Community Broadband Act of 2021

To amend the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to preserve and protect the ability of State and local governments, public-private partnerships, and cooperatives to provide broadband services. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Community Broadband Act of 2021 2. State, local, public-private partnership, and co-op broadband services Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 ( 47 U.S.C. 1302 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e); (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following: (d) State, local, public-Private partnership, and co-Op advanced telecommunications capability and services (1) In general No statute, regulation, or other legal requirement of a State may prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting any public provider, public-private partnership provider, or cooperatively organized provider from providing, to any person or public or private entity, advanced telecommunications capability or any service that utilizes the advanced telecommunications capability provided by that provider. (2) Antidiscrimination safeguards (A) Public providers To the extent any public provider regulates competing private providers of advanced telecommunications capability or services that utilize advanced telecommunications capability, the public provider shall apply its ordinances and rules without discrimination in favor of— (i) the public provider; or (ii) any entity owned by the public provider that provides services that utilize advanced telecommunications capability. (B) Public-private partnership providers To the extent any State or local entity that is part of a public-private partnership provider regulates competing private providers of advanced telecommunications capability or services that utilize advanced telecommunications capability, the State or local entity shall apply its ordinances and rules without discrimination in favor of— (i) the public-private partnership provider; or (ii) any entity owned by the State or local entity or public-private partnership provider that provides services that utilize advanced telecommunications capability. (3) Savings clause Nothing in this subsection shall exempt a public provider, public-private partnership provider, or cooperatively organized provider from any Federal or State telecommunications law or regulation that applies to all providers of advanced telecommunications capability or services that utilize such advanced telecommunications capability. ; and (3) in subsection (e), as redesignated— (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking this subsection this section (B) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (3); (C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following: (2) Cooperatively organized provider The term cooperatively organized provider ; and (D) by adding at the end the following: (4) Public provider The term public provider (5) Public-private partnership provider The term public-private partnership provider (6) State or local entity The term State or local entity (A) a State or political subdivision thereof; (B) any agency, authority, or instrumentality of a State or political subdivision thereof; or (C) an Indian Tribe (as defined in section 4(e) of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act ( 25 U.S.C. 5304(e) .

Summary: Community Broadband Act of 2021 This bill prohibits states from blocking the provision of broadband by public providers, public-private partnership providers, or cooperatively organized providers. Further, public providers and state or local entities participating in a partnership must administer applicable ordinances and rules without discrimination against competing private providers.