II 

Calendar No. 441 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1492 

[Report No. 110–204] 

To improve the quality of Federal and State data regarding the availability 

and quality of broadband services and to promote the deployment of 

affordable broadband services to all parts of the Nation. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 24, 2007 

Mr. INOUYE (for himself, Mr. DORGAN, Mr. PRYOR, Ms. CANTWELL, Ms. 

KLOBUCHAR, Mr. KERRY, Mr. NELSON of Florida, Mr. OBAMA, Mr. CARPER, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, and Mrs. CLINTON) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

OCTOBER 24, 2007 

Reported by Mr. INOUYE with an amendment 

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

A BILL 

To improve the quality of Federal and State data regarding 

the availability and quality of broadband services and 

to promote the deployment of affordable broadband services to all parts of the Nation. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Broadband Data Im3 provement Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 The Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) The deployment and adoption of broadband 

7 technology has resulted in enhanced economic devel8 opment and public safety for communities across the 

9 Nation, improved health care and educational oppor10 tunities, and a better quality of life for all Ameri11 cans. 

12 (2) Continued progress in the deployment and 

13 adoption of broadband technology is vital to ensur14 ing that our Nation remains competitive and con15 tinues to create business and job growth. 

16 (3) Improving Federal data on the deployment 

17 and adoption of broadband service will assist in the 

18 development of broadband technology across all re19 gions of the Nation. 

20 (4) The Federal Government should also recog21 nize and encourage complementary state efforts to 

22 improve the quality and usefulness of broadband 

23 data and should encourage and support the partner24 ship of the public and private sectors in the contin25 ued growth of broadband services and information 


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1 technology for the residents and businesses of the 

2 Nation. 

3 SEC. 3. IMPROVING FEDERAL DATA ON BROADBAND. 

4 (a) IMPROVING FCC BROADBAND DATA.—Within 

5 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Fed6 eral Communications Commission shall issue an order in 

7 WC docket No. 07–38 which shall, at a minimum— 

8 (1) revise or update, if determined necessary, 

9 the existing definitions of advanced telecommuni10 cations capability, or broadband; 

11 (2) establish a new definition of second genera12 tion broadband to reflect a data rate that is not less 

13 than the data rate required to reliably transmit full14 motion, high-definition video; and 

15 (3) revise its Form 477 reporting requirements 

16 to require filing entities to report broadband connec17 tions and second generation broadband connections 

18 by 5-digit postal zip code plus 4-digit location. 

19 (b) EXCEPTION.—The Commission shall exempt an 

20 entity from the reporting requirements of subsection 

21 (a)(3) if the Commission determines that a compliance by 

22 that entity with the requirements is cost prohibitive, as 

23 defined by the Commission. 


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1 (c) IMPROVING SECTION 706 INQUIRY.—Section 706 

2 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 157 

3 nt) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘regularly’’ in subsection (b) 

5 and inserting ‘‘annually’’; 

6 (2) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub7 section (e); and 

8 (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(c) MEASUREMENT OF EXTENT OF DEPLOY11 MENT.—In determining under subsection (b) whether ad12 vanced telecommunications capability is being deployed to 

13 all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion, the 

14 Commission shall consider data collected using 5-digit 

15 postal zip code plus 4-digit location. 

16 ‘‘(d) DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION FOR UNSERVED

17 AREAS.—As part of the inquiry required by subsection (b), 

18 the Commission shall, using 5-digit postal zip code plus 

19 4-digit location information, compile a list of geographical 

20 areas that are not served by any provider of advanced tele21 communications capability (as defined by section 

22 706(c)(1) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 

23 U.S.C. 157 nt)) and to the extent that data from the Cen24 sus Bureau is available, determine, for each such unserved 

25 area— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the population; 

2 ‘‘(2) the population density; and 

3 ‘‘(3) the average per capita income.’’; 

4 (4) by inserting ‘‘an evolving level of’’ after 

5 ‘‘technology,’’ in paragraph (1) of subsection (e), as 

6 redesignated. 

7 (d) IMPROVING CENSUS DATA ON BROADBAND.— 

8 The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Fed9 eral Communications Commission, shall expand the Amer10 ican Community Survey conducted by the Bureau of the 

11 Census to elicit information for residential households, in12 cluding those located on native lands, to determine wheth13 er persons at such households own or use a computer at 

14 that address, whether persons at that address subscribe 

15 to Internet service and, if so, whether such persons sub16 scribe to dial-up or broadband Internet service at that ad17 dress. 

18 SEC. 4. STUDY ON ADDITIONAL BROADBAND METRICS AND 

19 STANDARDS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General shall 

21 conduct a study to consider and evaluate additional 

22 broadband metrics or standards that may be used by in23 dustry and the Federal Government to provide users with 

24 more accurate information about the cost and capability 

25 of their broadband connection, and to better compare the 


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1 deployment and penetration of broadband in the United 

2 States with other countries. At a minimum, such study 

3 shall consider potential standards or metrics that may be 

4 used— 

5 (1) to calculate the average price per megabyte 

6 of broadband offerings; 

7 (2) to reflect the average actual speed of 

8 broadband offerings compared to advertised poten9 tial speeds; 

10 (3) to compare the availability and quality of 

11 broadband offerings in the United States with the 

12 availability and quality of broadband offerings in 

13 other industrialized nations, including countries that 

14 are members of the Organization for Economic Co15 operation and Development; and 

16 (4) to distinguish between complementary and 

17 substitutable broadband offerings in evaluating de18 ployment and penetration. 

19 (b) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

20 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

21 submit a report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, 

22 Science, and Transportation and the House of Represent23 atives Committee on Energy and Commerce on the results 

24 of the study, with recommendations for how industry and 

25 the Federal Communications Commission can use such 


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1 metrics and comparisons to improve the quality of 

2 broadband data and to better evaluate the deployment and 

3 penetration of comparable broadband service at com4 parable rates across all regions of the Nation. 

5 SEC. 5. STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF BROADBAND SPEED AND 

6 PRICE ON SMALL BUSINESSES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Small Business Administra8 tion Office of Advocacy shall conduct a study evaluating 

9 the impact of broadband speed and price on small busi10 nesses. 

11 (b) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

12 of enactment of this Act, the Office shall submit a report 

13 to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

14 Transportation, the Senate Committee on Small Business 

15 and Entrepreneurship, the House of Representatives Com16 mittee on Energy and Commerce, and the House of Rep17 resentatives Committee on Small Business on the results 

18 of the study, including— 

19 (1) a survey of broadband speeds available to 

20 small businesses; 

21 (2) a survey of the cost of broadband speeds 

22 available to small businesses; 

23 (3) a survey of the type of broadband tech24 nology used by small businesses; and 


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1 (4) any policy recommendations that may im2 prove small businesses access to comparable 

3 broadband services at comparable rates in all regions 

4 of the Nation. 

5 SEC. 6. ENCOURAGING STATE INITIATIVES TO IMPROVE 

6 BROADBAND. 

7 (a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of any grant under 

8 subsection (b) are— 

9 (1) to ensure that all citizens and businesses in 

10 a State have access to affordable and reliable 

11 broadband service; 

12 (2) to achieve improved technology literacy, in13 creased computer ownership, and home broadband 

14 use among such citizens and businesses; 

15 (3) to establish and empower local grassroots 

16 technology teams in each State to plan for improved 

17 technology use across multiple community sectors; 

18 and 

19 (4) to establish and sustain an environment 

20 ripe for broadband services and information tech21 nology investment. 

22 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF STATE BROADBAND DATA

23 AND DEVELOPMENT GRANT PROGRAM.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce 

25 shall award grants, taking into account the results 


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1 of the peer review process under subsection (d), to 

2 eligible entities for the development and implementa3 tion of statewide initiatives to identify and track the 

4 availability and adoption of broadband services with5 in each State. 

6 (2) COMPETITIVE BASIS.—Any grant under 

7 subsection (b) shall be awarded on a competitive 

8 basis. 

9 (c) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

10 under subsection (b), an eligible entity shall— 

11 (1) submit an application to the Secretary of 

12 Commerce, at such time, in such manner, and con13 taining such information as the Secretary may re14 quire; and 

15 (2) contribute matching non-Federal funds in 

16 an amount equal to not less than 20 percent of the 

17 total amount of the grant. 

18 (d) PEER REVIEW; NONDISCLOSURE.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall by regu20 lation require appropriate technical and scientific 

21 peer review of applications made for grants under 

22 this section. 

23 (2) REVIEW PROCEDURES.—The regulations re24 quired under paragraph (1) shall require that any 

25 technical and scientific peer review group— 


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1 (A) be provided a written description of 

2 the grant to be reviewed; 

3 (B) provide the results of any review by 

4 such group to the Secretary of Commerce; and 

5 (C) certify that such group will enter into 

6 voluntary nondisclosure agreements as nec7 essary to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of 

8 confidential and proprietary information pro9 vided by broadband service providers in connec10 tion with projects funded by any such grant. 

11 (e) USE OF FUNDS.—A grant awarded to an eligible 

12 entity under subsection (b) shall be used— 

13 (1) to provide a baseline assessment of 

14 broadband service deployment in each State; 

15 (2) to identify and track— 

16 (A) areas in each State that have low lev17 els of broadband service deployment; 

18 (B) the rate at which residential and busi19 ness users adopt broadband service and other 

20 related information technology services; and 

21 (C) possible suppliers of such services; 

22 (3) to identify barriers to the adoption by indi23 viduals and businesses of broadband service and re24 lated information technology services, including 

25 whether or not— 


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1 (A) the demand for such services is absent; 

2 and 

3 (B) the supply for such services is capable 

4 of meeting the demand for such services; 

5 (4) to identify the speeds of broadband connec6 tions made available to individuals and businesses 

7 within the State, and, at a minimum, to rely on the 

8 data rate benchmarks for broadband and second 

9 generation broadband identified by the Federal Com10 munications Commission to promote greater consist11 ency of data among the States; 

12 (5) to create and facilitate in each county or 

13 designated region in a State a local technology plan14 ning team— 

15 (A) with members representing a cross sec16 tion of the community, including representatives 

17 of business, telecommunications labor organiza18 tions, K–12 education, health care, libraries, 

19 higher education, community-based organiza20 tions, local government, tourism, parks and 

21 recreation, and agriculture; and 

22 (B) which shall— 

23 (i) benchmark technology use across 

24 relevant community sectors; 


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1 (ii) set goals for improved technology 

2 use within each sector; and 

3 (iii) develop a tactical business plan 

4 for achieving its goals, with specific rec5 ommendations for online application devel6 opment and demand creation; 

7 (6) to work collaboratively with broadband serv8 ice providers and information technology companies 

9 to encourage deployment and use, especially in 

10 unserved and underserved areas, through the use of 

11 local demand aggregation, mapping analysis, and the 

12 creation of market intelligence to improve the busi13 ness case for providers to deploy; 

14 (7) to establish programs to improve computer 

15 ownership and Internet access for unserved and un16 derserved populations; 

17 (8) to collect and analyze detailed market data 

18 concerning the use and demand for broadband serv19 ice and related information technology services; 

20 (9) to facilitate information exchange regarding 

21 the use and demand for broadband services between 

22 public and private sectors; and 

23 (10) to create within each State a geographic 

24 inventory map of broadband service, and where feaVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:37 Oct 25, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1492.RS S1492

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1 sible second generation broadband service, which 

2 shall— 

3 (A) identify gaps in such service through a 

4 method of geographic information system map5 ping of service availability at the census block 

6 level; and 

7 (B) provide a baseline assessment of state8 wide broadband deployment in terms of house9 holds with high-speed availability. 

10 (f) PARTICIPATION LIMIT.—For each State, an eligi11 ble entity may not receive a new grant under this section 

12 to fund the activities described in subsection (d) within 

13 such State if such organization obtained prior grant 

14 awards under this section to fund the same activities in 

15 that State in each of the previous 4 consecutive years. 

16 (g) REPORTING.—The Secretary of Commerce 

17 shall— 

18 (1) require each recipient of a grant under sub19 section (b) to submit a report on the use of the 

20 funds provided by the grant; and 

21 (2) create a web page on the Department of 

22 Commerce web site that aggregates relevant infor23 mation made available to the public by grant recipi24 ents, including, where appropriate, hypertext links to 


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1 any geographic inventory maps created by grant re2 cipients under subsection (e)(10). 

3 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible en5 tity’’ means a non-profit organization that is se6 lected by a State to work in partnership with State 

7 agencies and private sector partners in identifying 

8 and tracking the availability and adoption of 

9 broadband services within each State. 

10 (2) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 

11 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization— 

12 (A) described in section 501(c)(3) of the 

13 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt 

14 from tax under section 501(a) of such Code; 

15 (B) no part of the net earnings of which 

16 inures to the benefit of any member, founder, 

17 contributor, or individual; 

18 (C) that has an established competency 

19 and proven record of working with public and 

20 private sectors to accomplish widescale deploy21 ment and adoption of broadband services and 

22 information technology; and 

23 (D) the board of directors of which is not 

24 composed of a majority of individuals who are 

25 also employed by, or otherwise associated with, 


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1 any Federal, State, or local government or any 

2 Federal, State, or local agency. 

3 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

5 $40,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012. 

6 (j) NO REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this 

7 section shall be construed as giving any public or private 

8 entity established or affected by this Act any regulatory 

9 jurisdiction or oversight authority over providers of 

10 broadband services or information technology. 

11 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

12 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Broadband Data Im13 provement Act’’. 

14 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

15 The Congress finds the following: 

16 (1) The deployment and adoption of broadband 

17 technology has resulted in enhanced economic develop18 ment and public safety for communities across the 

19 Nation, improved health care and educational oppor20 tunities, and a better quality of life for all Americans. 

21 (2) Continued progress in the deployment and 

22 adoption of broadband technology is vital to ensuring 

23 that our Nation remains competitive and continues to 

24 create business and job growth. 


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1 (3) Improving Federal data on the deployment 

2 and adoption of broadband service will assist in the 

3 development of broadband technology across all re4 gions of the Nation. 

5 (4) The Federal Government should also recog6 nize and encourage complementary state efforts to im7 prove the quality and usefulness of broadband data 

8 and should encourage and support the partnership of 

9 the public and private sectors in the continued growth 

10 of broadband services and information technology for 

11 the residents and businesses of the Nation. 

12 SEC. 3. IMPROVING FEDERAL DATA ON BROADBAND. 

13 (a) IMPROVING FCC BROADBAND DATA.—Within 120 

14 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal 

15 Communications Commission shall issue an order in WC 

16 docket No. 07–38 which shall, at a minimum— 

17 (1) revise or update, if determined necessary, the 

18 existing definitions of advanced telecommunications 

19 capability, or broadband; 

20 (2) identify tiers of broadband service, among 

21 those used by the Commission in collecting Form 477 

22 data, in which a substantial majority of the connec23 tions in such tier provide consumers with an infor24 mation transfer rate capable of reliably transmitting 

25 full-motion, high definition video; and 


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1 (3) revise its Form 477 reporting requirements 

2 as necessary to enable the Commission to identify ac3 tual numbers of broadband connections subscribed to 

4 by residential and business customers, separately, ei5 ther within a relevant census tract from the most re6 cent decennial census, a 9-digit postal zip code, or a 

7 5-digit postal zip code, as the Commission deems ap8 propriate. 

9 (b) EXCEPTION.—The Commission shall exempt an en10 tity from the reporting requirements of subsection (a)(3) if 

11 the Commission determines that a compliance by that enti12 ty with the requirements is cost prohibitive, as defined by 

13 the Commission. 

14 (c) IMPROVING SECTION 706 INQUIRY.—Section 706 of 

15 the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 157 nt) is 

16 amended— 

17 (1) by striking ‘‘regularly’’ in subsection (b) and 

18 inserting ‘‘annually’’; 

19 (2) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection 

20 (e); 

21 (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(c) MEASUREMENT OF EXTENT OF DEPLOYMENT.— 

24 In determining under subsection (b) whether advanced tele25 communications capability is being deployed to all AmeriVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:37 Oct 25, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1492.RS S1492

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1 cans in a reasonable and timely fashion, the Commission 

2 shall consider data collected through Form 477 reporting 

3 requirements. 

4 ‘‘(d) DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION FOR UNSERVED

5 AREAS.—As part of the inquiry required by subsection (b), 

6 the Commission shall compile a list of geographical areas 

7 that are not served by any provider of advanced tele8 communications capability (as defined by section 706(c)(1) 

9 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 157 nt)) 

10 and to the extent that data from the Census Bureau is avail11 able, determine, for each such unserved area— 

12 ‘‘(1) the population; 

13 ‘‘(2) the population density; and 

14 ‘‘(3) the average per capita income.’’; and 

15 (4) by inserting ‘‘an evolving level of’’ after 

16 ‘‘technology, as’’ in paragraph (1) of subsection (e), as 

17 redesignated. 

18 (d) IMPROVING CENSUS DATA ON BROADBAND.—The 

19 Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Federal 

20 Communications Commission, shall expand the American 

21 Community Survey conducted by the Bureau of the Census 

22 to elicit information for residential households, including 

23 those located on native lands, to determine whether persons 

24 at such households own or use a computer at that address, 

25 whether persons at that address subscribe to Internet service 


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1 and, if so, whether such persons subscribe to dial-up or 

2 broadband Internet service at that address. 

3 SEC. 4. STUDY ON ADDITIONAL BROADBAND METRICS AND 

4 STANDARDS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General shall con6 duct a study to consider and evaluate additional broadband 

7 metrics or standards that may be used by industry and the 

8 Federal Government to provide users with more accurate 

9 information about the cost and capability of their 

10 broadband connection, and to better compare the deploy11 ment and penetration of broadband in the United States 

12 with other countries. At a minimum, such study shall con13 sider potential standards or metrics that may be used— 

14 (1) to calculate the average price per megabit per 

15 second of broadband offerings; 

16 (2) to reflect the average actual speed of 

17 broadband offerings compared to advertised potential 

18 speeds and to consider factors affecting speed that 

19 may be outside the control of a broadband provider; 

20 (3) to compare, using comparable metrics and 

21 standards, the availability and quality of broadband 

22 offerings in the United States with the availability 

23 and quality of broadband offerings in other industri24 alized nations, including countries that are members 


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1 of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and 

2 Development; and 

3 (4) to distinguish between complementary and 

4 substitutable broadband offerings in evaluating de5 ployment and penetration. 

6 (b) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

7 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall sub8 mit a report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, 

9 Science, and Transportation and the House of Representa10 tives Committee on Energy and Commerce on the results 

11 of the study, with recommendations for how industry and 

12 the Federal Communications Commission can use such 

13 metrics and comparisons to improve the quality of 

14 broadband data and to better evaluate the deployment and 

15 penetration of comparable broadband service at comparable 

16 rates across all regions of the Nation. 

17 SEC. 5. STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF BROADBAND SPEED AND 

18 PRICE ON SMALL BUSINESSES. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Small Business Administra20 tion Office of Advocacy shall conduct a study evaluating 

21 the impact of broadband speed and price on small busi22 nesses. 

23 (b) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

24 of enactment of this Act, the Office shall submit a report 

25 to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and TransVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:37 Oct 25, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1492.RS S1492

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1 portation, the Senate Committee on Small Business and 

2 Entrepreneurship, the House of Representatives Committee 

3 on Energy and Commerce, and the House of Representatives 

4 Committee on Small Business on the results of the study, 

5 including— 

6 (1) a survey of broadband speeds available to 

7 small businesses; 

8 (2) a survey of the cost of broadband speeds 

9 available to small businesses; 

10 (3) a survey of the type of broadband technology 

11 used by small businesses; and 

12 (4) any policy recommendations that may im13 prove small businesses access to comparable 

14 broadband services at comparable rates in all regions 

15 of the Nation. 

16 SEC. 6. ENCOURAGING STATE INITIATIVES TO IMPROVE 

17 BROADBAND. 

18 (a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of any grant under sub19 section (b) are— 

20 (1) to ensure that all citizens and businesses in 

21 a State have access to affordable and reliable 

22 broadband service; 

23 (2) to achieve improved technology literacy, in24 creased computer ownership, and home broadband use 

25 among such citizens and businesses; 


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1 (3) to establish and empower local grassroots 

2 technology teams in each State to plan for improved 

3 technology use across multiple community sectors; 

4 and 

5 (4) to establish and sustain an environment ripe 

6 for broadband services and information technology in7 vestment. 

8 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF STATE BROADBAND DATA

9 AND DEVELOPMENT GRANT PROGRAM.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce 

11 shall award grants, taking into account the results of 

12 the peer review process under subsection (d), to eligi13 ble entities for the development and implementation 

14 of statewide initiatives to identify and track the 

15 availability and adoption of broadband services with16 in each State. 

17 (2) COMPETITIVE BASIS.—Any grant under sub18 section (b) shall be awarded on a competitive basis. 

19 (c) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

20 under subsection (b), an eligible entity shall— 

21 (1) submit an application to the Secretary of 

22 Commerce, at such time, in such manner, and con23 taining such information as the Secretary may re24 quire; 


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1 (2) contribute matching non-Federal funds in an 

2 amount equal to not less than 20 percent of the total 

3 amount of the grant; and 

4 (3) agree to comply with confidentiality require5 ments in subsection (h)(2) of this section. 

6 (d) PEER REVIEW; NONDISCLOSURE.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall by regula8 tion require appropriate technical and scientific peer 

9 review of applications made for grants under this sec10 tion. 

11 (2) REVIEW PROCEDURES.—The regulations re12 quired under paragraph (1) shall require that any 

13 technical and scientific peer review group— 

14 (A) be provided a written description of the 

15 grant to be reviewed; and 

16 (B) provide the results of any review by 

17 such group to the Secretary of Commerce. 

18 (C) certify that such group will enter into 

19 voluntary nondisclosure agreements as necessary 

20 to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of con21 fidential and proprietary information provided 

22 by broadband service providers in connection 

23 with projects funded by any such grant. 

24 (e) USE OF FUNDS.—A grant awarded to an eligible 

25 entity under subsection (b) shall be used— 


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1 (1) to provide a baseline assessment of 

2 broadband service deployment in each State; 

3 (2) to identify and track— 

4 (A) areas in each State that have low levels 

5 of broadband service deployment; 

6 (B) the rate at which residential and busi7 ness users adopt broadband service and other re8 lated information technology services; and 

9 (C) possible suppliers of such services; 

10 (3) to identify barriers to the adoption by indi11 viduals and businesses of broadband service and re12 lated information technology services, including 

13 whether or not— 

14 (A) the demand for such services is absent; 

15 and 

16 (B) the supply for such services is capable 

17 of meeting the demand for such services; 

18 (4) to identify the speeds of broadband connec19 tions made available to individuals and businesses 

20 within the State, and, at a minimum, to rely on the 

21 data rate benchmarks for broadband service utilized 

22 by the Commission to reflect different speed tiers, in23 cluding information transfer rates identified under 

24 section 3(a)(2) of this Act, to promote greater consist25 ency of data among the States; 


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1 (5) to create and facilitate in each county or des2 ignated region in a State a local technology planning 

3 team— 

4 (A) with members representing a cross sec5 tion of the community, including representatives 

6 of business, telecommunications labor organiza7 tions, K–12 education, health care, libraries, 

8 higher education, community-based organiza9 tions, local government, tourism, parks and 

10 recreation, and agriculture; and 

11 (B) which shall— 

12 (i) benchmark technology use across 

13 relevant community sectors; 

14 (ii) set goals for improved technology 

15 use within each sector; and 

16 (iii) develop a tactical business plan 

17 for achieving its goals, with specific rec18 ommendations for online application devel19 opment and demand creation; 

20 (6) to work collaboratively with broadband serv21 ice providers and information technology companies 

22 to encourage deployment and use, especially in 

23 unserved areas and areas in which broadband pene24 tration is significantly below the national average, 

25 through the use of local demand aggregation, mapVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:37 Oct 25, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1492.RS S1492

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1 ping analysis, and the creation of market intelligence 

2 to improve the business case for providers to deploy; 

3 (7) to establish programs to improve computer 

4 ownership and Internet access for unserved areas and 

5 areas in which broadband penetration is significantly 

6 below the national average; 

7 (8) to collect and analyze detailed market data 

8 concerning the use and demand for broadband service 

9 and related information technology services; 

10 (9) to facilitate information exchange regarding 

11 the use and demand for broadband services between 

12 public and private sectors; and 

13 (10) to create within each State a geographic in14 ventory map of broadband service, including the 

15 availability of broadband service connections meeting 

16 information transfer rates identified by the Commis17 sion under section 3(a)(2) of this Act, which shall— 

18 (A) identify gaps in such service through a 

19 method of geographic information system map20 ping of service availability at the census block 

21 level among residential or business customers; 

22 and 

23 (B) provide a baseline assessment of state24 wide broadband deployment in terms of house25 holds with high-speed availability. 


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•S 1492 RS 

1 (f) PARTICIPATION LIMIT.—For each State, an eligible 

2 entity may not receive a new grant under this section to 

3 fund the activities described in subsection (d) within such 

4 State if such organization obtained prior grant awards 

5 under this section to fund the same activities in that State 

6 in each of the previous 4 consecutive years. 

7 (g) REPORTING.—The Secretary of Commerce shall— 

8 (1) require each recipient of a grant under sub9 section (b) to submit a report on the use of the funds 

10 provided by the grant; and 

11 (2) create a web page on the Department of 

12 Commerce web site that aggregates relevant informa13 tion made available to the public by grant recipients, 

14 including, where appropriate, hypertext links to any 

15 geographic inventory maps created by grant recipi16 ents under subsection (e)(10). 

17 (h) ACCESS TO AGGREGATE DATA.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), the 

19 Commission shall provide eligible entities access, in 

20 electronic form, to aggregate data collected by the 

21 Commission based on the Form 477 submissions of 

22 broadband service providers. 

23 (2) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding any provi24 sion of Federal or State law to the contrary, an eligi25 ble entity shall treat any matter that is a trade secret, 


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•S 1492 RS 

1 commercial or financial information, or privileged or 

2 confidential, as a record not subject to public disclo3 sure except as otherwise mutually agreed to by the 

4 broadband service provider and the eligible entity. 

5 This paragraph applies only to information sub6 mitted by the Commission or a broadband provider to 

7 carry out the provisions of this Act and shall not oth8 erwise limit or affect the rules governing public dis9 closure of information collected by any Federal or 

10 State entity under any other Federal or State law or 

11 regulation. 

12 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

14 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

15 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti16 ty’’ means a non-profit organization that is selected 

17 by a State to work in partnership with State agencies 

18 and private sector partners in identifying and track19 ing the availability and adoption of broadband serv20 ices within each State. 

21 (3) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘non22 profit organization’’ means an organization— 

23 (A) described in section 501(c)(3) of the In24 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from 

25 tax under section 501(a) of such Code; 


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•S 1492 RS 

1 (B) no part of the net earnings of which in2 ures to the benefit of any member, founder, con3 tributor, or individual; 

4 (C) that has an established competency and 

5 proven record of working with public and pri6 vate sectors to accomplish widescale deployment 

7 and adoption of broadband services and infor8 mation technology; 

9 (D) that has a board of directors a majority 

10 of which is not composed of individuals who are 

11 also employed by, or otherwise associated with, 

12 any Federal, State, or local government or any 

13 Federal, State, or local agency; and 

14 (E) that has a board of directors which does 

15 not include any member that is employed either 

16 by a broadband service provider or by any other 

17 company in which a broadband service provider 

18 owns a controlling or attributable interest. 

19 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are 

20 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

21 $40,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012. 

22 (k) NO REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this 

23 section shall be construed as giving any public or private 

24 entity established or affected by this Act any regulatory juVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:37 Oct 25, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1492.RS S1492

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•S 1492 RS 

1 risdiction or oversight authority over providers of 

2 broadband services or information technology. 


hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMBILLS

hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMBILLS
Calendar No. 441 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1492 

[Report No. 110

–204] 

A BILL 

To improve the quality of Federal and State data 

parts of the Nation. ment of affordable broadband services to all broadband services and to promote the deployregarding the availability and quality of 

OCTOBER 24, 2007 

Reported with an amendment 


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