(1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist-
ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 
Commerce for Communications and Information. 
(2) CORE
BASED
STATISTICAL
AREA.—The 
term ‘‘core based statistical area’’ has the meaning 
given the term by the Office of Management and 
Budget in the Notice of Decision entitled ‘‘2010 
Standards 
for 
Delineating 
Metropolitan 
and 
Micropolitan Statistical Areas’’, published in the 
Federal Register on June 28, 2010 (75 Fed. Reg. 
37246), or any successor to that Notice. 
(3) COVERED
GRANT.—The term ‘‘covered 
grant’’ means a grant awarded under section 3(a). 
(4) INTERNET EXCHANGE FACILITY.—The term 
‘‘internet exchange facility’’ means physical infra-
structure through which internet service providers 
and content delivery networks exchange internet 
traffic between their networks. 
SEC. 3. NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMA-
TION ADMINISTRATION GRANTS. 
(a) GRANTS.—On and after the first day of the first 
fiscal year beginning after the date on which the Assistant 
Secretary establishes rules and timelines under subsection 
(d), the Assistant Secretary shall award grants to entities 
to acquire real property and necessary equipment to— 
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(1) establish a new internet exchange facility in 
a core based statistical area in which, at the time 
the grant is awarded, there are no existing internet 
exchange facilities; or 
(2) expand operations at an existing internet 
exchange facility in a core based statistical area in 
which, at the time the grant is awarded, there is 
only 1 internet exchange facility. 
(b) ELIGIBILITY.—An entity may not receive a cov-
ered grant unless the entity certifies to the Assistant Sec-
retary that the entity has sufficient interest from third 
party entities that will use the internet exchange facility 
to be funded by the grant once the facility is established 
or operations are expanded, as applicable. 
(c) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the 
total cost of the establishment of, or expansion of oper-
ations at, an internet exchange facility for which a covered 
grant is awarded may not exceed 50 percent. 
(d) APPLICATIONS.— 
(1) RULES AND TIMELINES.—Not later than 1 
year after the date of enactment of this Act, the As-
sistant Secretary shall establish rules and timelines 
for applications for covered grants. 
(2) THIRD PARTY REVIEW.—To prevent fraud 
in the covered grant program, the Assistant Sec-
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retary shall enter into a contract with an inde-
pendent third party under which the third party re-
views an application for a covered grant not later 
than 60 days after the date on which the application 
is submitted to ensure that only an entity that is eli-
gible for a covered grant receives a covered grant. 
(e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-
tion shall be construed to authorize the Assistant Sec-
retary to regulate, issue guidance for, or otherwise inter-
fere with the activities at an internet exchange facility. 
(f) NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED.—No addi-
tional funds are authorized to be appropriated to carry 
out this section. This section shall be carried out using 
amounts otherwise authorized. 
SEC. 4. USE OF E-RATE AND RURAL HEALTH CARE UNI-
VERSAL SERVICE SUPPORT. 
Section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 254) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(m) USE OF E-RATE AND RURAL HEALTH CARE 
SUPPORT
FOR COSTS RELATING
TO INTERNET EX-
CHANGE FACILITY CONNECTION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law or regulation, including subpart F 
or G of part 54 of title 47, Code of Federal Regula-
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tions (or any successor regulation), a recipient of 
support under such subpart F or G may receive sup-
port under that subpart— 
‘‘(A) to contract with a broadband internet 
service provider to obtain connection to an 
internet exchange facility; or 
‘‘(B) for the costs of maintaining a point 
of presence at an internet exchange facility. 
‘‘(2) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 
this subsection shall be construed to authorize the 
Commission to regulate, issue guidance for, or other-
wise interfere with the activities at an internet ex-
change facility. 
‘‘(3) INTERNET
EXCHANGE
FACILITY
DE-
FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘internet ex-
change 
facility’ 
means 
physical 
infrastructure 
through which internet service providers and content 
delivery networks exchange internet traffic between 
their networks.’’. 
Æ 
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