Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act of 2016

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to ensure the integrity of voice communications and to prevent unjust or unreasonable discrimination among areas of the United States in the delivery of such communications. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act of 2016 2. Ensuring the integrity of voice communications Part II of title II of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 251 et seq. 262. Ensuring the integrity of voice communications (a) Registration and compliance by intermediate providers An intermediate provider that offers or holds itself out as offering the capability to transmit covered voice communications from one destination to another and that charges any rate to any other entity (including an affiliated entity) for the transmission shall— (1) register with the Commission; and (2) comply with the service quality standards for such transmission to be established by the Commission under subsection (c)(1)(B). (b) Required use of registered intermediate providers A covered provider may not use an intermediate provider to transmit covered voice communications unless such intermediate provider is registered under subsection (a)(1). (c) Commission rules (1) In general (A) Registry Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Commission shall promulgate rules to establish a registry to record registrations under subsection (a)(1). (B) Service quality standards Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, the Commission shall promulgate rules to establish service quality standards for the transmission of covered voice communications by intermediate providers. (2) Requirements In promulgating the rules required by paragraph (1), the Commission shall— (A) ensure the integrity of the transmission of covered voice communications to all customers in the United States; and (B) prevent unjust or unreasonable discrimination among areas of the United States in the delivery of covered voice communications. (d) Public availability of registry The Commission shall make the registry established under subsection (c)(1)(A) publicly available on the website of the Commission. (e) Scope of application The requirements of this section shall apply regardless of the format by which any communication or service is provided, the protocol or format by which the transmission of such communication or service is achieved, or the regulatory classification of such communication or service. (f) Rule of construction Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the regulatory classification of any communication or service. (g) Effect on other laws Nothing in this section shall be construed to preempt or expand the authority of a State public utility commission or other relevant State agency to collect data, or investigate and enforce State law and regulations, regarding the completion of intrastate voice communications, regardless of the format by which any communication or service is provided, the protocol or format by which the transmission of such communication or service is achieved, or the regulatory classification of such communication or service. (h) Exception The requirement under subsection (a)(2) to comply with the service quality standards established under subsection (c)(1)(B) shall not apply to a covered provider that— (1) on or before the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, has certified as a Safe Harbor provider under section 64.2107(a) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation; and (2) continues to meet the requirements under such section 64.2107(a). (i) Definitions In this section: (1) Covered provider The term covered provider (2) Covered voice communication The term covered voice communication (A) from the placement of a call from a connection using a North American Numbering Plan resource or a call placed to a connection using such a numbering resource; and (B) through any service provided by a covered provider. (3) Intermediate provider The term intermediate provider (A) enters into a business arrangement with a covered provider or other intermediate provider for the specific purpose of carrying, routing, or transmitting voice traffic that is generated from the placement of a call placed— (i) from an end user connection using a North American Numbering Plan resource; or (ii) to an end user connection using such a numbering resource; and (B) does not itself, either directly or in conjunction with an affiliate, serve as a covered provider in the context of originating or terminating a given call. . November 14, 2016 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

Summary: Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act of 2016 (Sec. 2) This bill amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require intermediate providers that offer the capability to transmit voice communications and signaling information from one destination to another, and that charge a rate to any other entity (including an affiliated entity) for such a transmission, to: (1) register with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and (2) comply with service quality standards to be established by the FCC. An "intermediate provider" is an entity that: (1) enters a business arrangement with a long-distance voice service provider that makes the initial call path choice for more than 100,000 domestic retail subscriber lines, or with another intermediate provider, to carry, route, or transmit voice traffic from a call placed from or to an end user connection using a North American Numbering Plan resource; and (2) does not itself (directly or in conjunction with an affiliate) serve as such a long-distance initial call path choice provider in the context of originating or terminating a given call. The bill prohibits such long-distance providers (including local exchange carriers, interexchange carriers, commercial mobile radio services, interconnected voice over Internet Protocol [VoIP] services, and certain non-interconnected VoIP services) from using an intermediate provider to transmit voice communications and signals unless the intermediate provider is so registered. The FCC must: (1) ensure the integrity of the transmission of voice communications to all customers in the United States, (2) prevent unjust or unreasonable discrimination among areas of the United States in the delivery of such voice communications, and (3) make a registry of intermediate providers publicly available on the FCC website. The bill shall not be construed to preempt or expand the authority of a state agency or public utility commission to collect data, or enforce state law and regulations, regarding the completion of intrastate voice communications. Certain long-distance providers that make initial call path choices are exempt from service quality standards that the FCC is required to establish under this bill if they certify under a safe harbor provision in existing FCC rules that they monitor the performance of, or do not use, intermediate providers.