103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3626
AN ACT
To supersede the Modification of Final Judgment entered
August 24, 1982, in the antitrust action styled United
States v. Western Electric, Civil Action No. 82–0192,
United States District Court for the District of Colum-
bia; to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to regu-
late the manufacturing of Bell operating companies, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLES; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE OF THIS ACT.—This Act may be
cited as the ‘‘Antitrust and Communications Reform Act
of 1994’’.
(b) SHORT TITLE OF TITLE I OF THIS ACT.—Title
I of this Act may be cited as the ‘‘Antitrust Reform Act
of 1994’’.
(c) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—
Sec. 1. Short titles; table of contents.
TITLE I—SUPERSESSION OF THE MODIFICATION OF FINAL
JUDGMENT
Sec. 101. Authorization for Bell operating company to enter competitive lines
of business.
Sec. 102. Authorization as prerequisite.
Sec. 103. Limitations on manufacturing and providing equipment.
Sec. 104. Anticompetitive tying arrangements.
Sec. 105. Enforcement.
Sec. 106. Definitions.
Sec. 107. Relationship to other laws.
Sec. 108. Required regulatory actions.
TITLE II—REGULATION OF MANUFACTURING, ALARM SERVICES,
AND ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING BY BELL OPERATING COMPANIES
Sec. 201. Regulation of manufacturing by Bell operating companies.
Sec. 202. Regulation of entry into alarm monitoring services.
Sec. 203. Regulation of electronic publishing.
Sec. 204. Privacy of customer information.
Sec. 205. Telemessaging services.
Sec. 206. Enhanced services safeguards.
TITLE III—TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE AND
COMPETITION
Sec. 301. Policy; definitions.
Sec. 302. Equal access and network functionality and quality.
Sec. 303. Telecommunications services for educational institutions, health care
institutions, and libraries.
Sec. 304. Discriminatory interconnection.
Sec. 305. Expedited licensing of new technologies and services.
Sec. 306. New or extended lines.
Sec. 307. Pole attachments.
Sec. 308. Civic participation.
Sec. 309. Competition by small business and minority-owned business concerns.
TITLE IV—COMMUNICATIONS COMPETITIVENESS
Sec. 401. Cable service provided by telephone companies.
Sec. 402. Review of broadcasters’ ownership restrictions.
Sec. 403. Review of statutory ownership restriction.
Sec. 404. Broadcaster spectrum flexibility.
Sec. 405. Interactive services and critical interfaces.
Sec. 406. Video programming accessibility.
Sec. 407. Public access.
Sec. 408. Automated ship distress and safety systems.
Sec. 409. Exclusive Federal jurisdiction over direct broadcast satellite service.
Sec. 410. Technical amendments.
Sec. 411. Availability of screening devices to preclude display of encrypted pro-
gramming.
TITLE V—PROCUREMENT PRACTICES OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS
PROVIDERS
Sec. 501. Findings.
Sec. 502. Purpose.
Sec. 503. Annual plan submission.
Sec. 504. Sanctions and remedies.
Sec. 505. Definitions.
TITLE VI—FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION RESOURCES
Sec. 601. Authorization of appropriations.
TITLE I—SUPERSESSION OF THE
MODIFICATION 
OF 
FINAL
JUDGMENT
SEC. 101. AUTHORIZATION FOR BELL OPERATING COM-
PANY TO ENTER COMPETITIVE LINES OF
BUSINESS.
(a) APPLICATION.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—After the applicable date
specified in paragraph (2), a Bell operating company
may apply to the Attorney General and the Federal
Communications Commission for authorization, not-
withstanding the Modification of Final Judgment—
(A) to provide alarm monitoring services,
or
(B) to provide interexchange telecommuni-
cations services.
The application shall describe with particularity the
nature and scope of the activity, and of each product
market or service market, and each geographic mar-
ket, for which authorization is sought.
(2) APPLICABLE
DATES.—For purposes of
paragraph (1), the applicable date after which a Bell
operating company may apply for authorization shall
be—
(A) the date of the enactment of this Act,
with respect to providing interexchange tele-
communications services, and
(B) the date that occurs 66 months after
the date of the enactment of this Act, with re-
spect to providing alarm monitoring services.
(3) INTERAGENCY
NOTIFICATION.—Whenever
the Attorney General or the Federal Communica-
tions Commission receives an application made
under paragraph (1), the recipient of the application
shall notify the other of such receipt.
(4) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 10 days
after receiving an application made under paragraph
(1), the Attorney General and the Federal Commu-
nications Commission jointly shall publish the appli-
cation in the Federal Register.
(b) SEPARATE DETERMINATIONS BY THE ATTORNEY
GENERAL AND THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMIS-
SION.—
(1) COMMENT PERIOD.—Not later than 45 days
after an application is published under subsection
(a)(4), interested persons may submit written com-
ments to the Attorney General, to the Federal Com-
munications Commission, or to both regarding the
application. Submitted comments shall be available
to the public.
(2) 
INTERAGENCY
CONSULTATION.—Before
making their respective determinations under para-
graph (3), the Attorney General and the Federal
Communications Commission shall consult with each
other regarding the application involved.
(3) DETERMINATIONS.—(A) After the time for
comment under paragraph (1) has expired, but not
later than 180 days after receiving an application
made under subsection (a)(1), the Attorney General
and the Federal Communications Commission each
shall issue separately a written determination, on the
record after an opportunity for a hearing, with re-
spect to granting the authorization for which the
Bell operating company has applied.
(B) Such determination shall be based on a pre-
ponderance of the evidence.
(C) Any person who would be threatened with
loss or damage as a result of the approval of the au-
thorization requested shall be permitted to partici-
pate as a party in the proceeding on which the de-
termination is based.
(D)(i) The Attorney General shall approve the
granting of the authorization requested in the appli-
cation only to the extent that the Attorney General
finds that there is no substantial possibility that
such company or its affiliates could use monopoly
power to impede competition in the market such
company seeks to enter. The Attorney General shall
deny the remainder of the requested authorization.
(ii) The Federal Communications Commission
shall approve the granting of the requested author-
ization only to the extent that the Commission finds
that granting the requested authorization is consist-
ent with the public interest, convenience, and neces-
sity. The Commission shall deny the remainder of
the requested authorization.
(iii) Notwithstanding clauses (i) and (ii), not
later than 180 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the Attorney General and the Federal
Communications Commission shall each prescribe
regulations to establish procedures and criteria for
the expedited determination and approval of applica-
tions for authorization to provide interexchange tele-
communications services (other than services de-
scribed in section 102(c)) that are incidental to the
provision of another service which the Bell operating
company may lawfully provide. Before prescribing
such regulations, the Attorney General and the Com-
mission shall consult with respect to such regula-
tions, including consultation for the purpose of
avoiding unnecessary inconsistencies in such regula-
tions.
(E) In making its determination under subpara-
graph (D)(ii) regarding the public interest, conven-
ience, and necessity, the Commission shall take into
account—
(i) the probability that granting the re-
quested authorization will secure reduced rates
for consumers of the services that are the sub-
ject of the application, especially residential
subscribers,
(ii) whether granting the requested author-
ization will result in increases in rates for con-
sumers of exchange service,
(iii) the extent to which granting the re-
quested authorization will expedite the delivery
of new services and products to consumers,
(iv) the extent to which the Commission’s
regulations, or other laws or regulations, will
preclude the applicant from engaging in preda-
tory pricing or other anticompetitive economic
practices with respect to the services that are
the subject of the application,
(v) the extent to which granting the re-
quested authorization will permit collusive acts
or practices between or among Bell operating
companies that are not affiliates of each other,
(vi) whether granting the requested au-
thorization will result, directly or indirectly, in
increasing concentration among providers of the
service that is the subject of the application to
such an extent that consumers will not be pro-
tected from rates that are unjust or unreason-
able or that are unjustly or unreasonably dis-
criminatory, and
(vii) in the case of an application to pro-
vide alarm monitoring services, whether the
Commission has the capability to enforce effec-
tively the regulations established pursuant to
section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934
as added by this Act.
(F) A determination that approves the granting
of any part of a requested authorization shall de-
scribe with particularity the nature and scope of the
activity, and of each product market or service mar-
ket, and each geographic market, to which approval
applies.
(4) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 10 days
after issuing a determination under paragraph (3),
the Attorney General or the Federal Communica-
tions Commission, as the case may be, shall publish
in the Federal Register a brief description of the
determination.
(5) FINALITY.—A determination made under
paragraph (3) shall be final unless a civil action with
respect to such determination is timely commenced
under subsection (c)(1).
(6) AUTHORIZATION
GRANTED.—A requested
authorization is granted to the extent that—
(A)(i) both the Attorney General and the
Federal Communications Commission approve
under paragraph (3) the granting of the au-
thorization, and
(ii) neither of their approvals is vacated or
reversed as a result of judicial review author-
ized by subsection (c), or
(B) as a result of such judicial review of
either or both determinations, both the Attor-
ney General and the Federal Communications
Commission approve the granting of the re-
quested authorization.
(c) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—
(1) COMMENCEMENT
OF
ACTION.—Not later
than 45 days after a determination by the Attorney
General or the Federal Communications Commission
is published under subsection (b)(4), the Bell operat-
ing company that applied to the Attorney General
and the Federal Communications Commission under
subsection (a), or any person who would be threat-
ened with loss or damage as a result of the deter-
mination regarding such company’s engaging in the
activity described in such company’s application,
may commence an action in the United States Court
of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
against the Attorney General or the Federal Com-
munications Commission, as the case may be, for ju-
dicial review of the determination regarding the ap-
plication.
(2) CERTIFICATION OF RECORD.—As part of
the answer to the complaint, the Attorney General
or the Federal Communications Commission, as the
case may be, shall file in such court a certified copy
of the record upon which the determination is based.
(3) CONSOLIDATION OF ACTIONS.—The court
shall consolidate for judicial review all actions com-
menced under this subsection with respect to the ap-
plication.
(4) JUDGMENT.—(A) The court shall enter a
judgment after reviewing the determination in ac-
cordance with section 706 of title 5 of the United
States Code.
(B) A judgment—
(i) affirming any part of the determination
that approves granting all or part of the re-
quested authorization, or
(ii) reversing any part of the determination
that denies all or part of the requested author-
ization,
shall describe with particularity the nature and
scope of the activity, and of each product market or
service market, and each geographic market, to
which the affirmance or reversal applies.
SEC. 102. AUTHORIZATION AS PREREQUISITE.
(a) PREREQUISITE.—Until a Bell operating company
is so authorized in accordance with section 101, it shall
be unlawful for such company, directly or through an af-
filiated enterprise, to engage in an activity described in
section 101(a)(1).
(b) GENERAL EXCEPTIONS.—Except with respect to
providing alarm monitoring services, subsection (a) shall
not prohibit a Bell operating company from engaging, at
any time after the date of the enactment of this Act—
(1) in any activity as authorized by an order
entered by the United States District Court for the
District of Columbia pursuant to section VII or
VIII(C) of the Modification of Final Judgment, if—
(A) such order was entered on or before
the date of the enactment of this Act, or
(B) a request for such authorization was
pending before such court on the date of the
enactment of this Act,
(2) in providing intrastate interexchange tele-
communications services if—
(A) after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the State involved approves or authorizes
such company to provide such services, after
taking into account the potential effects of such
approval or authorization on competition and
the public interest,
(B) not less than 90 days before such com-
pany offers to provide such services, such com-
pany gives notice to the public and the Attorney
General that such approval or authorization has
been granted by such State, and appoints an
agent for the purpose of receiving service of
process,
(C) the Attorney General—
(i) fails to commence a civil action in
accordance with subsection (d), not later
than 90 days after the Attorney General
receives the notice described in subpara-
graph (B), to enjoin such company from
providing such services, or
(ii) so commences such civil action
but—
(I) fails to obtain an injunction
from the district court involved enjoin-
ing such company from providing such
services, or
(II) such injunction issued by
such court is vacated on appeal, and
(D) the Bell operating company is required
by regulations prescribed by the Federal Com-
munications Commission and such State, for
the services subject to their respective jurisdic-
tions, to pay a nondiscriminatory access charge
to the local exchange carrier (including itself)
that provides the Bell operating company with
telephone exchange access, and
(3) in providing interexchange telecommuni-
cations services through resale of telecommuni-
cations services purchased from a person who is not
an affiliated enterprise of such company if—
(A) such interexchange telecommunications
services involve only telecommunications that
originate in a State in which, on the date of the
enactment of this Act, such company provided
wireline telephone exchange services,
(B) such State has approved or authorized
persons that are not affiliated enterprises of
such company to provide intraexchange toll tele-
communications services in such a manner that
customers in such State have the ability to
route automatically, without the use of any ac-
cess code, their intraexchange toll telecommuni-
cations to the telecommunications services pro-
vider of the customer’s designation from among
2 or more telecommunications services providers
(including such company),
(C) after the date of the enactment of this
Act and not less than 90 days before such com-
pany offers to provide such interexchange tele-
communications services, such company gives
notice to the public and the Attorney General
that such approval or authorization has been
granted by such State, and
(D) the Attorney General—
(i) fails to commence a civil action in
accordance with subsection (d), not later
than 90 days after the Attorney General
receives the notice described in subpara-
graph (C), to enjoin such company from
providing such services, or
(ii) so commences such civil action
but—
(I) fails to obtain an injunction
from the district court involved enjoin-
ing such company from providing such
services, or
(II) such injunction issued by
such court is vacated on appeal.
(c) EXCEPTIONS FOR INCIDENTAL SERVICES.—Sub-
section (a) shall not prohibit a Bell operating company,
at any time after the date of the enactment of this Act,
from providing interexchange telecommunications services
for the purpose of—
(1)(A) providing audio programming, video pro-
gramming, or other programming services to sub-
scribers to such services of such company,
(B) providing the capability for interaction by
such subscribers to select or respond to such audio
programming, video programming, or other pro-
gramming services, or
(C) providing to distributors audio program-
ming or video programming that such company
owns, controls, or is licensed by the copyright owner
of such programming, or by an assignee of such
owner, to distribute,
(2) providing a telecommunications service,
using the transmission facilities of a cable system
that is an affiliate of such company, between ex-
change areas within a cable system franchise area in
which such company is not, on the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, a provider of wireline telephone ex-
change service,
(3) providing commercial mobile services in ac-
cordance with section 332(c) of the Communications
Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(c)) and with the regula-
tions prescribed by the Commission pursuant to
paragraph (7) of such section,
(4) providing a service that permits a customer
that is located in one exchange area to retrieve
stored information from, or file information for stor-
age in, information storage facilities of such com-
pany that are located in another exchange area,
(5) providing signaling information used in con-
nection with the provision of exchange services to a
local exchange carrier that, together with any affili-
ated local exchange carriers, has aggregate annual
revenues of less than $100,000,000, or
(6) providing network control signaling infor-
mation to, and receiving such signaling information
from, interexchange carriers at any location within
the area in which such company provides exchange
services or exchange access.
(d) CIVIL ACTION.—(1) For the purpose of para-
graph (2) or (3) of subsection (b), the Attorney General
shall commence a civil action, not later than 90 days after
receiving the notice required by paragraph (2)(B) or
(3)(C) of such subsection, respectively, to enjoin such com-
pany from providing interexchange telecommunications
services pursuant to such paragraph if the Attorney Gen-
eral determines that the standard specified in the first
sentence of section 101(b)(3)(D)(i) is not satisfied with
respect to providing such interexchange telecommuni-
cations services.
(2) With respect to a civil action commenced for the
purpose of paragraph (2) or (3) of subsection (b), venue
shall lie in any district court of the United States in the
State that granted the approval or authorization referred
to in such paragraph.
(3) If the Attorney General does not commence a civil
action in accordance with paragraph (1) before the expira-
tion of the 90-day period beginning on the date the Attor-
ney General receives such notice, the Attorney General
shall publish in the Federal Register a brief statement
that the Attorney General has determined not to com-
mence such civil action.
SEC. 103. LIMITATIONS ON MANUFACTURING AND PROVID-
ING EQUIPMENT.
(a) ABSOLUTE LIMITATION.—Until the expiration of
the 1-year period beginning on the date of the enactment
of this Act, it shall be unlawful for a Bell operating com-
pany, directly or through an affiliated enterprise, to manu-
facture or provide telecommunications equipment, or to
manufacture customer premises equipment.
(b) QUALIFIED LIMITATION.—
(1) REQUIRED CONDITIONS.—After the expira-
tion of the 1-year period beginning on the date of
the enactment of this Act, it shall be lawful for a
Bell operating company, directly or through an af-
filiated enterprise, to manufacture or provide tele-
communications equipment, or to manufacture cus-
tomer premises equipment, to the extent described in
a notification to the Attorney General that meets the
requirements of paragraph (2) and only if—
(A) such company submits to the Attorney
General, at any time after the date of the en-
actment of this Act, the notification described
in paragraph (2) and such additional material
and information described in such paragraph as
the Attorney General may request, and complies
with the waiting period specified in paragraph
(3), and
(B)(i) the waiting period specified in para-
graph (3) expires without the commencement of
a civil action by the Attorney General in accord-
ance with paragraph (4) to enjoin such com-
pany from engaging in the activity described in
such notification, or
(ii) before the expiration of such waiting
period, the Attorney General notifies such com-
pany in writing that the Attorney General does
not intend to commence such a civil action with
respect to such activity.
(2) NOTIFICATION.—The notification required
by paragraph (1) shall be in such form and shall
contain such documentary material and information
relevant to the proposed activity as is necessary and
appropriate for the Attorney General to determine
whether there is no substantial possibility that such
company or its affiliates could use monopoly power
to impede competition in the market such company
seeks to enter for such activity.
(3) WAITING PERIOD.—The waiting period re-
ferred to in paragraph (1) is the 1-year period be-
ginning on the date the notification required by such
paragraph is received by the Attorney General.
(4) CIVIL ACTION.—Not later than 1 year after
receiving a notification required by paragraph (1),
the Attorney General may commence a civil action in
an appropriate district court of the United States to
enjoin the Bell operating company from engaging in