II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3820 

To expand broadband access for rural Americans. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 3, 2006 

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

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To expand broadband access for rural Americans. 

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 for Rural 

5 America Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) High speed broadband communications is 

9 no longer a luxury. It has become a vital service for 

10 all Americans, much like water, sewer, gas, and elec11 tricity are essential resources for our daily lives. 


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1 (2) Broadband infrastructure is critical to com2 munity and economic development, by encouraging 

3 investment, creating jobs, improving productivity, 

4 fostering innovation, and increasing consumer bene5 fits. 

6 (3) Despite the ongoing efforts by traditional 

7 communications carriers to expand broadband serv8 ices, the rate of deployment in America is still far 

9 from ideal. Recent reports indicate that America 

10 continues to trail other leading industrialized coun11 tries, per capita, in the availability and use of 

12 broadband communications. 

13 (4) As our Nation falls behind the developed 

14 world in broadband access, so, too, are rural resi15 dents falling behind city and urban residents. In 

16 small towns and rural America, broadband service 

17 remains largely non existent. In places where it is 

18 available, rural broadband customers often pay more 

19 for inferior quality than customers in cities and 

20 urban areas. 

21 (5) A national policy is needed to accelerate the 

22 deployment of broadband services so that, no matter 

23 where they live, every American can have access to 

24 affordable and high-quality broadband service as 

25 soon as possible. 


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1 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

2 The purposes of this Act are to encourage the rapid 

3 deployment of high quality and affordable high speed 

4 broadband service to every corner of our Nation by— 

5 (1) establishing a new source of funding for en6 tities that work to identify unserved regions of the 

7 Nation and to address the lack of broadband service 

8 in those areas; 

9 (2) reforming the rural broadband loan pro10 gram to ensure that Federal funds are provided only 

11 to qualified entities that will serve truly rural and 

12 unserved regions of the Nation, while providing stat13 utory authority and Federal funding for the rural 

14 broadband grant program; 

15 (3) making more unlicensed spectrum available 

16 for innovative wireless broadband uses that will not 

17 cause harmful interference and degradation of serv18 ice to other wireless services; 

19 (4) encouraging rural, regional, and smaller 

20 wireless carriers to enter the wireless broadband 

21 market by reconfiguring the size of spectrum auc22 tions into smaller market sizes; and 

23 (5) studying policies and programs adopted by 

24 State and local governments that have worked to 

25 provide incentives for rapid broadband deployment. 


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1 SEC. 4. BROADBAND ACCESS TRUST FUND AND OFFICE OF 

2 BROADBAND ACCESS. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

4 (1) FUND ESTABLISHED.—There is established 

5 in the Treasury of the United States the Broadband 

6 Access Trust Fund. 

7 (2) OFFICE ESTABLISHED.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—There is established 

9 within the Federal Communications Commis10 sion the Office of Broadband Access. 

11 (B) DUTIES.—The Office of Broadband 

12 Access shall coordinate the use of all resources 

13 within the Fund, as such resources relate to the 

14 expansion of broadband technology into rural or 

15 unserved areas. 

16 (3) DEPOSITS.—The Fund shall consist of— 

17 (A) the amounts appropriated pursuant to 

18 subsection (f); and 

19 (B) 1 percent of the proceeds of any auc20 tion for any bands of frequencies conducted 

21 pursuant to section 309(j) of the Communica22 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)). 

23 (4) FUND AVAILABILITY.— 

24 (A) APPROPRIATION.—There are appro25 priated from the Fund such sums as are auVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:10 Aug 10, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3820.IS S3820

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1 thorized by the board to be disbursed for grants 

2 under this section. 

3 (B) REVERSION OF UNUSED FUNDS.—Any 

4 grant proceeds that remain unexpended at the 

5 end of the grant period, as determined under 

6 subsection (c)(3), shall revert to and be depos7 ited in the Fund. 

8 (b) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.— 

9 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Fund shall be ad10 ministered by the Office of Broadband Access, in 

11 consultation with a board of directors comprised of 

12 5 members, appointed by the Chairman of the Fed13 eral Communications Commission, with experience in 

14 1 or more of the following fields: 

15 (A) Grant and investment management. 

16 (B) Advanced communications technology. 

17 (C) Rural communications services. 

18 (D) Community-based economic develop19 ment. 

20 (2) FUNCTIONS.—The board shall— 

21 (A) establish reasonable and prudent cri22 teria for the selection of grant recipients under 

23 this section; 

24 (B) determine the amount of grants 

25 awarded to such recipients; and 


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1 (C) review the use of grant funds by such 

2 recipients. 

3 (3) COMPENSATION PROHIBITED; EXPENSES

4 PROVIDED.—The members of the board shall serve 

5 without compensation, but may, from appropriated 

6 funds available for the administrative expenses of 

7 the Federal Communications Commission, receive 

8 travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsist9 ence, in accordance with applicable provisions under 

10 subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States 

11 Code. 

12 (c) PURPOSE AND ACTIVITIES OF THE FUND.— 

13 (1) GRANT PURPOSES.—In order to achieve the 

14 objectives and carry out the purposes of this section, 

15 the Office of Broadband Access is authorized to 

16 make grants, from amounts deposited pursuant to 

17 subsection (a)(2) and from the interest or other in18 come derived from the Fund— 

19 (A) to study the lack of affordable 

20 broadband communications services in par21 ticular unserved regions of the nation, particu22 larly in rural areas; and 

23 (B) to take steps toward providing such 

24 services to such regions. 


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1 (2) GRANT PREFERENCE.—In making grants 

2 from the Fund, the Office of Broadband Access shall 

3 give preference to eligible individuals or entities that 

4 are proposing rural or community-based partner5 ships to encourage economic development in 

6 unserved regions of the nation, particularly in rural 

7 areas. 

8 (3) GRANT AVAILABILITY.—Grants from the 

9 Fund shall be made available on a single or multi10 year basis to facilitate long term planning. 

11 (d) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The following organizations 

13 and entities are eligible to apply for funds under this 

14 section: 

15 (A) An agency or instrumentality of a 

16 State or local unit of government (including an 

17 agency or instrumentality of a territory or pos18 session of the United States). 

19 (B) A nonprofit agency or organization 

20 that is exempt from taxes under section 

21 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

22 (26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3)). 

23 (C) An institution of higher education. 

24 (D) Any legally organized incorporated or25 ganization or other legal entity, including a coVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:10 Aug 10, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3820.IS S3820

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1 operative, a private corporation, or a limited li2 ability company. 

3 (2) PREFERENCE.— 

4 (A) NONLICENSED ENTITIES.—In deter5 mining which legally organized incorporated or6 ganizations or other legal entities shall receive 

7 grants from the Fund, the Office of Broadband 

8 Access shall give preference to those organiza9 tions and entities that are not already licensed 

10 by the Federal Communications Commission to 

11 provide voice, data, video, or other communica12 tions or information services. 

13 (B) SECONDARY PRIORITY FOR ALREADY

14 LICENSED ENTITIES.—The Office of Broadband 

15 Access shall only award grants from the Fund 

16 to those organizations and entities that are al17 ready licensed by the Federal Communications 

18 Commission to provide voice, data, video, or 

19 other communications or information services 

20 only after all applications by nonlicensed orga21 nizations described in subparagraph (A) have 

22 been considered. 

23 (e) PERMISSIBLE USES OF FUNDS.—Amounts made 

24 available by grants from the Fund under this section may 

25 be used by eligible entities for conducting feasibility studVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:10 Aug 10, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3820.IS S3820

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1 ies, mapping, economic analysis, and other activities done 

2 to determine— 

3 (1) the reasons for the lack of affordable 

4 broadband communications services in particular 

5 unserved regions of the nation, particularly in rural 

6 areas; and 

7 (2) the scale, scope, and type of broadband 

8 services most suitable for each particular unserved 

9 area. 

10 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

11 are authorized to be appropriated to the Fund 

12 $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2007 and each of the 5 suc13 ceeding fiscal years. 

14 (g) REPORTS.— 

15 (1) BY GRANT RECIPIENTS.—Each grant recipi16 ent shall submit to the Federal Communications 

17 Commission and the board a report on the use of 

18 the funds provided by the grant. 

19 (2) BY FCC.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Commu21 nications Commission shall annually submit to 

22 Congress a report on the operations of the 

23 Fund and the grants made by the Fund. 

24 (B) REQUIRED CONTENT.—The report re25 quired under subparagraph (A) shall include— 


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1 (i) an identification of the grants 

2 made, the recipients thereof, and the 

3 planned uses of the amounts made avail4 able; 

5 (ii) a financial report on the oper6 ations and condition of the Fund; and 

7 (iii) a description of the results of the 

8 use of funds provided by grants under this 

9 section, including the status of broadband 

10 availability in the regions covered by such 

11 grants. 

12 (C) INFORMATION REQUIRED.— 

13 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Com14 munications Commission shall revise FCC 

15 Form 477 reporting requirements not later 

16 than 180 days after the date of enactment 

17 of this Act to require broadband service 

18 providers to report the following informa19 tion: 

20 (I) Identification of location 

21 where the provider provides 

22 broadband service to customers, iden23 tified by zip code plus 4 digit location 

24 (referred to in this subparagraph as 

25 ‘‘service area’’). 


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1 (II) Percentage of residential 

2 households and businesses in each 

3 service area that are offered 

4 broadband service by the provider, 

5 and the percentage of such residential 

6 households and businesses that sub7 scribe to each service plan offered. 

8 (III) The average price per 

9 megabit of download speed and upload 

10 speed in each service area. 

11 (IV) Identification by service 

12 area of the provider’s broadband serv13 ice’s actual average throughput, and 

14 contention ratio of the number of 

15 users sharing the same line. 

16 (ii) EXCEPTION.—The Federal Com17 munications Commission may exempt a 

18 broadband service provider from the re19 quirements of this subparagraph if the 

20 Federal Communications Commission de21 termines that a provider’s compliance with 

22 the reporting requirements is cost prohibi23 tive, as defined by the Federal Commu24 nications Commission. 


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1 (D) REPORT.—The Federal Communica2 tions Commission shall provide to Congress on 

3 an annual basis a report, using available Cen4 sus Bureau data, containing the following infor5 mation for each service area that is not served 

6 by any broadband service provider: 

7 (i) Population. 

8 (ii) Population density. 

9 (iii) Average per capita income. 

10 (h) REGULATIONS.—The Federal Communications 

11 Commission may prescribe such regulations as may be 

12 necessary and appropriate to carry out this section. 

13 (i) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 

14 (1) the term ‘‘the Fund’’ means the Broadband 

15 Access Trust Fund established pursuant to sub16 section (a); and 

17 (2) the term ‘‘the board’’ means the board of 

18 directors established pursuant to subsection (b). 

19 SEC. 5. USDA BROADBAND PROGRAM REFORMS. 

20 (a) REAUTHORIZATION.—Section 601(k) of the Rural 

21 Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb(k)) is amend22 ed by striking ‘‘2007’’ and inserting ‘‘2012’’. 

23 (b) CLARIFICATION OF ELIGIBLE RURAL COMMU24 NITY.—Section 601(b)(2) of the Rural Electrification Act 


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1 of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb(b)(2)) is amended to read as 

2 follows: 

3 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE RURAL COMMUNITY.—The term 

4 ‘eligible rural community’ means any area of the 

5 United States that is not— 

6 ‘‘(A) included within the boundaries of any 

7 incorporated city, village, borough, or town with 

8 a population in excess of 25,000 inhabitants; 

9 ‘‘(B) located within 10 miles of any such 

10 city, village, borough, or town; and 

11 ‘‘(C) an area where a majority of its resi12 dential customers have access to broadband 

13 service offered at a price per megabit of 

14 download speed and upload speed comparable to 

15 the nearest urban area.’’. 

16 (c) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBLE EN17 TITIES.—Section 601 of the Rural Electrification Act of 

18 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb) is amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (c)— 

20 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘(1) IN

21 GENERAL.—’’; and 

22 (B) by striking paragraph (2); and 

23 (2) in subsection (d)(1)— 

24 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘; 

25 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 


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1 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 

2 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(C) demonstrate that any loan or loan 

5 guarantee obtained under this section will be 

6 used only to furnish, improve, or extend 

7 broadband service to those eligible rural com8 munities.’’. 

9 (d) COMMUNITY CONNECT GRANT PROGRAM.—Title 

10 VI of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 

11 950bb et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 602. COMMUNITY CONNECT GRANT PROGRAM. 

14 ‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are— 

15 ‘‘(1) to provide financial assistance in the form 

16 of grants to eligible applicants that will provide, on 

17 a community-oriented connectivity basis, broadband 

18 service that fosters economic growth and delivers en19 hanced educational, health care, and public safety 

20 services; and 

21 ‘‘(2) to ensure the deployment of broadband 

22 service to extremely rural, lower-income communities 

23 on a community-oriented connectivity basis. 

24 ‘‘(b) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award 

2 a grant to any eligible applicant to provide 

3 broadband services in accordance with the provisions 

4 of this section. 

5 ‘‘(2) AWARD BASIS.—The Secretary shall award 

6 grants under this section on a competitive basis. 

7 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE APPLICANT.—To be eligible to obtain 

8 a grant under this section, an applicant shall— 

9 ‘‘(1) be— 

10 ‘‘(A) legally organized as an incorporated 

11 organization; 

12 ‘‘(B) an Indian tribe or tribal organization, 

13 as defined in subsections (b) and (c) of section 

14 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu15 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(b) and 

16 (c)); 

17 ‘‘(C) a State or local unit of government; 

18 ‘‘(D) an institution of higher education; or 

19 ‘‘(E) any other legal entity, including a co20 operative, a private corporation, or a limited li21 ability company organized on a for-profit or 

22 not-for-profit basis; 

23 ‘‘(2) have the legal capacity and authority to— 

24 ‘‘(A) own and operate the broadband facili25 ties proposed in its application; 


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1 ‘‘(B) enter into contracts; and 

2 ‘‘(C) otherwise comply with applicable Fed3 eral statutes and regulations; and 

4 ‘‘(3) develop a project that— 

5 ‘‘(A) serves an eligible rural community; 

6 ‘‘(B) deploys basic broadband service, free 

7 of all charges for at least 2 years, to all critical 

8 community facilities located within a proposed 

9 service area; 

10 ‘‘(C) offers basic broadband service to resi11 dential and business customers within a pro12 posed service area; and 

13 ‘‘(D) provides— 

14 ‘‘(i) a community center with at least 

15 10 computer access points within a pro16 posed service area; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) broadband service to such cen18 ters free of charge for at least 2 years. 

19 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.— 

20 ‘‘(1) SUBMISSION.—Each applicant seeking a 

21 grant under this section shall submit an application 

22 containing— 

23 ‘‘(A) any information or documentation re24 quired under section 1739.15 of title 7, Code of 

25 Federal Regulations; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) such other information or documenta2 tion that the Secretary may require. 

3 ‘‘(2) REVIEW AND SCORING OF APPLICA4 TIONS.—The Secretary shall review and score any 

5 applications received under this section using the 

6 same methods, and in the same manner, as de7 scribed in sections 1739.16 and 1739.17 of title 7, 

8 Code of Federal Regulations. 

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

10 applicant pursuant to this section may be used to— 

11 ‘‘(1) construct, acquire, or lease facilities, in12 cluding spectrum, to deploy broadband service to all 

13 participating critical community facilities and all re14 quired facilities needed to offer such service to resi15 dential and business customers located within a pro16 posed service area; 

17 ‘‘(2) improve, expand, construct, or acquire a 

18 community center that furnishes free access to 

19 broadband service, provided that such community 

20 center is open and accessible to area residents be21 fore, during, and after normal working hours and on 

22 Saturday or Sunday; 

23 ‘‘(3) purchase any end user equipment needed 

24 to carry out the project of the applicant described in 

25 subsection (c)(3); 


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1 ‘‘(4) pay the operating expenses incurred in 

2 providing— 

3 ‘‘(A) broadband service to critical commu4 nity facilities for the first 2 years of operation; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(B) training and instruction on how to 

7 use such services; and 

8 ‘‘(5) purchase any land, building, or building 

9 construction needed to carry out the project of the 

10 applicant described in subsection (c)(3). 

11 ‘‘(f) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible applicant 

13 shall contribute not less than 15 percent of the 

14 grant amount requested in any application. 

15 ‘‘(2) FORM.—The matching contribution de16 scribed in paragraph (1) may be in the following 

17 form: 

18 ‘‘(A) Cash for eligible grant purposes. 

19 ‘‘(B) In-kind contributions for purposes 

20 that could have been financed with grant funds 

21 under this section. In-kind contributions shall 

22 be new or non-depreciated assets with estab23 lished monetary values. Manufacturers’ or serv24 ice providers’ discounts shall not be considered 

25 a matching contribution. 


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1 ‘‘(C) The rental value of space provided 

2 within an existing community center, provided 

3 that such space is provided free of charge to 

4 such applicant, for the first 2 years of oper5 ation. 

6 ‘‘(D) Salary expenses incurred for any in7 dividual operating the community center, for 

8 the first 2 years of operation. 

9 ‘‘(E) Expenses incurred in operating a 

10 community center, for the first 2 years of oper11 ation. 

12 ‘‘(3) PRIOR COSTS.—Costs incurred by an ap13 plicant, or by others on behalf of an applicant, for 

14 facilities, installed equipment, or other services ren15 dered prior to submission of a completed application 

16 shall not be considered an acceptable use of grant 

17 funds under subsection (e) or a matching contribu18 tion. 

19 ‘‘(4) RENTAL VALUES.—Rental values of space 

20 provided, as described in paragraph (1)(C), shall be 

21 substantiated by rental agreements documenting the 

22 cost of space of a similar size in a similar location. 

23 ‘‘(5) REASONABLENESS REVIEW.—Rental val24 ues, salaries, and other expenses incurred in oper25 ating a community center shall be subject to review 


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1 by the Secretary for reasonableness in relation to the 

2 scope of the applicant’s project described in sub3 section (c)(3). 

4 ‘‘(6) OTHER ASSISTANCE.—Any financial assist5 ance from any other Federal source shall not be con6 sidered a matching contribution under this section 

7 unless there is a Federal statutory exception specifi8 cally authorizing the Federal financial assistance to 

9 be considered as such. 

10 ‘‘(g) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—Each applicant shall 

11 comply with the reporting, oversight, and auditing require12 ments described in sections 1739.19 and 1739.20 of title 

13 7, Code of Federal Regulations. 

14 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section: 

15 ‘‘(1) BASIC BROADBAND SERVICE.—The term 

16 ‘basic broadband service’ means the broadband serv17 ice level provided by an applicant at the lowest rate 

18 or service package level for residential or business 

19 customers, as appropriate, provided that such service 

20 meets the requirements of this section. 

21 ‘‘(2) BROADBAND SERVICE.—The term 

22 ‘broadband service’ means providing an information23 rate equivalent to at least 200 kilobits/second in the 

24 consumer’s connection to the network, both from the 


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1 provider to the consumer (downstream) and from 

2 the consumer to the provider (upstream). 

3 ‘‘(3) COMMUNITY CENTER.—The term ‘commu4 nity center’— 

5 ‘‘(A) means a public building, or a section 

6 of a public building with at least 10 computer 

7 access points, that is used for the purposes of 

8 providing free access to or instruction in the 

9 use of broadband service, and is of the appro10 priate size to accommodate this purpose; and 

11 ‘‘(B) may include schools, libraries, or a 

12 city hall. 

13 ‘‘(4) COMPUTER ACCESS POINT.—The term 

14 ‘computer access point’ means a computer terminal 

15 with access to basic broadband service. 

16 ‘‘(5) CRITICAL COMMUNITY FACILITIES.—The 

17 term ‘critical community facilities’ means any public 

18 school or education center, public library, public 

19 medical clinic, public hospital, community college, 

20 public university, or any law enforcement, fire, or 

21 ambulance station in a proposed service area. 

22 ‘‘(6) END USER EQUIPMENT.—The term ‘end 

23 user equipment’ means computer hardware and soft24 ware, audio or video equipment, computer network 

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1 ment, inside wiring, interactive video equipment, or 

2 other facilities required for the provision and use of 

3 broadband service. 

4 ‘‘(7) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘rural area’ 

5 means any area of the United States that is not— 

6 ‘‘(A) included within the boundaries of any 

7 incorporated or unincorporated city, village, 

8 borough, or town with a population in excess of 

9 25,000 inhabitants; and 

10 ‘‘(B) located within 10 miles of any such 

11 city, village, borough, or town. 

12 ‘‘(8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

13 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

14 ‘‘(9) SERVICE AREA.—The term ‘service area’ 

15 means a single community, and may include the un16 incorporated areas or locally recognized commu17 nities, not recognized in the most recent decennial 

18 census performed by the Bureau of the Census, lo19 cated outside and contiguous to the boundaries of 

20 such community, in which the applicant proposes to 

21 provide broadband service. 

22 ‘‘(10) SPECTRUM.—The term ‘spectrum’ means 

23 a defined band of frequencies that will accommodate 

24 broadband service.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. USDA RULEMAKING. 

2 The Secretary of Agriculture shall initiate and com3 plete a rulemaking to— 

4 (1) consider and adopt, as necessary in the dis5 cretion of the Secretary, the recommendations set 

6 forth in audit report 09601–4–Te, issued in Sep7 tember 2005, entitled ‘‘Rural Utilities Service 

8 Broadband Grant and Loan Programs’’ by the In9 spector General of the United States Department of 

10 Agriculture; and 

11 (2) review and propose recommendations as to 

12 how to best coordinate the application process of the 

13 broadband loan and loan guarantee program under 

14 section 601 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 

15 and the Community Connect Grant program under 

16 section 602 of such Act, as added by section 2 of 

17 this Act. 

18 SEC. 7. UNLICENSED DEVICES FOR RURAL WIRELESS 

19 BROADBAND. 

20 (a) COMPLETION OF ORDER.—Not later than 18 

21 months after date of enactment of this Act, the Federal 

22 Communications Commission shall issue a final order in 

23 the matter of Unlicensed Operation in TV Broadcast 

24 Bands, ET Docket No. 04–186. 


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1 (b) CONDITIONS.—In completing the final order de2 scribed in subsection (a), the Federal Communications 

3 Commission shall— 

4 (1) permit certified unlicensed devices to use, in 

5 non-exclusive terms, unassigned, non-licensed tele6 vision broadcast channels between 54 MHz and 698 

7 MHz in rural areas; 

8 (2) protect incumbent certified low power auxil9 iary stations from harmful interference by requiring 

10 certification of unlicensed devices prior to permitting 

11 such devices to access or use unassigned, non-li12 censed television broadcast channels between 54 

13 MHz and 698 MHz in rural areas, and including in 

14 the certification proof of successful completion of 

15 laboratory and field testing by an independent lab16 oratory demonstrating that unlicensed devices do not 

17 cause harmful interference to incumbent certified 

18 low power auxiliary stations; 

19 (3) protect incumbent certified low power auxil20 iary stations from harmful interference by prohib21 iting certified unlicensed devices from operating on 

22 any television broadcast channel between 54 MHz 

23 and 698 MHz in rural areas already in use by an 

24 incumbent certified low power auxiliary station; and 


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1 (4) consider additional ways to protect incum2 bent certified low power auxiliary stations from 

3 harmful interference, such as reserving certain tele4 vision broadcast channels for exclusive use by incum5 bent certified low power auxiliary stations. 

6 (c) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section: 

7 (1) CERTIFIED UNLICENSED DEVICE.—The 

8 term ‘‘certified unlicensed device’’ means any unli9 censed device certified under subsection (b)(2)(D) 

10 operating in a fixed location, whose primary purpose 

11 is to provide broadband service to rural areas. 

12 (2) INCUMBENT CERTIFIED LOW POWER AUXIL13 IARY STATION.—The term ‘‘incumbent certified low 

14 power auxiliary station’’ means any certified low 

15 power wireless microphone, personal wireless mon16 itor, or other audio auxiliary equipment operating on 

17 television broadcast channels between 54 MHz and 

18 698 MHz, used for entertainment, religious, news19 gathering, governmental, business, or personal con20 sumer purposes to provide real-time, high-quality 

21 audio transmissions over distances of approximately 

22 100 meters. 

23 (3) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘‘rural area’’ 

24 means any rural service area or rural statistical 


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1 area, as defined by the Federal Communications 

2 Commission. 

3 SEC. 8. SPECTRUM AUCTION FOR RURAL WIRELESS 

4 BROADBAND. 

5 Not later than February 1, 2007, the Federal Com6 munications Commission shall initiate a proceeding— 

7 (1) to reevaluate and reconfigure its band plans 

8 for the upper 700 MHz band (currently designated 

9 Auction 31) and for the unauctioned portions of the 

10 lower 700 MHz band (currently designated as Chan11 nel Blocks A, B, and E) so as to designate up to 

12 12 MHz of paired recovered analog spectrum (as de13 fined in section 309(j)(15)(C)(vi) of the Communica14 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(15)(C)(vi))); 

15 and 

16 (2) to reconfigure its band plans to include 

17 spectrum to be licensed for small geographic license 

18 areas, taking into consideration the desire to pro19 mote infrastructure build-out and service to rural 

20 and insular areas and the competitive benefits, 

21 unique characteristics, and special needs of rural, re22 gional, and smaller wireless carriers. 


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•S 3820 IS

1 SEC. 9. PUBLIC-PRIVATE TASK FORCE ON BROADBAND INI2 TIATIVES. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a task 

4 force to be known as the ‘‘Rural Broadband Access Task 

5 Force’’ (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Task Force’’). 

6 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force established 

8 under this section shall be composed of 11 members, 

9 of whom— 

10 (A) 3 shall be appointed by the President; 

11 (B) 2 shall be appointed by the Majority 

12 Leader of the Senate; 

13 (C) 2 shall be appointed by the minority 

14 Leader of the Senate; 

15 (D) 2 shall be appointed by the Speaker of 

16 the House of Representatives; and 

17 (E) 2 shall be appointed by the minority 

18 Leader of the House of Representatives. 

19 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The membership of the 

20 Task Force established under this section shall in21 clude— 

22 (A) at least 6 members of whom— 

23 (i) all shall be recognized experts in 

24 the field of communications; 

25 (ii) 2 shall be employees of the Fed26 eral Government; 


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•S 3820 IS

1 (iii) 2 shall be employees of State gov2 ernments; and 

3 (iv) 2 shall be employees of local gov4 ernments; 

5 (B) at least 1 member who shall be a rep6 resentative of a consumer or public interest or7 ganization; 

8 (C) at least 1 member who shall be a rep9 resentative of interested trade associations; 

10 (D) at least 1 member who shall be a rep11 resentative of interested academic institutions; 

12 and 

13 (E) at least 2 members all of whom shall 

14 be especially qualified to serve on the Task 

15 Force by virtue of their education, training, or 

16 experience, particularly in the field of rural 

17 communications access issues. 

18 (3) CHAIRPERSON.—Each year, the Task Force 

19 shall elect a Chairperson from among its members. 

20 (4) VICE CHAIR.—Each year, the Task Force 

21 shall elect a Vice Chair from among its members. 

22 (c) DUTIES.—The Task Force shall— 

23 (1) conduct a comprehensive survey of legisla24 tive, regulatory, or administrative policies or proVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:10 Aug 10, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3820.IS S3820

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•S 3820 IS

1 grams adopted by States to encourage rapid deploy2 ment of broadband services; 

3 (2) study policies or programs that have been 

4 successful in providing incentives for communica5 tions carriers to deploy or expand services in areas 

6 that lacked such services before the introduction of 

7 such incentives; and 

8 (3) study traditional incentives, such as tax 

9 credits or financial subsidies, as well as innovative 

10 efforts, including public and private partnership pro11 grams and best practices that have worked well in 

12 encouraging communications carriers to deploy or 

13 expand services in areas that lacked such services, 

14 particularly in those States with large unserved rural 

15 areas. 

16 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after all the 

17 members of the Task Force have been appointed under 

18 subsection (b), the Task Force shall submit a report to 

19 Congress and to the governor of each State detailing a 

20 comprehensive list of policies and programs adopted by 

21 States that have succeeded in providing incentives for 

22 communications carriers to deploy or expand services in 

23 areas that lacked such services before the introduction of 

24 such incentives. 

25 (e) WORKING GROUPS.— 


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•S 3820 IS

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force may estab2 lish such working groups as the Task Force deter3 mines necessary in order to assist the Task Force in 

4 carrying out this subsection. 

5 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—Any working group estab6 lished under paragraph (1) may include such mem7 bers as the Task Force determines necessary, includ8 ing individuals who were not appointed as a member 

9 of the Task Force under subsection (b). 

10 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

11 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec12 essary to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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