I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 460 
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 
JANUARY 11, 2017 
Mr. YOUNG of Iowa (for himself, Mr. WELCH, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. DUFFY, 
Mr. STEWART, Mr. POCAN, Mr. LATTA, Mr. KIND, Mr. NOLAN, Mrs. 
NOEM, and Mr. CRAMER) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred 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 2017’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:54 Jan 20, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H460.IH
H460
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS
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.— 
‘‘(A) REGISTRY.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this section, the 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:54 Jan 20, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H460.IH
H460
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS
Commission shall promulgate rules to establish 
a registry to record registrations under sub-
section (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 communica-
tions 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 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:54 Jan 20, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H460.IH
H460
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS
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 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 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 intra-
state voice communications, regardless of the format by 
which any communication or service is provided, the pro-
tocol or format by which the transmission of such commu-
nication or service is achieved, or the regulatory classifica-
tion of such communication or service. 
‘‘(h) EXCEPTION.—The requirement under sub-
section (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 suc-
cessor regulation; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:54 Jan 20, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H460.IH
H460
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS
‘‘(2) continues to meet the requirements under 
such section 64.2107(a). 
‘‘(i) 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 
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) 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— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:54 Jan 20, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H460.IH
H460
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS
‘‘(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 termi-
nating a given call.’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:54 Jan 20, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H460.IH
H460
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS