I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2566 
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. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 21, 2015 
Mr. YOUNG of Iowa (for himself, Mr. WELCH, Mr. ZINKE, Mr. PETERSON, 
Mr. POCAN, Mr. LOEBSACK, and Mr. NOLAN) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Rural Call 
Quality and Reliability Act of 2015’’. 
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SEC. 2. ENSURING THE INTEGRITY OF VOICE COMMUNICA-
TIONS. 
Part II of title II of the Communications Act of 1934 
(47 U.S.C. 251 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘SEC. 262. ENSURING THE INTEGRITY OF VOICE COMMU-
NICATIONS. 
‘‘(a) REGISTRATION AND COMPLIANCE BY INTER-
MEDIATE PROVIDERS.—An intermediate provider that of-
fers or holds itself out as offering the capability to trans-
mit covered voice communications from one destination to 
another and that charges any rate to any other entity (in-
cluding 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 Com-
mission under subsection (c)(1)(B). 
‘‘(b) REQUIRED
USE
OF
REGISTERED
INTER-
MEDIATE PROVIDERS.—A covered provider may not use 
an intermediate provider to transmit covered voice com-
munications unless such intermediate provider is reg-
istered under subsection (a)(1). 
‘‘(c) COMMISSION RULES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this section, the 
Commission shall promulgate rules to establish— 
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‘‘(A) a registry to record registrations 
under subsection (a)(1); and 
‘‘(B) 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 trans-
mission of covered voice communications to all 
customers in the United States; and 
‘‘(B) prevent unjust or unreasonable dis-
crimination 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 sub-
section (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. 
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‘‘(f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-
tion shall be construed to affect the regulatory classifica-
tion of any communication or service. 
‘‘(g) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in this sec-
tion shall be construed to preempt 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 for-
mat by which the transmission of such communication or 
service is achieved, or the regulatory classification of such 
communication or service. 
‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) COVERED PROVIDER.—The term ‘covered 
provider’ has the meaning given the term in section 
64.2101 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or 
any successor thereto. 
‘‘(2) COVERED
VOICE
COMMUNICATION.—The 
term ‘covered voice communication’ means a voice 
communication (including any related signaling in-
formation) that is generated— 
‘‘(A) from the placement of a call from a 
connection using a North American Numbering 
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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 ‘in-
termediate provider’ means any entity that— 
‘‘(A) carries or processes traffic that is 
generated 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) does not itself originate or terminate 
such traffic in the context of the carriage or 
processing.’’. 
Æ 
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