II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2275 

To improve the collection and distribution of broadband availability data. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 25, 2019 

Mr. BENNET introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To improve the collection and distribution of broadband 

availability data. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Broadband Trans5 parency and Accountability Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—In this Act— 

8 (1) the term ‘‘affordable broadband service’’— 

9 (A) except as provided in subparagraph 

10 (B), with respect to a covered household, means 

11 broadband service at the baseline speed with an 


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1 annual cost of not more than 1.5 percent of the 

2 annual median household income for the county 

3 in which the covered household is located; and 

4 (B) with respect to a covered household lo5 cated in a county in which the annual median 

6 household income exceeds the annual median 

7 household income for the United States, means 

8 broadband service at the baseline speed with an 

9 annual cost of not more than 1.5 percent of the 

10 annual median household income for the United 

11 States; 

12 (2) the term ‘‘annual median household in13 come’’ means annual median household income as 

14 reported by the Bureau of the Census; 

15 (3) the term ‘‘baseline speed’’, with respect to 

16 broadband service, means the highest download and 

17 upload speeds available to a majority of urban sub18 scribers to broadband service, as determined by the 

19 Commission; 

20 (4) the term ‘‘Broadband Map’’ means the map 

21 developed and maintained by the Commission under 

22 section 4; 

23 (5) the term ‘‘broadband service’’— 

24 (A) subject to subsection (b), has the 

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1 communications capability’’ in section 706 of 

2 the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 

3 U.S.C. 1302); and 

4 (B) does not include mobile service or sat5 ellite-based service; 

6 (6) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Federal 

7 Communications Commission; 

8 (7) the term ‘‘county’’, in the case of a State 

9 that does not have a local county system of govern10 ance, means an equivalent political subdivision as 

11 determined by the Commission, consistent with State 

12 law; 

13 (8) the term ‘‘covered entity’’ means an entity 

14 that— 

15 (A) is required to report data to the Com16 mission under the Form 477 Program; and 

17 (B) provides broadband service; 

18 (9) the term ‘‘covered household’’— 

19 (A) means a household; and 

20 (B) includes a farm, a ranch, a business, 

21 and a public facility, without regard to whether 

22 any such entity serves as a residence; 

23 (10) the term ‘‘Form 477 Program’’ means the 

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1 part V of part 1 of title 47, Code of Federal Regula2 tions, or any successor regulation; 

3 (11) the term ‘‘has access to broadband serv4 ice’’, with respect to a covered household, means af5 fordable broadband service— 

6 (A) is being provided to the covered house7 hold; or 

8 (B) could be provided to the covered 

9 household not later than 10 days after the date 

10 on which the covered household chooses to sub11 scribe to such service, if the household so choos12 es; 

13 (12) the term ‘‘qualified technology’’— 

14 (A) means a technology that delivers 

15 broadband service at not less than the baseline 

16 speed; and 

17 (B) does not include any technology— 

18 (i) used to provide broadband service 

19 to fewer than 5 percent of urban sub20 scribers to broadband service in the United 

21 States; or 

22 (ii) that is experimental or specula23 tive, until a provider of the technology has 

24 proven through consumer choices to be a 


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1 competitor in the marketplace, as deter2 mined by the Commission; and 

3 (13) the term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning given 

4 the term in section 3 of the Communications Act of 

5 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153). 

6 (b) UPDATES TO DEFINITION OF BROADBAND SERV7 ICE.—Not less frequently than once every 2 years, the 

8 Commission shall update the definition of the term 

9 ‘‘broadband service’’. 

10 SEC. 3. COLLECTION OF DATA. 

11 (a) FORM 477 PROGRAM.— 

12 (1) COLLECTION OF MORE GRANULAR DATA.— 

13 In collecting data from a covered entity under the 

14 Form 477 Program, the Commission shall require 

15 the covered entity to report data for each covered 

16 household in a census block. 

17 (2) DATA COLLECTION.— 

18 (A) TYPES OF DATA.—In collecting data 

19 from a covered entity under the Form 477 Pro20 gram, the Commission shall require the covered 

21 entity to report data that reflects the average 

22 speed and other characteristics of broadband 

23 service, including— 

24 (i) price and affordability, including, 

25 with respect to price, the total monthly 


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1 price charged to a covered household for 

2 each distinct broadband service plan or tier 

3 of standalone broadband service, net of any 

4 promotional discount, including mandatory 

5 equipment charges, usage-based fees, and 

6 fees for early termination of required con7 tracts; 

8 (ii) latency, including latency— 

9 (I) internal to the network, as 

10 measured on the backbone; and 

11 (II) from the backbone out to the 

12 entire internet routing table, reported 

13 as an average based on a measure14 ment of latency against 10 anchor 

15 sites selected by the Commission from 

16 among the most popular websites in 

17 the United States; 

18 (iii) denials of service and the reason 

19 for such denials, such as— 

20 (I) insufficient bandwidth capac21 ity to serve additional customers; or 

22 (II) the inability to reach a loca23 tion; and 

24 (iv) the type of broadband technology 

25 available. 


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1 (B) CHARACTERISTICS OF BROADBAND

2 SERVICE AS ADVERTISED, AS AGREED TO, AND

3 AS DELIVERED.—In collecting data from a cov4 ered entity under the Form 477 Program, the 

5 Commission shall require the covered entity to 

6 report data that measures the characteristics of 

7 broadband service reported under subparagraph 

8 (A)— 

9 (i) as advertised by the covered entity; 

10 (ii) as subscribed to by the consumer; 

11 and 

12 (iii) that the covered entity actually 

13 delivers to subscribers during high-volume 

14 hours, which shall be defined by the Com15 mission based on the type of broadband 

16 service usage in a particular area, includ17 ing whether the usage is primarily— 

18 (I) commercial or industrial; or 

19 (II) residential. 

20 (3) UPDATES TO REPORTING REQUIRE21 MENTS.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently 

23 than once every 3 years, the Commission shall 

24 update the reporting requirements for covered 

25 entities under the Form 477 Program. 


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1 (B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

2 subparagraph (A) shall be construed to author3 ize the Commission to collect less granular data 

4 than is required under this subsection. 

5 (b) GOVERNMENT SOURCES.—The Commission shall 

6 collect data relating to broadband service from— 

7 (1) each Federal agency that has such data, in8 cluding the Department of Agriculture; and 

9 (2) each State or local governmental entity that 

10 is willing to share such data. 

11 (c) CONSOLIDATION OF DATA.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall con13 solidate all data relating to broadband service that 

14 is collected under the Form 477 Program or under 

15 subsection (b) into a single database. 

16 (2) USAC.—The Commission may enter into a 

17 contract with the Universal Service Administrative 

18 Company to administer the database described in 

19 paragraph (1). 

20 SEC. 4. DISTRIBUTION OF DATA. 

21 (a) AVAILABILITY OF DATA.—Subject to subsection 

22 (b), the Commission shall make all data relating to 

23 broadband service collected under the Form 477 Program 

24 or from governmental entities under section 3(b) available 

25 in native electronic format to— 


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1 (1) other Federal agencies; 

2 (2) a broadband office, public utility commis3 sion, broadband mapping program, or other 

4 broadband program of a State, in the case of data 

5 pertaining to the needs of that State; 

6 (3) a unit of local government, in the case of 

7 data pertaining to the needs of that locality; 

8 (4) a nonprofit organization; and 

9 (5) an individual conducting research for non10 commercial purposes. 

11 (b) PROTECTION OF DATA.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may not 

13 share any data described in subsection (a) with an 

14 entity or individual described in that subsection un15 less the Commission has determined that the receiv16 ing entity or individual has the capability and intent 

17 to protect any personally identifiable information 

18 contained in the data. 

19 (2) DETERMINATION OF PERSONALLY IDENTI20 FIABLE INFORMATION.—The Commission— 

21 (A) shall define the term ‘‘personally iden22 tifiable information’’, for purposes of paragraph 

23 (1), through notice and comment rulemaking; 

24 and 


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1 (B) may not share any data under sub2 section (a) before completing the rulemaking 

3 under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph. 

4 (3) BALANCING ACCESS AND PROTECTION.—If 

5 the Commission is unable to determine under para6 graph (1) that an entity or individual requesting ac7 cess to data under subsection (a) has the capability 

8 to protect personally identifiable information con9 tained in the data, the Commission shall make as 

10 much of the data available as possible in a format 

11 that does not compromise personally identifiable in12 formation, through methods such as anonymization. 

13 (c) MAP.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission, in coordi15 nation with the Secretary of Commerce, the Sec16 retary of Agriculture, and State and local stake17 holders, shall develop and maintain a searchable, 

18 interactive, and comprehensive nationwide inventory 

19 map of existing broadband service capability and 

20 availability in the United States that depicts the ge21 ographic extent to which broadband service is de22 ployed and available from a commercial provider or 

23 public provider throughout each State. 

24 (2) PARAMETERS.—Not later than 180 days 

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1 sion shall establish parameters for, and make avail2 able to the public, the map required under para3 graph (1). 

4 (3) REVISIONS.—Not less frequently than every 

5 2 years, the Commission shall revise the parameters 

6 established under paragraph (2). 

7 (4) REPLACEMENT OF PRIOR MAPS.—The map 

8 developed by the Commission under paragraph (1) 

9 shall replace any broadband deployment map main10 tained by the Commission before the date of enact11 ment of this Act. 

12 (d) GRADATED OR TIERED MAPPING.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—In producing the Broadband 

14 Map, the Commission shall— 

15 (A) create, at a minimum— 

16 (i) a map that indicates the percent17 age of covered households in each census 

18 block that have access to broadband service 

19 at the baseline speed during peak usage 

20 hours; 

21 (ii) a map that indicates the percent22 age of covered households in each census 

23 block that have access to broadband service 

24 delivered using a qualified technology; 


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1 (iii) a map that layers the types of 

2 telecommunications technology available to 

3 deliver broadband service in each census 

4 block; and 

5 (iv) a map that indicates the relative 

6 affordability of broadband service in each 

7 census block; and 

8 (B) enable users of the Broadband Map 

9 to— 

10 (i) layer the maps described in sub11 paragraph (A); and 

12 (ii) filter the maps described in sub13 paragraph (A) by broadband provider. 

14 (2) TIERS.—The Commission shall display the 

15 percentage of covered households in a census block 

16 that have access to broadband service or technology 

17 under paragraph (1) by reference to one of the fol18 lowing tiers: 

19 (A) Less than 20 percent. 

20 (B) Not less than 20 percent and less than 

21 40 percent. 

22 (C) Not less than 40 percent and less than 

23 60 percent. 

24 (D) Not less than 60 percent and less than 

25 80 percent. 


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1 (E) Not less than 80 percent and less than 

2 90 percent. 

3 (F) Not less than 90 percent and less than 

4 95 percent. 

5 (G) Not less than 95 percent. 

6 (e) UPDATES.—Not later than 180 days after col7 lecting data relating to broadband service under the Form 

8 477 Program, the Commission, in consultation with the 

9 Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, and 

10 State and local stakeholders, shall— 

11 (1) update the Broadband Map with the data, 

12 and with any data collected from a governmental en13 tity under section 3(b) since the last update to the 

14 Broadband Map; and 

15 (2) make the data described in paragraph (1) 

16 available under subsection (a). 

17 SEC. 5. REPORT ON BROADBAND LAST-MILE TECH18 NOLOGIES. 

19 Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 

20 (47 U.S.C. 1302) is amended— 

21 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub22 section (e); 

23 (2) in subsection (e), as so redesignated, in the 

24 matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘sub25 section’’ and inserting ‘‘section’’; and 


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1 (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(d) BROADBAND LAST-MILE TECHNOLOGIES.— 

4 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

5 ‘‘(A) the term ‘broadband service’ has the 

6 meaning given the term ‘advanced telecommuni7 cations capability’ in subsection (e); 

8 ‘‘(B) the terms ‘covered entity’ and ‘cov9 ered household’ have the meanings given those 

10 terms in section 2 of the Broadband Trans11 parency and Accountability Act of 2019; and 

12 ‘‘(C) the term ‘last-mile technology’ means 

13 the technology used to transmit broadband 

14 service from the backbone network into a cov15 ered household. 

16 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORT.—As part of the inquiry 

17 required under subsection (b), the Commission shall 

18 report on the number of covered households that 

19 subscribe to broadband service, categorized by the 

20 type of last-mile technology, as reported by covered 

21 entities under the Form 477 Program and by gov22 ernmental entities under section 3(b) of the 

23 Broadband Transparency and Accountability Act of 

24 2019. 


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1 ‘‘(3) TECHNOLOGY CATEGORIES.—In reporting 

2 the information under paragraph (2), the Commis3 sion shall indicate whether the type of last-mile tech4 nology is— 

5 ‘‘(A) fiber; 

6 ‘‘(B) hybrid fiber coax; 

7 ‘‘(C) copper-based service; 

8 ‘‘(D) copper-fiber hybrid service; 

9 ‘‘(E) spectrum-based service; 

10 ‘‘(F) mobile service; 

11 ‘‘(G) satellite-based service; and 

12 ‘‘(H) any other type of technology that the 

13 Commission determines appropriate. 

14 ‘‘(4) GEOGRAPHIC CATEGORIES.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In reporting the infor16 mation under paragraph (2), the Commission 

17 shall categorize a covered household whose 

18 broadband service is provided using a particular 

19 type of last-mile technology according to wheth20 er the covered household is in a census block 

21 that is— 

22 ‘‘(i) urban; 

23 ‘‘(ii) suburban; or 

24 ‘‘(iii) rural, insular, or high-cost. 


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1 ‘‘(B) DEFINITIONS.—The Commission, in 

2 consultation with the Bureau of the Census, 

3 shall define the terms ‘insular’ and ‘high-cost’, 

4 with respect to census blocks, for purposes of 

5 subparagraph (A). 

6 ‘‘(5) TRIBAL LAND.—Nothing in this subsection 

7 shall be construed to authorize the Commission to 

8 exclude covered households located on Tribal land 

9 from the information reported under paragraph (2), 

10 including the categorization under paragraph (3).’’. 

11 SEC. 6. MAP ACCOUNTABILITY. 

12 (a) VERIFICATION PROCESS.— 

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

14 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission 

15 shall conduct a rulemaking to establish a process to 

16 use data relating to broadband service capability and 

17 availability in the United States (referred to in this 

18 section as ‘‘coverage data’’) that is reported by con19 sumers, businesses, and State and local governments 

20 to verify the data used in the Broadband Map. 

21 (2) TIME PERIOD FOR VERIFICATION.—The 

22 Commission, and any other Federal agency, may not 

23 use a new version of the Broadband Map to dis24 tribute support for broadband service unless the 

25 Commission has used the process established under 


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1 paragraph (1) for a period of not less than 60 days 

2 to verify the data used in the new Broadband Map. 

3 (3) SOURCES OF COVERAGE DATA.—The Com4 mission shall include in the process established 

5 under paragraph (1) a mechanism to incorporate 

6 coverage data obtained from— 

7 (A) any reputable application through 

8 which consumers report coverage data, as deter9 mined by the Commission; 

10 (B) State, local, or Tribal government enti11 ties that are primarily responsible for mapping 

12 or tracking broadband service capability and 

13 availability for a State, unit of local govern14 ment, or Indian Tribe, as applicable; and 

15 (C) any other source that the Commission 

16 determines appropriate. 

17 (b) CHALLENGE PROCESS.— 

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

19 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission 

20 shall establish, in addition to the process established 

21 under subsection (a), an evidence-based process by 

22 which a consumer, business, or State or local gov23 ernment may challenge data used in the Broadband 

24 Map. 


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1 (2) RESPONSIBILITY OF COVERED ENTITIES.— 

2 In carrying out the evidence-based challenge process 

3 under paragraph (1), the Commission shall require 

4 the covered entity that reported the data being chal5 lenged through the process to bear the burden of 

6 proving that the data is accurate. 

7 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec8 tion shall be construed to affect any determination made 

9 by the Commission before the date of enactment of this 

10 Act with respect to the distribution of support for 

11 broadband service. 

12 SEC. 7. APPLICABILITY OF OTHER LAWS. 

13 (a) OMB REVIEW.—Notwithstanding any other pro14 vision of law, any rulemaking or information collection 

15 conducted by the Commission under this Act or an amend16 ment made by this Act shall be exempt from review by 

17 the Office of Management and Budget. 

18 (b) PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT.—Chapter 35 of 

19 title 44, United States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Pa20 perwork Reduction Act’’), shall not apply to any rule21 making or information collection conducted by the Com22 mission under this Act or an amendment made by this 

23 Act. 

Æ 


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