IB 

Union Calendar No. 310 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3310 

[Report No. 112–443] 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to consolidate the reporting 

obligations of the Federal Communications Commission in order to improve congressional oversight and reduce reporting burdens. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 2, 2011 

Mr. SCALISE (for himself and Mr. WALDEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

APRIL 16, 2012 

Additional sponsors: Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. BASS of New Hampshire, Mr. 

TERRY, Mr. LANCE, Mr. KINZINGER of Illinois, Mr. STEARNS, Mr. 

KLINE, and Mr. LATTA

APRIL 16, 2012 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

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

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on November 2, 2011] 


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A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to consolidate 

the reporting obligations of the Federal Communications 

Commission in order to improve congressional oversight 

and reduce reporting burdens. 


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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 ‘‘Federal Communica5 tions Commission Consolidated Reporting Act of 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COMMUNICATIONS MARKETPLACE REPORT. 

7 Title I of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

8 151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 14. COMMUNICATIONS MARKETPLACE REPORT. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the last quarter of every even11 numbered year, the Commission shall publish on its website 

12 and submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 

13 the House of Representatives and the Committee on Com14 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report 

15 on the state of the communications marketplace. 

16 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—Each report required by subsection 

17 (a) shall— 

18 ‘‘(1) assess the state of competition in the com19 munications marketplace, including competition to 

20 deliver voice, video, and data services among pro21 viders of telecommunications, providers of commercial 

22 mobile service (as defined in section 332), multi23 channel video programming distributors (as defined 

24 in section 602), broadcast stations, providers of satVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:43 Apr 16, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3310.RH H3310

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1 ellite communications, Internet service providers, and 

2 other providers of communications services; 

3 ‘‘(2) assess the state of deployment of commu4 nications capabilities, including advanced tele5 communications capability (as defined in section 706 

6 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 

7 1302)), regardless of the technology used for such de8 ployment, including whether advanced telecommuni9 cations capability is being deployed to all Americans 

10 in a reasonable and timely fashion; 

11 ‘‘(3) assess whether laws, regulations, or regu12 latory practices (whether those of the Federal Govern13 ment, States, political subdivisions of States, Indian 

14 tribes or tribal organizations (as such terms are de15 fined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination 

16 and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b)), or 

17 foreign governments) pose a barrier to competitive 

18 entry into the communications marketplace or to the 

19 competitive expansion of existing providers of commu20 nications services; 

21 ‘‘(4) describe the agenda of the Commission for 

22 the next 2-year period for addressing the challenges 

23 and opportunities in the communications marketplace 

24 that were identified through the assessments under 

25 paragraphs (1) through (3); and 


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1 ‘‘(5) describe the actions that the Commission 

2 has taken in pursuit of the agenda described pursuant 

3 to paragraph (4) in the previous report submitted 

4 under this section. 

5 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) ASSESSING COMPETITION.—In assessing the 

7 state of competition under subsection (b)(1), the Com8 mission shall consider all forms of competition, in9 cluding the effect of intermodal competition, facilities10 based competition, and competition from new and 

11 emergent communications services, including the pro12 vision of content and communications using the 

13 Internet. 

14 ‘‘(2) ASSESSING DEPLOYMENT.—In assessing the 

15 state of deployment under subsection (b)(2), the Com16 mission shall compile a list of geographical areas that 

17 are not served by any provider of advanced tele18 communications capability. 

19 ‘‘(3) INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS AND DEMO20 GRAPHIC INFORMATION.—The Commission may use 

21 readily available data to draw appropriate compari22 sons between the United States communications mar23 ketplace and the international communications mar24 ketplace and to correlate its assessments with demo25 graphic information. 


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1 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERING SMALL BUSINESSES.—In as2 sessing the state of competition under subsection 

3 (b)(1) and regulatory barriers under subsection 

4 (b)(3), the Commission shall consider market entry 

5 barriers for entrepreneurs and other small businesses 

6 in the communications marketplace in accordance 

7 with the national policy under section 257(b).’’. 

8 SEC. 3. CONSOLIDATION OF REDUNDANT REPORTS; CON9 FORMING AMENDMENTS. 

10 (a) ORBIT ACT REPORT.—Section 646 of the Commu11 nications Satellite Act of 1962 (47 U.S.C. 765e; 114 Stat. 

12 57) is repealed. 

13 (b) SATELLITE COMPETITION REPORT.—Section 4 of 

14 Public Law 109–34 (47 U.S.C. 703) is repealed. 

15 (c) INTERNATIONAL BROADBAND DATA REPORT.—Sec16 tion 103 of the Broadband Data Improvement Act (47 

17 U.S.C. 1303) is amended— 

18 (1) by striking subsection (b); and 

19 (2) by redesignating subsections (c) through (e) 

20 as subsections (b) through (d), respectively. 

21 (d) STATUS OF COMPETITION IN THE MARKET FOR

22 THE DELIVERY OF VIDEO PROGRAMMING REPORT.—Sec23 tion 628 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

24 548) is amended— 

25 (1) by striking subsection (g); 


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1 (2) by redesignating subsection (j) as subsection 

2 (g); and 

3 (3) by transferring subsection (g) (as redesig4 nated) so that it appears after subsection (f). 

5 (e) REPORT ON CABLE INDUSTRY PRICES.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 623 of the Commu7 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 543) is amended— 

8 (A) by striking subsection (k); and 

9 (B) by redesignating subsections (l) through 

10 (n) as subsections (k) through (m), respectively. 

11 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

12 613(a)(3) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

13 U.S.C. 533(a)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘623(l)’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘623(k)’’. 

15 (f) TRIENNIAL REPORT IDENTIFYING AND ELIMI16 NATING MARKET ENTRY BARRIERS FOR ENTREPRENEURS

17 AND OTHER SMALL BUSINESSES.—Section 257 of the Com18 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 257) is amended by 

19 striking subsection (c). 

20 (g) SECTION 706 REPORT.—Section 706 of the Tele21 communications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302) is amend22 ed— 

23 (1) in subsection (b)— 

24 (A) in the last sentence, by striking ‘‘If the 

25 Commission’s determination is negative, it’’ and 


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1 inserting ‘‘If the Commission determines in its 

2 report under section 14 of the Communications 

3 Act of 1934 that advanced telecommunications 

4 capability is not being deployed to all Americans 

5 in a reasonable and timely fashion, the Commis6 sion’’; and 

7 (B) by striking the first and second sen8 tences; 

9 (2) by striking subsection (c); 

10 (3) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘this sub11 section’’ and inserting ‘‘this section’’; and 

12 (4) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection 

13 (c). 

14 (h) STATE OF COMPETITIVE MARKET CONDITIONS

15 WITH RESPECT TO COMMERCIAL MOBILE RADIO SERV16 ICES.—Section 332(c)(1)(C) of the Communications Act of 

17 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(c)(1)(C)) is amended by striking the 

18 first and second sentences. 

19 (i) PREVIOUSLY ELIMINATED ANNUAL REPORT.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 4 of the Communica21 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 154) is amended— 

22 (A) by striking subsection (k); and 

23 (B) by redesignating subsections (l) through 

24 (o) as subsections (k) through (n), respectively. 


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1 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Commu2 nications Act of 1934 is amended— 

3 (A) in section 9(i), by striking ‘‘In the 

4 Commission’s annual report, the Commission 

5 shall prepare an analysis of its progress in devel6 oping such systems and’’ and inserting ‘‘The 

7 Commission’’; and 

8 (B) in section 309(j)(8)(B), by striking the 

9 last sentence. 

10 (j) ADDITIONAL OUTDATED REPORTS.—The Commu11 nications Act of 1934 is further amended— 

12 (1) in section 4— 

13 (A) in subsection (b)(2)(B)(ii), by striking 

14 ‘‘and shall furnish notice of such action’’ and all 

15 that follows through ‘‘subject of the waiver’’; and 

16 (B) in subsection (g), by striking paragraph 

17 (2); 

18 (2) in section 215— 

19 (A) by striking subsection (b); and 

20 (B) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub21 section (b); 

22 (3) in section 227(e), by striking paragraph (4); 

23 (4) in section 309(j)— 

24 (A) by striking paragraph (12); and 


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1 (B) in paragraph (15)(C), by striking 

2 clause (iv); 

3 (5) in section 331(b), by striking the last sen4 tence; 

5 (6) in section 336(e), by amending paragraph 

6 (4) to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(4) REPORT.—The Commission shall annually 

8 advise the Congress on the amounts collected pursuant 

9 to the program required by this subsection.’’; 

10 (7) in section 339(c), by striking paragraph (1); 

11 (8) in section 396— 

12 (A) by striking subsection (i); 

13 (B) in subsection (k)— 

14 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking sub15 paragraph (F); and 

16 (ii) in paragraph (3)(B)(iii), by strik17 ing subclause (V); 

18 (C) in subsection (l)(1)(B), by striking 

19 ‘‘shall be included’’ and all that follows through 

20 ‘‘The audit report’’; and 

21 (D) by striking subsection (m); 

22 (9) in section 398(b)(4), by striking the third 

23 sentence; 

24 (10) in section 624A(b)(1)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘REPORT; REGULATIONS’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘REGULATIONS’’; 

3 (B) by striking ‘‘Within 1 year after’’ and 

4 all that follows through ‘‘on means of assuring’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘The Commission shall issue such 

6 regulations as are necessary to assure’’; and 

7 (C) by striking ‘‘Within 180 days after’’ 

8 and all that follows through ‘‘to assure such com9 patibility.’’; and 

10 (11) in section 713, by striking subsection (a). 

11 SEC. 4. EFFECT ON AUTHORITY. 

12 Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 

13 Act shall be construed to expand or contract the authority 

14 of the Federal Communications Commission. 


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Union Calendar No. 310 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3310 

[Report No. 112–443] 

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to condens. congressional oversight and reduce reporting bur- Communications Commission in order to improve solidate the reporting obligations of the Federal 

APRIL 16, 2012 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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