the station’s 

10 viewers can receive the station’s digital sig11 nal after February 17, 2011.’’. 

12 TITLE VIII—PROTECTING 

13 CHILDREN 

14 SEC. 801. VIDEO TRANSMISSION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY. 

15 Section 621 (47 U.S.C. 541) is amended by adding 

16 at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(g) CHILD PORNOGRAPHY.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A video service provider au19 thorized to provide video service in a local franchise 

20 area shall comply with the regulations on child por21 nography promulgated pursuant to paragraph (2). 

22 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days 

23 after the date of enactment of the Advanced Tele24 communications and Opportunities Reform Act, the 

25 Commission shall promulgate regulations to require a 


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1 video service to prevent the offering of child pornog2 raphy (as such term is defined in section 

3 254(h)(7)(F)).’’. 

4 SEC. 802. ADDITIONAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY AMEND5 MENTS. 

6 (a) INCREASE IN FINE FOR FAILURE TO REPORT.— 

7 Section 227(b)(4) of the Crime Control Act of 1990 (42 

8 U.S.C. 13032(b)(4)) is amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘$50,000;’’ in subparagraph (A) 

10 and inserting ‘‘$150,000;’’; and 

11 (2) by striking ‘‘$100,000.’’ in subparagraph (B) 

12 and inserting ‘‘$300,000.’’. 

13 (b) WARNING LABELS FOR WEBSITES DEPICTING SEX14 UALLY EXPLICIT MATERIAL.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

16 (A) NOTICE REQUIREMENT.—It is unlawful 

17 for the operator of a website that is primarily 

18 operated for commercial purposes knowingly, 

19 and with knowledge of the character of the mate20 rial, to place sexually explicit material on the 

21 website unless— 

22 (i) the first page of the website 

23 viewable on the Internet does not include 

24 any sexually explicit material; and 


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1 (ii) each page or screen of the website 

2 that does contain sexually explicit material 

3 also displays the matter prescribed by the 

4 Federal Trade Commission under para5 graph (2). 

6 (B) EXCEPTION FOR RESTRICTED ACCESS

7 WEBSITES.—Subparagraph (A)(ii) does not 

8 apply to any website access to which is restricted 

9 to a specific set of individuals through a pass10 word or other access restriction mechanism. 

11 (2) MARKS OR NOTICES.—Within 90 days after 

12 the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Trade 

13 Commission shall, in consultation with the Attorney 

14 General, promulgate regulations establishing clearly 

15 identifiable marks or notices to be included in the 

16 code, if technologically feasible, or on the pages or 

17 screens of a website that contains sexually explicit 

18 material to inform any person who accesses that 

19 website of the nature of the material and to facilitate 

20 the filtering of such pages or screens. 

21 (3) INAPPLICABILITY TO CARRIERS AND OTHER

22 SERVICE PROVIDERS.—Subsection (a) does not apply 

23 to a person to the extent that the person is— 


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1 (A) a telecommunications carrier (as de2 fined in section 3(44) of the Communications Act 

3 of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153(44)); 

4 (B) engaged in the business of providing an 

5 Internet access service; or 

6 (C) engaged in the transmission, storage, re7 trieval, hosting, formatting, or translation of a 

8 communication made by another person, without 

9 selection or alteration of the content (other than 

10 by translation or by lawful selection or deletion 

11 of matter). 

12 (4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

13 (A) WEBSITE.—The term ‘‘website’’ means 

14 any collection of material placed in a computer 

15 server-based file archive so that it is publicly ac16 cessible over the Internet using hypertext transfer 

17 protocol, or any successor protocol. 

18 (B) SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MATERIAL.—The 

19 term ‘‘sexually explicit material’’ means mate20 rial that depicts sexually explicit conduct (as de21 fined in section 2256(2)(A) of section 2256 of 

22 title 18, United States Code), unless that depic23 tion constitutes a small and insignificant part of 

24 the whole, the remainder of which is not pri25 marily devoted to sexual matters. 


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1 (C) INTERNET.—The term ‘‘Internet’’ means 

2 the combination of computer facilities and elec3 tromagnetic transmission media, and related 

4 equipment and software, comprising the inter5 connected worldwide network of computer net6 works that employ the Internet protocol or any 

7 successor protocol to transmit information. 

8 (D) INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE.—The term 

9 ‘‘Internet access service’’ means a service that en10 ables users to access content, information, elec11 tronic mail, or other services offered over the 

12 Internet and may also include access to propri13 etary content, information, and other services as 

14 part of a package of services offered to the public 

15 other than telecommunications service (as de16 fined in section 3(46) of the Communications Act 

17 of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153(46))). 

18 (5) PENALTY.—Violation of this subsection is 

19 punishable by a fine under title 18, United States 

20 Code, or imprisonment for not more than 5 years, or 

21 both. 

22 (c) PROHIBITION ON DECEPTIVE WEBSITE DEVICES

23 TO TRICK INDIVIDUALS INTO ACCESSING MATTER THAT IS

24 OBSCENE OR HARMFUL TO CHILDREN.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 110 of title 18, 

2 United States Code, is amended by inserting after sec3 tion 2252B the following: 

4 ‘‘§ 2252C. Misleading words or images on the Internet 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

6 ‘‘(1) MATTER THAT IS OBSCENE.—It is unlawful 

7 for any person knowingly to embed words, symbols, or 

8 digital images into the source code of a website with 

9 the intent to deceive another person into viewing ma10 terial that is obscene. 

11 ‘‘(2) MATTER THAT IS HARMFUL TO CHIL12 DREN.—It is unlawful for any person knowingly to 

13 embed words, symbols, or digital images into the 

14 source code of a website with the intent to deceive a 

15 minor into viewing material that is harmful to mi16 nors. 

17 ‘‘(3) IDENTIFIED MATTER NOT DECEPTIVE.—For 

18 purposes of this section, a word, symbol, or image 

19 that clearly indicates the sexual content of a website 

20 as sexual, pornographic, or similar terms shall not be 

21 considered to be misleading or deceptive. 

22 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 ‘‘(1) MATERIAL HARMFUL TO MINORS.—The 

24 term ‘material that is harmful to minors’ means a 

25 communication consisting of nudity, sex, or excretion 


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1 that, taken as a whole and with reference to its con2 tent— 

3 ‘‘(A) predominantly appeals to a prurient 

4 interest of a minor; 

5 ‘‘(B) is patently offensive to prevailing 

6 standards in the adult community as a whole 

7 with respect to what is suitable material for mi8 nors; and 

9 ‘‘(C) lacks serious literary, artistic, polit10 ical, or scientific value for minors. 

11 ‘‘(2) SEX.—The term ‘sex’ means acts of mas12 turbation, sexual intercourse, or physical contact with 

13 a person’s genitals, or the condition of human male 

14 or female genitals when in a state of sexual stimula15 tion or arousal. 

16 ‘‘(3) SOURCE CODE.—The term ‘source code’ 

17 means the combination of text and other characters 

18 comprising the content, both viewable and 

19 nonviewable, of a web page, including any website 

20 publishing language, programming language, pro21 tocol, or functional content. 

22 ‘‘(c) PENALTIES.— 

23 ‘‘(1) OBSCENE MATERIAL.—Violation of sub24 section (a)(1) is punishable by a fine under this title, 

25 or imprisonment for not more than 2 years, or both. 


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1 ‘‘(2) MATERIAL HARMFUL TO MINORS.—Viola2 tion of subsection (a)(2) is punishable by a fine under 

3 this title, or imprisonment for not more than 4 years, 

4 or both.’’. 

5 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter 

6 analysis for chapter 110 of title 18, United States 

7 Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating 

8 to section 2252B the following: 

‘‘2252C. Misleading words or images on the Internet.’’. 

9 (d) CIVIL REMEDIES.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2255(a) of title 18, 

11 United States Code, is amended— 

12 (A) by striking ‘‘(a) Any minor who is’’ in 

13 the first sentence and inserting ‘‘(a) IN GEN14 ERAL.—Any person who, while a minor, was’’; 

15 (B) by striking ‘‘such violation’’ in the first 

16 sentence and inserting ‘‘such violation, regardless 

17 of whether the injury occurred while such person 

18 was a minor,’’; 

19 (C) by striking ‘‘such minor’’ in the first 

20 sentence and inserting ‘‘such person’’; 

21 (D) by striking ‘‘Any minor’’ in the second 

22 sentence and inserting ‘‘Any person’’; and 

23 (E) by striking ‘‘$50,000’’ in the second sen24 tence and inserting ‘‘$150,000’’. 


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1 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 2255(b) 

2 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by strik3 ing ‘‘(b) Any action’’ and inserting ‘‘(b) STATUTE OF

4 LIMITATIONS.—Any action’’. 

5 SEC. 803. PREVENTION OF INTERACTIVITY WITH COMMER6 CIAL MATTER DURING CHILDREN’S PRO7 GRAMMING. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—It shall be the duty of each cable 

9 operator, video service provider, multichannel video pro10 gramming distributor, satellite carrier, or any other pro11 vider of cable or over-the-air broadcast programming to pre12 vent interactivity with commercial matter during any chil13 dren’s programming whether on, broadcast, cable, satellite 

14 television, or any other means of delivering programming 

15 to children, as well as during advertisements aired during 

16 or adjacent to such programs. 

17 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of this 

18 section, the term ‘‘commercial matter’’ means any inter19 activity designed with the purpose of selling or promoting 

20 a product, service, or brand. 

21 SEC. 804. FCC STUDY OF BUS-CASTING. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Communications Com23 mission shall conduct a study of commercial proposals to 

24 broadcast radio or television programs for reception on25 board specially equipped school buses operated by, or under 


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1 contract with, local public educational agencies. In the 

2 study, the Commission shall examine— 

3 (1) the nature of the material proposed to be 

4 broadcast and whether it is age appropriate for the 

5 passengers; 

6 (2) the amount and nature of commercial adver7 tising to be broadcast; and 

8 (3) whether such broadcasts for reception by pub9 lic school buses are in the public interest. 

10 (b) REPORT.—The Commission shall report its find11 ings and recommendations to the Senate Committee on 

12 Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House of 

13 Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce with14 in 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 

15 TITLE IX—INTERNET CONSUMER 

16 BILL OF RIGHTS ACT 

17 SEC. 901. SHORT TITLE. 

18 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Internet Consumer Bill 

19 of Rights Act of 2006’’. 

20 SEC. 902. FINDINGS. 

21 Congress finds that the Federal Communications Com22 mission should seek to— 

23 (1) preserve the free-flow of ideas and informa24 tion on the Internet; 

25 (2) promote public discourse on the Internet; 


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1 (3) preserve the vibrant and competitive free 

2 market that presently exists for the Internet and other 

3 interactive computer services unfettered by Federal or 

4 State regulation; 

5 (4) encourage investment and innovation in 

6 Internet networks and applications markets through a 

7 diversity of business models; and 

8 (5) promote deployment of broadband networks 

9 nationwide. 

10 SEC. 903. CONSUMER INTERNET BILL OF RIGHTS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided in 

12 this title, with respect to Internet services, each Internet 

13 service provider shall allow each subscriber to— 

14 (1) access and post any lawful content of that 

15 subscriber’s choosing; 

16 (2) access any web page of that subscriber’s 

17 choosing; 

18 (3) access and run any voice application, soft19 ware, or service of that subscriber’s choosing; 

20 (4) access and run any video application, soft21 ware, or service of that subscriber’s choosing; 

22 (5) access and run any email application, soft23 ware, or service of that subscriber’s choosing; 

24 (6) access and run any search engine of that sub25 scriber’s choosing; 


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1 (7) access and run any other application, soft2 ware, or service of that subscriber’s choosing; 

3 (8) connect any legal device of that subscriber’s 

4 choosing to the Internet access equipment of that sub5 scriber, if such device does not harm the network of 

6 the Internet service provider; and 

7 (9) receive clear and conspicuous information, in 

8 plain language, about the estimated speeds, capabili9 ties, limitations, and pricing of any Internet service 

10 offered to the public. 

11 (b) NO INTERFERENCE WITH THE INTERNET.—A sub12 scriber may exercise any of the rights enumerated in sub13 section (a)— 

14 (1) without interference from any Federal, State, 

15 or local government, except as specifically authorized 

16 by law; 

17 (2) without interference from an Internet service 

18 provider, except as otherwise provided by law; 

19 (3) for any legal purpose; and 

20 (4) subject to the limitations of the Internet serv21 ice such subscriber has purchased. 

22 SEC. 904. APPLICATION OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT. 

23 Consistent with the First Amendment to the United 

24 States Constitution, as applied to the States through the 

25 Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution— 


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1 (1) no Federal, State, or local government may 

2 limit, restrict, ban, prohibit, or otherwise regulate 

3 content on the Internet because of the religious views, 

4 political views, or any other views expressed in such 

5 content unless specifically authorized by law; and 

6 (2) no Internet service provider engaged in inter7 state commerce may limit, restrict, ban, prohibit, or 

8 otherwise regulate content on the Internet because of 

9 the religious views, political views, or any other views 

10 expressed in such content unless specifically author11 ized by law. 

12 SEC. 905. STAND-ALONE INTERNET SERVICE SHALL BE OF13 FERED TO THE PUBLIC. 

14 An Internet service provider shall offer to any poten15 tial subscriber any Internet service such provider offers 

16 without requiring that subscriber to purchase or use any 

17 telecommunications service, information service, IP-enabled 

18 voice service, video service, or other service offered by such 

19 Internet service provider. 

20 SEC. 906. NETWORK SECURITY, WORMS, VIRUSES, DENIAL 

21 OF SERVICE, PARENTAL CONTROLS, AND 

22 BLOCKING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY. 

23 An Internet service provider may— 

24 (1) protect the security, privacy, or integrity of 

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1 puter of any subscriber, or any service, including 

2 by— 

3 (A) blocking worms or viruses; or 

4 (B) preventing denial of service attacks; 

5 (2) facilitate diagnostics, technical support, 

6 maintenance, network management, or repair of the 

7 network or service of such provider; 

8 (3) prevent or detect unauthorized, fraudulent, or 

9 otherwise unlawful uses of the network or service of 

10 such provider; 

11 (4) block access to content, applications, or serv12 ices that Federal or State law expressly authorizes to 

13 be blocked, including child pornography; 

14 (5) provide consumers Parental Control applica15 tions, devices, or services, including— 

16 (A) blocking access to websites with obscene 

17 or adult content; 

18 (B) blocking display of video content based 

19 on a common rating; or 

20 (C) offering a family friendly tier of service; 

21 and 

22 (6) allow a subscriber to elect to have content, 

23 applications, or services blocked at the request of such 

24 subscriber. 


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1 SEC. 907. ENFORCEMENT. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Communications Com3 mission shall, by rule, establish an adjudicatory enforce4 ment procedure under which— 

5 (1) any subscriber aggrieved by a violation of the 

6 requirements of section 903 may initiate an enforce7 ment action by filing a complaint, in such form and 

8 in such manner as the Commission may prescribe; 

9 and 

10 (2) the Commission shall make a determination, 

11 after notice and an opportunity for a hearing, with 

12 respect to any bona fide complaint not later than 120 

13 days after the date on which such complaint is re14 ceived. 

15 (b) PENALTY FOR VIOLATIONS.—Any person who vio16 lates any provision of this title shall be subject to enforce17 ment action by the Commission under title IV and section 

18 503 of the Communications Act of 1934. For purposes of 

19 any forfeiture imposed pursuant to section 503 for such a 

20 violation, the maximum forfeiture for a violation of this 

21 title shall be $500,000 for each such violation. 

22 (c) EQUITABLE RELIEF AVAILABLE.—In response to 

23 any complaint of a violation of this title, the Commission 

24 may— 

25 (1) issue an injunction or temporary restraining 

26 order; or 


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1 (2) provide such other equitable relief as the 

2 Commission determines appropriate. 

3 SEC. 908. COMMISSION PROHIBITED FROM ISSUING REGU4 LATIONS. 

5 Except as provided in section 907(a), the Commission 

6 shall not— 

7 (1) promulgate any regulations implementing 

8 this title; nor 

9 (2) enlarge or modify the obligations imposed on 

10 Internet service providers through the adjudicatory 

11 process under section 907. 

12 SEC. 909. FCC REVIEW. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning 1 year after the date of 

14 enactment of this Act, the Federal Communications Com15 mission shall report annually to the Committee on Com16 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 

17 Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Rep18 resentatives regarding— 

19 (1) the developments in Internet traffic proc20 essing, routing, peering, transport, and interconnec21 tion; 

22 (2) how such developments impact the free-flow 

23 of information over the public Internet and the con24 sumer and small business experience using the public 

25 Internet; 


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1 (3) business relationships between Internet serv2 ice providers and applications and online user service 

3 providers; and 

4 (4) the development of and services available over 

5 public and private Internet offerings. 

6 (b) DETERMINATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—The 

7 Federal Communications Commission shall make such rec8 ommendations under subsection (a), as the Commission de9 termines appropriate. 

10 SEC. 910. EXCEPTIONS. 

11 Nothing in this title shall— 

12 (1) preclude an Internet service provider from 

13 displaying advertisements in connection with a 

14 broadband service; or 

15 (2) apply to a service in which Internet service 

16 is not the primary service, such as a video service of17 fered under Title VI of the Communications Act of 

18 1934 (47 U.S.C. 521 et seq.). 

19 SEC. 911. FCC TO REVISIT BROADBAND SPEEDS. 

20 Within 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act 

21 and biennially thereafter, the Federal Communications 

22 Commission shall revise its definition of broadband to re23 flect a data rate— 


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1 (1) greater than the 200 kilobits per second 

2 standard established in its Section 706 Report (14 

3 FCC Rec. 2406); and 

4 (2) consistent with data rates for broadband 

5 communications services generally available to the 

6 public on the date of enactment of this Act and there7 after, upon the date of the Commission’s review. 

8 SEC. 912. PROTECTION OF EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS. 

9 An Internet service provider shall prioritize, to the ex10 tent technically feasible, 911 and E–911 emergency commu11 nications to ensure timely and effective emergency commu12 nications in a manner that is not inconsistent with other 

13 priority levels needed in times of Federal, State, and local 

14 emergencies and for other public safety and homeland secu15 rity needs or requirements. 

16 SEC. 913. DEFINITIONS. 

17 In this title: 

18 (1) INTERNET SERVICE.—The term ‘‘Internet 

19 service’’ means any service that provides access to the 

20 public Internet directly to the public. 

21 (2) SUBSCRIBER.—The term ‘‘subscriber’’ means 

22 a retail end user that purchases Internet service. 


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1 TITLE X—MISCELLANEOUS 

2 SEC. 1001. COMMISSIONER PARTICIPATION IN FORUMS AND 

3 MEETINGS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5 (47 U.S.C. 155) is 

5 amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(f) MEETINGS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) ATTENDANCE REQUIRED.—Notwithstanding 

8 552b of title 5, United States Code, and section 4(h) 

9 of this Act, the Commission may conduct a meeting 

10 that is not open to the public if the meeting is at11 tended by— 

12 ‘‘(A) all members of the Commission; or 

13 ‘‘(B) at least 1 member of the political 

14 party whose members are in the minority. 

15 ‘‘(2) VOTING PROHIBITED.—The Commission 

16 may not vote or make any final decision on any mat17 ter pending before it in a meeting that is not open 

18 to the public, unless— 

19 ‘‘(A) otherwise authorized by section 

20 552b(b) of title 5, United States Code; or 

21 ‘‘(B) the Commission has moved its oper22 ations outside Washington, D.C., pursuant to a 

23 Continuity of Operations Plan. 

24 ‘‘(3) PUBLICATION OF SUMMARY.—If the Com25 mission conducts a meeting that is not open to the 


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1 public under this section, the Commission shall 

2 promptly publish an executive summary describing 

3 the matters discussed at that meeting after the meet4 ing ends, except for such matters as the Commission 

5 determines may be withheld under section 552b(c) of 

6 title 5, United States Code. This paragraph does not 

7 apply to a meeting described in paragraph (4). 

8 ‘‘(4) QUORUM UNNECESSARY FOR CERTAIN

9 MEETINGS.—Neither section 552b of title 5, United 

10 States Code, nor paragraph (1) of this subsection ap11 plies to— 

12 ‘‘(A) a meeting of 3 or more members of the 

13 Commission with the President, any person em14 ployed by the Office of the President, any official 

15 of a Federal, State, or local agency, a Member of 

16 Congress or his staff; 

17 ‘‘(B) the attendance, by 3 or more members 

18 of the Commission, at a forum or conference to 

19 discuss general communications issues; or 

20 ‘‘(C) a meeting of 3 or more members of the 

21 Commission when the Continuity of Operations 

22 Plan is in effect and the Commission is oper23 ating under the terms of that Plan. 

24 ‘‘(5) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this sub25 section shall be construed to prohibit the Commission 


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1 from doing anything authorized by section 552b of 

2 title 5, United States Code.’’. 

3 SEC. 1002. OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established within the Fed5 eral Communications Commission an Office of Indian Af6 fairs. 

7 (b) RELATIONSHIP TO TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS.—The 

8 Office shall recognize— 

9 (1) that the Federal government has a long10 standing policy of promoting tribal self-sufficiency 

11 and economic development as embodied in various 

12 Federal statutes; 

13 (2) that the Federal government has a trust re14 sponsibility to and a government-to-government rela15 tionship with recognized tribes; 

16 (3) its own general trust relationship with, and 

17 responsibility to, Federally-recognized Indian Tribes; 

18 and 

19 (4) the rights of Tribal governments to establish 

20 and implement their own communications priorities 

21 and goals for the welfare of their membership. 

22 (c) PURPOSES.—The Office shall— 

23 (1) work with Indian Tribes on a government24 to-government basis consistent with the principles of 

25 Tribal self-governance to ensure, through regulations 


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1 and policy initiatives, and consistent with section 1 

2 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151), 

3 that Indian Tribes have adequate access to commu4 nications services and to further the goals and prior5 ities herein; 

6 (2) consult with Tribal governments prior to im7 plementing any regulatory action or policy that will 

8 significantly or uniquely affect Tribal governments, 

9 their members, land, and resources; 

10 (3) advise directly the Commission, offices, and 

11 Bureaus on matters of Tribal law and sovereignty, 

12 conducting outreach to Indian Tribes, coordinating 

13 and preparing an annual report on status of tele14 communications in Indian country, and such other 

15 duties as the Commission shall determine; 

16 (4) strive to develop working relationships with 

17 Tribal governments, and endeavor to identify innova18 tive mechanisms to facilitate Tribal consultation in 

19 agency regulatory processes that uniquely affect tele20 communications compliance activities, radio spec21 trum policies, and other telecommunications service22 related issues on Tribal lands; 

23 (5) endeavor to streamline its administrative 

24 process and procedures to remove undue burdens that 

25 its decisions and actions place on Indian Tribes and 


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1 seek to remove those impediments to the extent author2 ized by law; 

3 (6) assist Indian Tribes in complying with Fed4 eral communications statutes and regulations; 

5 (7) seek to identify and establish procedures and 

6 mechanisms to educate Commission staff about Tribal 

7 governments and Tribal cultures, sovereignty rights, 

8 Indian law, and Tribal communications needs; 

9 (8) work cooperatively with other Federal de10 partments and agencies, Tribal, State, and local gov11 ernments to further the goals of this policy and to ad12 dress communications problems, such as low penetra13 tion rates and poor quality services on reservations, 

14 and other problems of mutual concern; 

15 (9) welcome submission from Tribal governments 

16 and other concerned parties as to other actions the 

17 Commission might take to further the goals and prin18 ciples presented herein; 

19 (10) facilitate incorporation of these Indian pol20 icy goals into the Commission’s ongoing and long21 term planning and management activities, including 

22 its policy proposals, management accountability sys23 tem, and ongoing policy development processes; and 


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1 (11) perform such other tasks as are necessary to 

2 preserve and advance the trust relationship between 

3 the Federal government and Tribal governments. 

4 SEC. 1003. OFFICE OF CONSUMER ADVOCATE. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established within the Fed6 eral Communications Commission an Office of Consumer 

7 Advocate. The Office shall be headed by a Director, ap8 pointed by the Commission. 

9 (b) INDEPENDENCE OF THE OFFICE.—The Office shall 

10 be independent of the other bureaus and offices of the Com11 mission. The Office and its staff shall be bound by the same 

12 code of conduct, personnel practices, procurement proce13 dures, contracting procedures, and other relevant practices 

14 and procedures as the Commission. 

15 (c) APPOINTMENT OF DIRECTOR; GROUNDS FOR RE16 MOVAL FROM OFFICE.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall be ap18 pointed by the Commissioners of the Commission, in 

19 consultation with each other and with the advisory 

20 committee established under subsection (h). 

21 (2) INITIAL APPOINTMENT.—The initial Director 

22 shall be appointed within 180 days after the date of 

23 enactment of this Act. 

24 (3) TERM; REMOVAL.—The Director— 

25 (A) shall be appointed for a term of 4 years; 


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1 (B) may be removed by the Chairman of the 

2 Commission only for cause, such as malfeasance 

3 or the failure to carry out the duties of the posi4 tion; and 

5 (C) shall be eligible for reappointment. 

6 (4) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Director shall— 

7 (A) be a citizen of the United States; 

8 (B) be admitted to the practice of law; 

9 (C) be knowledgeable about the various 

10 areas within the Commission’s jurisdiction; 

11 (D) have experience in public interest advo12 cacy; and 

13 (E) be independent of, and have no substan14 tial pecuniary interest in, any business regulated 

15 by the Commission for at least 3 years preceding 

16 appointment. 

17 (5) COMPENSATION.—The Director shall be com18 pensated at the rate established for GS-15 of the Gen19 eral Schedule under section 5104 of title 5, United 

20 States Code. The salaries paid to any members of the 

21 staff of the Office shall be consistent with and in the 

22 range applicable to salaries paid to employees of the 

23 Commission. 

24 (d) DUTIES.—The Director of the Office shall act as 

25 an attorney for and represent all residential consumers genVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:27 Oct 01, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00245 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5252.RS H5252

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1 erally, in any matters relating to matters within the juris2 diction of the Commission. 

3 (e) AUTHORITY.—The Director may— 

4 (1) comment, intervene, or otherwise be a party 

5 in any Commission proceeding or investigation con6 cerning matters within the Commission’s jurisdiction 

7 that affect residential consumers; 

8 (2) have the same access to Commission records 

9 as enjoyed by other Commission officials; 

10 (3) appeal any determination, finding, or order 

11 of the Commission in any proceeding in which the Of12 fice has participated; 

13 (4) appear on behalf of residential consumers be14 fore other Federal agencies and Federal courts in 

15 cases as the Director may determine is consistent with 

16 the Office’s goals; 

17 (5) participate in any Commission-established 

18 committees or other bodies that consider or review 

19 matters that affect residential consumers of services 

20 within the Commission’s jurisdiction; and 

21 (6) appear and testify before Congress regarding 

22 matters within the scope of the Office’s duties. 

23 (f) RESPONSIBILITIES OF DIRECTOR.—The Director 

24 shall be responsible for effectuating the purpose, goals, and 

25 administration of the Office, including the provision of any 


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1 necessary technical and professional staff, equipment and 

2 other facilities. The members of the staff of the Office shall 

3 be subject to the same protections and privileges as other 

4 equivalent staff of the Commission. The Director shall have 

5 the authority to conduct or contract for studies, surveys, 

6 research, or expert witness testimony relating to matters af7 fecting the interests of residential consumers of services 

8 within the Commission’s jurisdiction. The Director shall 

9 have the authority to request the assistance of personnel 

10 from State consumer advocate offices to effectuate its re11 sponsibilities, so that Commission resources are not over12 burdened. On no less frequent than an annual basis, the 

13 Office shall issue a written report that contains a descrip14 tion of its activities and budget allocation for the previous 

15 fiscal year, and a proposed budget and description of prior16 ities for the following fiscal year. 

17 (g) REPRESENTATION OF CONSUMERS.—In exercising 

18 the discretion of whether the Office will represent or refrain 

19 from representing residential consumers in a particular 

20 matter, the Director shall consider the importance and ex21 tent of residential consumers’ interests and whether those 

22 interests would be adequately represented. If the Director 

23 determines there may be a conflict among or between classes 

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1 tor may choose to represent one of the interests or none of 

2 the interests. 

3 (h) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 

4 (1) APPOINTMENT.—There is established an Ad5 visory Committee to assist the Director in carrying 

6 out the Director’s duties, as appropriate and reason7 able. The Advisory Committee shall be composed of— 

8 (A) 3 members chosen by a national asso9 ciation of State utility consumer advocates; and 

10 (B) 4 members chosen by the Chairman of 

11 the Commission. 

12 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—Each member of the advi13 sory committee shall have experience in consumer in14 terests in matters within the jurisdiction of the Com15 mission. 

16 (3) COMPENSATION AND REIMBURSEMENT FOR

17 EXPENSES.—Members of the advisory committee shall 

18 serve without compensation and may not be reim19 bursed for travel or related expenses even while en20 gaged in official business of the advisory committee. 

21 (i) FUNDING.—The annual budget of the Commission 

22 shall include an account separate from the other bureaus 

23 and offices of the Commission, which account shall be used 

24 exclusively by the Office in the performance of its duties. 

25 The budget for the Office shall be separately identified in 


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1 the Commission’s annual budget request. There are author2 ized to be made available to the Office for fiscal year 

3 $200,000. 

4 (j) STANDING OF STATE OFFICIALS.—The creation of 

5 the Office shall in no way derogate the standing of any 

6 State consumer advocate or any national association of 

7 State utility consumer advocates to appear before the Com8 mission, or appeal any Commission decision. 

9 SEC. 1004. DATA ON LOCAL COMPETITION IN DIFFERENT 

10 PRODUCT MARKETS. 

11 (a) INQUIRY.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

12 of enactment of this Act, and every year thereafter, the Com13 mission shall conduct an inquiry regarding the extent to 

14 which providers of communications service have deployed 

15 their own local transmission facilities. 

16 (b) DATA COLLECTION.—In connection with its in17 quiry, the Commission shall require that all providers of 

18 communications service submit annual reports to the Com19 mission describing the extent to which they have deployed 

20 their own local transmission facilities. At a minimum, pro21 viders shall report separately on their deployment of loop 

22 facilities in each wire center used to provide service in dif23 ferent product markets served by communications service 

24 providers. In defining product markets for these purposes, 

25 the Commission shall utilize the methodology set forth in 


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1 the United States Department of Justice and Federal Trade 

2 Commission Horizontal Merger Guidelines and shall, at a 

3 minimum, distinguish among the products demanded by— 

4 (1) residential customers; 

5 (2) small and medium-sized business customers; 

6 and 

7 (3) large business customers. 

8 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than one year 

9 after the date of enactment of this Act, and each year there10 after, the Commission shall submit a report to Congress de11 scribing the extent to which providers of telecommuni12 cations service, broadband service, and IP-enabled voice 

13 service have deployed their own local transmission facilities. 

14 Such report shall analyze separately the extent of actual 

15 facilities-based competition in each wire center in the prod16 uct markets described in subsection (b). 

17 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 (1) BROADBAND SERVICE.—The term 

19 ‘‘broadband service’’ means any service used for 

20 transmission of information of a user’s choosing with 

21 a transmission speed of at least 200 kilobits per sec22 ond in at least 1 direction, regardless of the trans23 mission medium or technology employed, that con24 nects to the public Internet for a fee directly— 

25 (A) to the public; or 


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1 (B) to such classes of users as to be effec2 tively available directly to the public. 

3 (2) COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE.—The term ‘‘com4 munications service’’ means telecommunications serv5 ice, broadband service, or IP-enabled voice service 

6 (whether offered separately or as part of a bundle of 

7 services). 

8 (3) IP-ENABLED VOICE SERVICE.—The term ‘‘IP9 enabled voice service’’ means the provision of real10 time 2-way voice communications offered to the pub11 lic, or such classes of users as to be effectively avail12 able to the public, transmitted through customer 

13 premises equipment using Internet protocol, or a suc14 cessor protocol, for a fee (whether part of a bundle of 

15 services or separately) with 2-way interconnection ca16 pability such that the service can originate traffic to, 

17 and terminate traffic from, the public switched tele18 phone network. 

19 (4) LOCAL TRANSMISSION FACILITIES.—The term 

20 ‘‘local transmission facilities’’ means wireless and 

21 wireline transmission facilities used to transmit in22 formation or signals to, from or among locations 

23 within a wire center. 


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1 SEC. 1005. IMPROVED ENFORCEMENT OPTIONS. 

2 (a) INCREASED PENALTIES.—Section 503(b)(2)(B) 

3 (47 U.S.C. 503(b)(2)(B)) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘$100,000’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘$1,000,000’’; and 

6 (2) by striking ‘‘$1,000,000’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘$10,000,000’’. 

8 (b) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—Section 503(b)(6) (47 

9 U.S.C. 503(b)(6)) is amended— 

10 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon in sub11 paragraph (A)(ii); 

12 (2) redesignating subparagraph (B) as subpara13 graph (C); and 

14 (3) inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(B) such person is a common carrier subject to 

17 the provisions of this Act or an applicant for any 

18 common carrier license, permit, certificate, or other 

19 instrument of authorization issued by the Commission 

20 and if the violation charged occurred more than 3 

21 years prior to the date of issuance of the required no22 tice or notice of apparent liability; or’’. 

23 (c) INDEPENDENT NETWORK AFFILIATES.—Section 

24 503(b) (47 U.S.C. 503(b)), as amended by section 338, is 

25 further amended by adding at the end the following: 

26 ‘‘(8) INDEPENDENT NETWORK AFFILIATES.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No forfeiture penalty 

2 shall be determined or imposed under paragraph 

3 (2) of this subsection against an independent 

4 network affiliate for a violation of any section of 

5 title 18, United States Code, referred to in para6 graph (1)(D) with respect to network-originated 

7 programming— 

8 ‘‘(i) that the affiliate has not been af9 forded the reasonable opportunity to pre10 view prior to its scheduled air time; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) for which the network has failed 

12 to advise the affiliate prior to the scheduled 

13 air time that the programming contains 

14 content that could be in violation of any 

15 such section. 

16 ‘‘(B) INDEPENDENT NETWORK AFFILIATE

17 DEFINED.—In this paragraph, the term ‘inde18 pendent network affiliate’ means a television 

19 broadcast station licensee that is neither owned 

20 nor controlled by a television network (as defined 

21 in section 340(d)(5) of this Act.’’. 

22 SEC. 1006. MOBILE SERVICES TERMS AND CONDITIONS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) of section 

24 332(c)(3) (47 U.S.C. 332(c)(3)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking the first sentence and inserting 

2 ‘‘(i) Notwithstanding sections 2(b) and 221(b) or any 

3 other provision of law, a State or local government 

4 shall not regulate or adjudicate— 

5 ‘‘(I) the entry of or the rates charged by any 

6 provider of commercial mobile service or private 

7 mobile service for any such mobile service or any 

8 or any other service that is primarily intended 

9 for receipt on or use with a wireless device that 

10 is utilized by a customer of such mobile service 

11 in connection with such mobile service; or 

12 ‘‘(II) any terms and conditions of such mo13 bile service or any other such service, except pur14 suant to a law or regulation generally applicable 

15 to businesses in the State other than a law or 

16 regulation that regulates or has the effect of regu17 lating the entry or rates for any such service.’’; 

18 (2) by inserting after the first sentence, as so 

19 amended the following: 

20 ‘‘(ii) Nothing in this section shall affect the au21 thority of the Commission under this Act to adopt 

22 consumer protection requirements applicable to pro23 viders of commercial mobile service or private mobile 

24 services.’’; 


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1 (3) by indenting the sentence beginning ‘‘Nothing 

2 in this subparagraph’’ 4 ems from the left margin 

3 and inserting ‘‘(iii)’’ before ‘‘Nothing’’; and 

4 (4) by redesignating clauses (i) and (ii) in the 

5 third sentence as subclauses (I) and (II), respectively, 

6 and indenting them 6 ems from the left margin. 

7 (b) RULEMAKING.—Within 1 year after the date of en8 actment of this Act, the Federal Communications Commis9 sion shall adopt a final rule establishing customer service 

10 and consumer protection requirements for providers of com11 mercial mobile service or private mobile service (as such 

12 terms are defined in section 332(d)(1) and (3), respectively, 

13 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(d)(1) 

14 and (3))). 

15 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by sub16 section (a) shall take effect 180 days after the date on which 

17 the Commission adopts the final rule described in subsection 

18 (b). 

19 (d) TRUTH IN BILLING.— 

20 (1) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

21 (A) In recent years, carriers have signifi22 cantly increased their use of separate, line-item 

23 fees for so called ‘‘regulatory compliance’’ 

24 charges, that are generally not included in the 

25 advertised price of communications services. 


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1 (B) These line-item fees often fail to ade2 quately inform consumers of the specific costs 

3 being recovered through such charges and as to 

4 whether such charges are required by government 

5 law or rule, or alternatively, are imposed at the 

6 discretion of the carrier. 

7 (C) The proliferation of discretionary line 

8 item surcharges and fees can lead to consumer 

9 confusion and can impede the delivery of basic 

10 information necessary for consumers to compare 

11 the cost of communications services offered by 

12 different carriers and to make informed deci13 sions. 

14 (D) The proper functioning of competitive 

15 markets is predicated on consumers having ac16 cess to accurate, meaningful information in a 

17 format that they can understand. 

18 (E) The Federal Communications Commis19 sion has an obligation under the Communica20 tions Act of 1934 and that Act’s Truth-in-Billing 

21 principles to ensure that consumers receive clear, 

22 accurate, and understandable bills from pro23 viders of communications services. 

24 (2) COMMISSION TO ISSUE TRUTH-IN-TELE25 PHONE-BILLING REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 


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1 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Fed2 eral Communications Commission shall initiate and 

3 conclude a proceeding under part I of title II of the 

4 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) 

5 to prevent a telecommunications carrier from listing 

6 any charge or fee on the billing statement or other 

7 billing charge of a subscriber as a separately stated 

8 charge or fee other than a charge or fee— 

9 (A) for telecommunications service or other 

10 services provided to a subscriber; 

11 (B) for nonpayment, early termination of 

12 service, or other lawful penalty; 

13 (C) for Federal, State, or local sales, excise, 

14 or other taxes; or 

15 (D) expressly authorized by a Federal, 

16 State, or local statute, regulation, or rule to ap17 pear on a subscriber’s billing statement or other 

18 billing charge as a separately stated charge or 

19 fee. 

20 (3) ENFORCEMENT.—The Commission may en21 force the regulations promulgated under paragraph 

22 (2) under section 220 and other appropriate provi23 sions of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

24 151 et seq.). 

25 (4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 


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1 (A) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

2 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

3 (B) TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIER.—The 

4 term ‘‘telecommunications carrier’’ has the 

5 meaning given that term by section 3(44) of the 

6 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

7 153(44)). 

8 (C) TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE.—The 

9 term ‘‘telecommunications service’’ has the mean10 ing given that term by section 3(46) of the Com11 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153(46)). 

12 SEC. 1007. SEVERABILITY. 

13 If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by 

14 this Act, or the application of such provision or amendment 

15 to any person or circumstance is held to be unconstitu16 tional, the remainder of this Act, the amendments made by 

17 this Act, and the application of such provisions to any per18 son or circumstance shall not be affected thereby. 

19 SEC. 1008. CLARIFICATION OF CERTAIN JURISDICTIONAL 

20 ISSUES. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi22 sion of law, the Commission shall have authority to issue, 

23 and shall not undermine, alter, or amend decisions made 

24 in Vonage Holdings Corp. Petition for Declaratory Ruling 

25 Concerning an Order of the Minnesota Public Utilities 


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1 Commission, WC Docket No. 03-211, Memorandum Opin2 ion and Order, FCC 04-267 (November 9, 2004) or Petition 

3 for Declaratory Ruling that pulver.com’s Free World 

4 Dialup is Neither Telecommunications Nor a Telecommuni5 cations Service, WC Docket No. 03-45, Memorandum Opin6 ion and Order, FCC 04-27 (February, 19, 2004), except to 

7 apply such decisions to other similar services that share 

8 similar basic characteristics. 

9 (b) PENDING CHALLENGES.—Any pending challenges 

10 to the decisions described in subsection (a) shall be dis11 missed. 

12 (c) CLARIFICATION.—Nothing in this section shall be 

13 construed to supersede or preempt the consumer protection 

14 laws of any State, including any privacy or anti-child por15 nography law of a State, except to the extent that such laws 

16 regulate the rates for entry or exit by a provider of such 

17 services. 

18 SEC. 1009. FCC TO ISSUE A FURTHER NOTICE OF PROPOSED 

19 RULEMAKING BEFORE CHANGING BROAD20 CAST MEDIA OWNERSHIP RULES. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Before making any changes to sec22 tion 73.3555 of its regulations (47 C.F.R. 73.3555), as those 

23 regulations were in effect on June 1, 2003, the Federal Com24 munications Commission shall issue a further Notice of 

25 Proposed Rulemaking with respect to any such changes. 


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1 (b) CLARIFICATION OF APPLICABLE REGULATIONS.— 

2 The cross-media limits rule adopted by the Federal Commu3 nications Commission on June 2, 2003, pursuant to its pro4 ceeding on broadcast media ownership rules, Report and 

5 Order FCC–03–127, is declared null and void, and section 

6 73.3555 of the Commission’s regulations (47 C.F.R. 

7 73.3555), as those regulations were in effect before the adop8 tion of the rule, are reinstated with effect from June 2, 

9 2003. 

10 SEC. 1010. DIVERSITY IN MEDIA OWNERSHIP. 

11 The Federal Communications Commission shall not 

12 promulgate rules regarding media ownership without first 

13 completing regulatory action in its proceeding DA 04–1690, 

14 entitled ‘‘Media Bureau Seeks Comment on Ways to Fur15 ther Section 257 Mandate and to Build on Earlier Stud16 ies,’’ initiated on June 15, 2004. 

17 SEC. 1011. BROADBAND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

18 (a) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

19 (1) GENERAL REQUIREMENTS.—The Commission 

20 shall revise FCC Form 477 reporting requirements 

21 within 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

22 Act to require broadband service providers to report 

23 the following information: 

24 (A) Identification of where the provider pro25 vides broadband service to customers, identified 


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1 by zip code plus four digit location (hereinafter 

2 referred to as ‘‘service area’’). 

3 (B) Percentage of households and businesses 

4 in each service area that are offered broadband 

5 service by the provider, and the percentage of 

6 such households that subscribe to each service 

7 plan offered. 

8 (C) The average price per megabyte of 

9 download speed and upload speed in each service 

10 area. 

11 (D) Identification by service area of the 

12 provider’s broadband service’s— 

13 (i) actual average throughput; and 

14 (ii) contention ratio of the number of 

15 users sharing the same line. 

16 (2) EXCEPTION.—The Commission shall exempt 

17 a broadband service provider from the requirements 

18 in subsection (1) if the Commission determines that 

19 a provider’s compliance with the reporting require20 ments is cost prohibitive, as defined by the Commis21 sion. 

22 (b) DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION FOR UNSERVED

23 AREAS.—The Commission, using available Census Bureau 

24 data, shall provide to Congress on an annual basis a report 


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1 containing the following information for each service area 

2 that is not served by any broadband service provider— 

3 (1) population; 

4 (2) population density; and 

5 (3) average per capita income. 

6 SEC. 1012. APPLICATION OF ONE-YEAR RESTRICTIONS TO 

7 CERTAIN POSITIONS. 

8 For purposes of section 207 of title 18, United States 

9 Code, an individual serving in any of the following posi10 tions, or in any successor position, at the Federal Commu11 nications Commission is deemed to be a person described 

12 in section 207(c)(2)(A)(ii) of that title, regardless of the in13 dividual’s rate of basic pay: 

14 (1) Chief, Office of Engineering and Technology. 

15 (2) Director, Office of Legislative Affairs. 

16 (3) Inspector General, Office of Inspector Gen17 eral. 

18 (4) Managing Director, Office of Managing Di19 rector. 

20 (5) General Counsel, Office of General Counsel. 

21 (6) Chief, Office of Strategic Planning and Pol22 icy Analysis. 

23 (7) Chief, Consumer and Governmental Affairs 

24 Bureau. 

25 (8) Chief, Enforcement Bureau. 


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1 (9) Chief, International Bureau. 

2 (10) Chief, Media Bureau. 

3 (11) Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau. 

4 (12) Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. 

5 (13) Any position for which the individual was 

6 appointed under section 4(f)(2) of the Communica7 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 4(f)(2)). 

8 SEC. 1013. INTERNET TAX FREEDOM ACT AMENDMENT. 

9 Section 1101(a) of the Internet Tax Freedom Act (47 

10 U.S.C. 151 note) is amended by striking ‘‘taxes during the 

11 period beginning November 1, 2003, and ending November 

12 1, 2007:’’ and inserting ‘‘taxes:’’. 

13 SEC. 1014. STATUS OF E–911 IMPLEMENTATION AND CO14 ORDINATION OFFICE. 

15 Within 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

16 the Assistant Secretary of the National Telecommunications 

17 and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Adminis18 trator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administra19 tion (NHTSA) shall submit a report to the Committee on 

20 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and 

21 the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 

22 Representatives on the progress of the E–911 Implementa23 tion and Coordination Office and plans of the Office to meet 

24 the requirements of the Office established in Public Law 

25 108–494. 


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1 SEC. 1015. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION TELE2 MEDICINE REPORT. 

3 The Commission shall conduct a study and report to 

4 Congress within 180 days after the date of enactment of 

5 this Act of the following: 

6 (1) Speed of a broadband connection necessary to 

7 run low, medium, and high capacity telemedicine ap8 plications. 

9 (2) Precise statistics of availability of broadband 

10 connections capable of running telemedicine applica11 tions in any given service area (zip code plus four 

12 digit area). 

13 (3) Number of providers in any given service 

14 area (zip code plus four digit area) offering 

15 broadband connections capable of running telemedi16 cine applications. 

17 (4) Average monthly price per megabit of 

18 download and upload speeds for broadband connec19 tions capable of running telemedicine applications in 

20 any given service area (zip code plus four digit area). 

21 SEC. 1016. FEDERAL INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS 

22 TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH. 

23 (a) ADVANCED INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS

24 TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH.— 

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1 SEARCH.—The Director of the National Science Foun2 dation shall establish a program of basic research in 

3 advanced information and communications tech4 nologies focused on enhancing or facilitating the 

5 availability and affordability of advanced commu6 nications services to all Americans. In developing and 

7 carrying out the program, the Director shall consult 

8 with the Board established under paragraph (2). 

9 (2) FEDERAL ADVANCED INFORMATION AND COM10 MUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH BOARD.— 

11 There is established within the National Science 

12 Foundation a Federal Advanced Information and 

13 Communications Technology Board which shall ad14 vise the Director of the National Science Foundation 

15 in carrying out the program authorized by paragraph 

16 (1). The Board Shall be composed of individuals with 

17 expertise in information and communications tech18 nologies, including representatives from the National 

19 Telecommunications and Information Administra20 tion, the Federal Communications Commission, the 

21 National Institute of Standards and Technology, and 

22 the Department of Defense. 

23 (3) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Director, in con24 sultation with the Board, shall award grants for basic 

25 research into advanced information and communicaVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:27 Oct 01, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00265 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5252.RS H5252

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1 tions technologies that will contribute to enhancing or 

2 facilitating the availability and affordability of ad3 vanced communications services to all Americans. 

4 Areas of research to be supported through these grants 

5 include— 

6 (A) affordable broadband access, including 

7 wireless technologies; 

8 (B) network security and reliability; 

9 (C) communications interoperability; 

10 (D) networking protocols and architectures, 

11 including resilience to outages or attacks; 

12 (E) trusted software; 

13 (F) privacy; 

14 (G) nanoelectronics for communications ap15 plications; 

16 (H) low-power communications electronics; 

17 and 

18 (I) such other related areas as the Director, 

19 in consultation with the Board, finds appro20 priate. 

21 (4) CENTERS.—The Director shall award 

22 multiyear grants, subject to the availability of appro23 priations, to institutions of higher education (as de24 fined in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act 

25 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)), nonprofit research instiVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:27 Oct 01, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00266 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5252.RS H5252

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1 tutions, or consortia thereof to establish multidisci2 plinary Centers for Communications Research. The 

3 purpose of the Centers shall be to generate innovative 

4 approaches to problems in communications and infor5 mation technology research, including the research 

6 areas described in paragraph (3). Institutions of 

7 higher education nonprofit research, institutions, or 

8 consortia receiving such grants may partner with 1 

9 or more government laboratories or for-profit institu10 tions, or other institutions of higher education or non11 profit research institutions. 

12 (5) APPLICATIONS.—The Director, in consulta13 tion with the Board, shall establish criteria for the 

14 award of grants under paragraphs (3) and (4). 

15 Grants shall be awarded under the program on a 

16 merit-reviewed competitive basis. The Director shall 

17 give priority to grants that offer the potential for rev18 olutionary rather than evolutionary breakthroughs. 

19 (6) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

20 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Na21 tional Science Foundation to carry out this sub22 section— 

23 (A) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; 

24 (B) $45,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; 

25 (C) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; 


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1 (D) $55,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; and 

2 (E) $60,000,000 for fiscal year 2011. 

3 (b) SPECTRUM-SHARING INNOVATION TESTBED.— 

4 (1) SPECTRUM-SHARING PLAN.—Within 1 year 

5 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal 

6 Communications Commission and the Assistant Sec7 retary of Commerce for Communications and Infor8 mation, in coordination with other Federal agencies, 

9 shall— 

10 (A) develop a plan to increase sharing of 

11 spectrum between Federal and non-Federal gov12 ernment users; and 

13 (B) establish a pilot program for implemen14 tation of the plan. 

15 (2) TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS.—The Commis16 sion and the Assistant Secretary— 

17 (A) shall each identify a segment of spec18 trum of equal bandwidth within their respective 

19 jurisdiction for the pilot program that is ap20 proximately 10 megaHertz in width for assign21 ment on a shared basis to Federal and non-Fed22 eral government use; and 

23 (B) may take the spectrum for the pilot pro24 gram from bands currently allocated on either 

25 an exclusive or shared basis. 


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1 (3) REPORT.—The Commission and the Assist2 ant Secretary shall transmit a report to the Senate 

3 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor4 tation and the House of Representatives Committee 

5 on Energy and Commerce 2 years after the inception 

6 of the pilot program describing the results of the pro7 gram and suggesting appropriate procedures for ex8 panding the program as appropriate. 

9 (c) NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECH10 NOLOGY RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Director of the National 

11 Institute of Standards and Technology shall continue to 

12 support research and support standards development in ad13 vanced information and communications technologies fo14 cused on enhancing or facilitating the availability and af15 fordability of advanced communications services to all 

16 Americans, in order to implement the Institute’s respon17 sibilities under section 2(c)(12) of the National Institute of 

18 Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 272(c)(12)). The 

19 Director shall support intramural research and cooperative 

20 research with institutions of higher education (as defined 

21 in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

22 U.S.C. 1001(a)) and industry. 

23 SEC. 1017. FORBEARANCE. 

24 Section 10(c) (47 U.S.C. 160(c)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘deemed granted’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘voted on by the Commission’’; and 

3 (2) by inserting ‘‘by majority vote’’ after ‘‘part’’ 

4 in the last sentence. 

5 SEC. 1018. DEADLINE FOR CERTAIN COMMISSION PRO6 CEEDINGS. 

7 The Federal Communications Commission shall com8 plete its proceedings on special access rates (FCC Docket 

9 Nos. 05–25 and 01–321) not later than 270 days after the 

10 date of enactment of this Act. 

11 TITLE XI—LOCAL COMMUNITY 

12 RADIO ACT 

13 SEC. 1101. SHORT TITLE. 

14 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Local Community 

15 Radio Act of 2006’’. 

16 SEC. 1102. REPEAL OF PRIOR LAW. 

17 Section 632 of the Departments of Commerce, Justice, 

18 and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropria19 tions Act, 2001 (Public Law 106–553; 114 Stat. 2762A– 

20 111), is repealed. 

21 SEC. 1103. MINIMUM DISTANCE SEPARATION REQUIRE22 MENTS. 

23 The Federal Communications Commission shall mod24 ify its rules to eliminate third-adjacent minimum distance 

25 separation requirements between— 


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1 (1) low-power FM stations; and 

2 (2) full-service FM stations, FM translator sta3 tions, and FM booster stations. 

4 SEC. 1104. PROTECTION OF RADIO READING SERVICES. 

5 The Federal Communications Commission shall retain 

6 its rules that provide third-adjacent channel protection for 

7 full-power non-commercial FM stations that broadcast 

8 radio reading services via a subcarrier frequency from po9 tential low-power FM station interference. 

10 SEC. 1105. ENSURING AVAILABILITY OF SPECTRUM FOR 

11 LPFM STATIONS. 

12 The Federal Communications Commission when li13 censing FM translator stations shall ensure— 

14 (1) that licenses are available to both FM trans15 lator stations and low-power FM stations; and 

16 (2) that such decisions are made based on the 

17 needs of the local community. 

18 SEC. 1106. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 

19 RULES. 

20 The Federal Communications Commission shall retain 

21 its rules that provide third-adjacent channel protection for 

22 full-power FM stations that are licensed in significantly 

23 populated States with more than 3,000,000 housing units 

24 and a population density greater than 1,000 people per 

25 square mile land area. 


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1 TITLE XII—CELL PHONE TAX 

2 MORATORIUM 

3 SEC. 1201. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Cell Phone Tax Morato5 rium Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 1202. MORATORIUM. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—No State or political subdivision 

8 thereof shall impose a new discriminatory tax on or with 

9 respect to mobile services, mobile services providers, or mo10 bile services property, during the 3-year period beginning 

11 on the date of enactment of this Act. 

12 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this title: 

13 (1) MOBILE SERVICE.—The term ‘‘mobile serv14 ice’’ means commercial mobile radio service, as such 

15 term is defined in section 20.3 of title 47, Code of 

16 Federal Regulations, as in effect on June 22, 2006, or 

17 any other service that is primarily intended for re18 ceipt on or use with a mobile telephone. 

19 (2) MOBILE SERVICE PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘mo20 bile service provider’’ means any entity that markets, 

21 sells, or provides mobile services. 

22 (3) MOBILE SERVICE PROPERTY.—The term 

23 ‘‘mobile services property’’ means any equipment used 

24 in the transmission, reception, coordination, or 

25 switching of mobile services. 


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1 (4) NEW DISCRIMINATORY TAX.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘new discrimi3 natory tax’’ means any tax imposed by a State 

4 or political subdivision thereof that— 

5 (i) is imposed on or with respect to— 

6 (I) any mobile service and is not 

7 generally imposed, or is generally im8 posed at a lower rate, on or with re9 spect to other services or on or with re10 spect to transactions involving prop11 erty or goods; 

12 (II) any mobile service provider 

13 and is not generally imposed, or is 

14 generally imposed at a lower rate, on 

15 other persons that provide services 

16 other than mobile services; or 

17 (III) any mobile service property 

18 and is not generally imposed, or is 

19 generally imposed at a lower rate, on 

20 or with respect to other commercial or 

21 industrial property that is devoted to a 

22 commercial or industrial use and sub23 ject to a property tax levy; 


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1 (ii) was not generally imposed and ac2 tually enforced prior to the date of enact3 ment of this Act. 

4 (B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—For pur5 poses of subparagraph (A), all exemptions, de6 ductions, credits, incentives, exclusions, and 

7 other similar factors shall be taken into account 

8 in determining whether a tax is a ‘‘new dis9 criminatory tax’’. 

10 (5) TAX.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘tax’’ means 

12 any charge imposed by any governmental entity 

13 for the purpose of generating revenues for govern14 mental purposes, and is not a fee imposed for a 

15 specific privilege, service, or benefit conferred. 

16 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘tax’’ does not 

17 include any fee or charge— 

18 (i) used to preserve and advance Fed19 eral universal service or similar State pro20 grams authorized by section 254 of the 

21 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

22 254); or 

23 (ii) specifically dedicated by a State or 

24 political subdivision thereof for the support 

25 of E-911 communications systems. 


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1 TITLE XII—TRUTH IN CALLER ID 

2 SEC. 1301. SHORT TITLE. 

3 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Truth in Caller ID Act 

4 of 2006’’. 

5 SEC. 1302. PROHIBITION REGARDING MANIPULATION OF 

6 CALLER IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION. 

7 Section 227 (47 U.S.C. 227) is amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating subsections (e), (f), and (g) 

9 as subsections (f), (g), and (h), respectively; and 

10 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the following 

11 new subsection: 

12 ‘‘(e) PROHIBITION ON PROVISION OF INACCURATE

13 CALLER IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any 

15 person within the United States, in connection with 

16 any telecommunications service or IP-enabled voice 

17 service, to cause any caller identification service to 

18 transmit misleading or inaccurate caller identifica19 tion information, unless such transmission is exempt20 ed pursuant to paragraph (3)(B). 

21 ‘‘(2) PROTECTION FOR BLOCKING CALLER IDEN22 TIFICATION INFORMATION.—Nothing in this sub23 section may be construed to prevent or restrict any 

24 person from blocking the capability of any caller 


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1 identification service to transmit caller identification 

2 information. 

3 ‘‘(3) REGULATIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 

5 months after the enactment of the Truth in Call6 er ID Act of 2006, the Commission shall pre7 scribe regulations to implement this subsection. 

8 ‘‘(B) CONTENT OF REGULATIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The regulations re10 quired under subparagraph (A) shall in11 clude such exemptions from the prohibition 

12 under paragraph (1) as the Commission de13 termines appropriate. 

14 ‘‘(ii) SPECIFIC EXEMPTION FOR LAW

15 ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES, NATIONAL SECU16 RITY ACTIVITIES, OR COURT ORDERS.—The 

17 regulations required under subparagraph 

18 (A) shall exempt from the prohibition under 

19 paragraph (1) transmissions in connection 

20 with— 

21 ‘‘(I) any authorized law enforce22 ment or national security activity of 

23 an agency of the United States, a 

24 State, or a political subdivision of a 

25 State; or 


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1 ‘‘(II) a court order that specifi2 cally authorizes the use of caller identi3 fication manipulation. 

4 ‘‘(4) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after the 

5 enactment of the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2006, the 

6 Commission shall report to Congress whether addi7 tional legislation is necessary to prohibit the provi8 sion of inaccurate caller identification information in 

9 technologies that are successor or replacement tech10 nologies to telecommunications service or IP-enabled 

11 voice service. 

12 ‘‘(5) PENALTIES.— 

13 ‘‘(A) CIVIL FORFEITURE.— 

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Any person that is 

15 determined by the Commission, in accord16 ance with paragraphs (3) and (4) of section 

17 503(b), to have violated this subsection shall 

18 be liable to the United States for a forfeiture 

19 penalty. A forfeiture penalty under this 

20 paragraph shall be in addition to any other 

21 penalty provided for by this Act. The 

22 amount of the forfeiture penalty determined 

23 under this paragraph shall not exceed 

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1 tion, except that the amount assessed for 

2 any continuing violation shall not exceed a 

3 total of $1,000,000 for any single act or 

4 failure to act. 

5 ‘‘(ii) RECOVERY.—Any forfeiture pen6 alty determined under clause (i) shall be re7 coverable pursuant to section 504(a). 

8 ‘‘(iii) PROCEDURE.—No forfeiture li9 ability shall be determined under clause (i) 

10 against any person unless such person re11 ceives the notice required by section 

12 503(b)(3) or section 503(b)(4). 

13 ‘‘(iv) 2-YEAR STATUTE OF LIMITA14 TIONS.—No forfeiture penalty shall be deter15 mined or imposed against any person under 

16 clause (i) if the violation charged occurred 

17 more than 2 years prior to the date of 

18 issuance of the required notice or notice or 

19 apparent liability. 

20 ‘‘(B) CRIMINAL FINE.—Any person who 

21 willfully and knowingly violates this subsection 

22 shall upon conviction thereof be fined not more 

23 than $10,000 for each violation, or 3 times that 

24 amount for each day of a continuing violation, 

25 in lieu of the fine provided by section 501 for 


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1 such a violation. This subparagraph does not su2 persede the provisions of section 501 relating to 

3 imprisonment or the imposition of a penalty of 

4 both fine and imprisonment. 

5 ‘‘(6) ENFORCEMENT BY STATES.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The chief legal officer of 

7 a State, or any other State officer authorized by 

8 law to bring actions on behalf of the residents of 

9 a State, may bring a civil action, as parens 

10 patriae, on behalf of the residents of that State 

11 in an appropriate district court of the United 

12 States to enforce this subsection or to impose the 

13 civil penalties for violation of this subsection, 

14 whenever the chief legal officer or other State of15 ficer has reason to believe that the interests of the 

16 residents of the State have been or are being 

17 threatened or adversely affected by a violation of 

18 this subsection or a regulation under this sub19 section. 

20 ‘‘(B) NOTICE.—The chief legal officer or 

21 other State officer shall serve written notice on 

22 the Commission of any civil action under sub23 paragraph (A) prior to initiating such civil ac24 tion. The notice shall include a copy of the com25 plaint to be filed to initiate such civil action, exVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:27 Oct 01, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00279 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5252.RS H5252

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1 cept that if it is not feasible for the State to pro2 vide such prior notice, the State shall provide 

3 such notice immediately upon instituting such 

4 civil action. 

5 ‘‘(C) AUTHORITY TO INTERVENE.—Upon re6 ceiving the notice required by subparagraph (B), 

7 the Commission may intervene in such civil ac8 tion and upon intervening— 

9 ‘‘(i) be heard on all matters arising in 

10 such civil action; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) file petitions for appeal of a deci12 sion in such civil action. 

13 ‘‘(D) CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of 

14 bringing any civil action under subparagraph 

15 (A), nothing in this paragraph shall prevent the 

16 chief legal officer or other State officer from exer17 cising the powers conferred on that officer by the 

18 laws of such State to conduct investigations or to 

19 administer oaths or affirmations or to compel 

20 the attendance of witnesses or the production of 

21 documentary and other evidence. 

22 ‘‘(E) VENUE; SERVICE OF PROCESS.— 

23 ‘‘(i) VENUE.—An action brought under 

24 subparagraph (A) shall be brought in a dis25 trict court of the United States that meets 


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1 applicable requirements relating to venue 

2 under section 1391 of title 28, United States 

3 Code. 

4 ‘‘(ii) SERVICE OF PROCESS.—In an ac5 tion brought under subparagraph (A)— 

6 ‘‘(I) process may be served with7 out regard to the territorial limits of 

8 the district or of the State in which the 

9 action is instituted; and 

10 ‘‘(II) a person who participated 

11 in an alleged violation that is being 

12 litigated in the civil action may be 

13 joined in the civil action without re14 gard to the residence of the person. 

15 ‘‘(F) LIMITATION ON STATE ACTION WHILE

16 FEDERAL ACTION IS PENDING.—If the Commis17 sion has instituted an enforcement action or pro18 ceeding for violation of this subsection, the chief 

19 legal officer or other State officer of the State in 

20 which the violation occurred may not bring an 

21 action under this section during the pendency of 

22 the proceeding against any person with respect 

23 to whom the Commission has instituted the pro24 ceeding. 


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1 ‘‘(7) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub2 section: 

3 ‘‘(A) CALLER IDENTIFICATION INFORMA4 TION.—The term ‘caller identification informa5 tion’ means information provided by a caller 

6 identification service regarding the telephone 

7 number of, or other information regarding the 

8 origination of, a call made using a telecommuni9 cations service or IP-enabled voice service. 

10 ‘‘(B) CALLER IDENTIFICATION SERVICE.— 

11 The term ‘caller identification service’ means 

12 any service or device designed to provide the user 

13 of the service or device with the telephone number 

14 of, or other information regarding the origina15 tion of, a call made using a telecommunications 

16 service or IP-enabled voice service. Such term in17 cludes automatic number identification services. 

18 ‘‘(C) IP-ENABLED VOICE SERVICE.—The 

19 term ‘IP-enabled voice service’ means the provi20 sion of real-time 2-way voice communications of21 fered to the public, or such classes of users as to 

22 be effectively available to the public, transmitted 

23 through customer premises equipment using 

24 Internet protocol, or a successor protocol, for a 

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1 rately) with interconnection capability such that 

2 the service can originate traffic to, or terminate 

3 traffic from, the public switched telephone net4 work. 

5 ‘‘(8) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding any other 

6 provision of this section, subsection (f) shall not apply 

7 to this subsection or to the regulations under this sub8 section.’’. 

9 TITLE XIV—RURAL WIRELESS 

10 AND BROADBAND SERVICE 

11 SEC. 1401. SHORT TITLE. 

12 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Wireless and 

13 Broadband Service Act of 2006’’. 

14 SEC. 1402. SMALL GEOGRAPHIC LICENSING AREAS. 

15 Section 309(j)(4)(C) (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(4)(C)) is 

16 amended— 

17 (1) by striking ‘‘service, prescribe’’ and inserting 

18 the following: ‘‘service— 

19 ‘‘(i) prescribe’’; 

20 (2) by striking ‘‘(i) an’’ and inserting ‘‘(I) an’’; 

21 (3) by striking ‘‘(ii)’’ and inserting ‘‘(II)’’; 

22 (4) by striking ‘‘(iii)’’ and inserting ‘‘(III)’’; 

23 (5) by striking ‘‘services;’’ and inserting ‘‘serv24 ices; and’’; and 

25 (6) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(ii) consider the use of licensing spec2 trum in smaller geographic areas in order 

3 to encourage wireless deployment and build4 out in rural and underserved areas of li5 censing spectrum in smaller geographic 

6 areas;’’. 

7 SEC. 1403. REPORT ON THE IMPACT OF SECONDARY MAR8 KET TRANSACTIONS. 

9 Section 309(j) (47 U.S.C. 309(j)) is amended by add10 ing at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(17) REPORT ON THE IMPACT OF SECONDARY

12 MARKET TRANSACTIONS.—Not later than 2 years after 

13 the date of enactment of the Rural Wireless and 

14 Broadband Service Act of 2006, and every 2 years 

15 thereafter until the database developed under para16 graph (18) is available to the public, the Commission 

17 shall submit a report to Congress analyzing and eval18 uating the impact of the Commission’s— 

19 ‘‘(A) spectrum leasing; and 

20 ‘‘(B) spectrum partitioning and 

21 disaggregation rules in facilitating, through the 

22 development of secondary markets, the deploy23 ment of spectrum-based services to the public, 

24 particularly to those members of the public resid25 ing in rural and underserved areas. 


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1 ‘‘(18) PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE INTEGRATED DATA

2 BASE.—The Commission, in coordination with the 

3 Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications 

4 and Information, shall develop an integrated national 

5 database, accessible by the public, that identifies by 

6 name, address, and contact information for each li7 censee, the spectrum assigned to each such licensee, 

8 and the geographic area to which the spectrum is as9 signed or licensed. The database may not provide 

10 public access to information protected from public 

11 disclosure under chapter 5 of title 5, United States 

12 Code, or the disclosure of which would compromise 

13 national security.’’. 

14 SEC. 1404. RADIO SPECTRUM REVIEW. 

15 Part I of title III (47 U.S.C. 301 et seq.), as amended 

16 by sections 453 and 602 of this Act, is further amended 

17 by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 344. RADIO SPECTRUM REVIEW. 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years after the 

20 date of enactment of the Rural Wireless and Broadband 

21 Service Act of 2006, and every 5 years thereafter, the Fed22 eral Communications Commission and the National Tele23 communications and Information Administration shall— 

24 ‘‘(1) conduct a band-by-band analysis of the 

25 spectrum managed by each such agency; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) report to the Congress any such bands iden2 tified, in the determination of each such agency, as 

3 not being utilized in an effective or efficient manner. 

4 ‘‘(b) AGENCY AUTHORITY.— 

5 ‘‘(1) COLLECTION OF INFORMATION.—In con6 ducting the analysis required under subsection (a)(1), 

7 the Federal Communications Commission and the Na8 tional Telecommunications and Information Admin9 istration may require licensees and other spectrum 

10 users to provide information regarding spectrum 

11 usage. 

12 ‘‘(2) EXEMPTION FROM PAPERWORK REDUCTION

13 ACT.—The collection of any information required 

14 under paragraph (1) shall be exempt from the provi15 sions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 

16 3501 et seq.).’’. 

17 SEC. 1405. 700 MHZ LICENSE AREAS. 

18 The Federal Communications Commission shall, with19 in 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, initiate 

20 a rulemaking to reconfigure the band plans for the upper 

21 700 megaHertz band (currently designated Auction 31) and 

22 for the unauctioned portions of the lower 700 megaHertz 

23 band (currently designated as Channel Blocks A, B, and 

24 E) so as to designate up to 6 megaHertz of recovered analog 

25 spectrum (as defined in section 309(j)(15)(C)(vi) of the 


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•HR 5252 RS 

1 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(15)(C)(vi))) 

2 for small geographic license areas, taking into consider3 ation— 

4 (1) the January 28, 2008, commencement date 

5 for the auction of recovered analog spectrum as re6 quired by section 3003 of Public Law 109-171 (47 

7 U.S.C. 309 note); and 

8 (2) the desire to promote infrastructure build-out 

9 and service to rural and insular areas and the com10 petitive benefits, unique characteristics, and special 

11 needs of regional and smaller wireless carriers. 

12 SEC. 1406. NO INTERFERENCE WITH DTV TRANSITION. 

13 The Commission shall not undertake any reconfigura14 tion of the band plans described in section 1605 if that re15 configuration is determined to be likely to delay the auction 

16 of recovered spectrum or the terminations of analog licenses 

17 required by section 3002(b) of Public Law 109-171 (47 

18 U.S.C. 309 note) to occur by February 18, 2009. 

19 SEC. 1407. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

20 This title and the amendments made by this title shall 

21 take effect on the expiration of the date which is 90 days 

22 after the date of enactment of this Act. 


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Calendar No. 652 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5252 

[Report No. 109

–355] 

AN ACT 

To promote the deployment of broadband networks 

and services. 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2006 

Reported with an amendment 


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