‘‘(f) COLLABORATION PERMITTED.—A Bell Tele-
phone Company and its affiliates may engage in close col-
laboration with any manufacturer of customer premises
equipment or telecommunications equipment during the
design and development of hardware, software, or com-
binations thereof related to such equipment.
‘‘(g) ACCESSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—
‘‘(1) MANUFACTURING.—The Commission shall,
within 1 year after enactment of this section, pre-
scribe such regulations as are necessary to ensure
that telecommunications equipment and customer
premises equipment designed, developed, and fab-
ricated pursuant to the authority granted in this
section shall be accessible and usable by individuals
with disabilities, including individuals with func-
tional limitations of hearing, vision, movement, ma-
nipulation, speech, and interpretation of information,
unless the costs of making the equipment accessible
and usable would result in an undue burden or an
adverse competitive impact.
‘‘(2) NETWORK
SERVICES.—The Commission
shall, within 1 year after enactment of this section,
prescribe such regulations as are necessary to ensure
that advances in network services deployed by a Bell
Telephone Company shall be accessible and usable
by individuals whose access might otherwise be im-
peded by a disability or functional limitation, unless
the costs of making the services accessible and usa-
ble would result in an undue burden or adverse com-
petitive impact. Such regulations shall seek to per-
mit the use of both standard and special equipment
and seek to minimize the need of individuals to ac-
quire additional devices beyond those used by the
general public to obtain such access.
‘‘(3) COMPATIBILITY.—The regulations pre-
scribed under paragraphs (1) and (2) shall require
that whenever an undue burden or adverse competi-
tive impact would result from the manufacturing or
network services requirements in such paragraphs,
the manufacturing affiliate that designs, develops, or
fabricates the equipment or the Bell Telephone Com-
pany that deploys the network service shall ensure
that the equipment or network service in question is
compatible with existing peripheral devices or spe-
cialized customer premises equipment commonly
used by persons with disabilities to achieve access,
unless doing so would result in an undue burden or
adverse competitive impact.
‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this subsection:
‘‘(A) UNDUE BURDEN.—The term ‘undue
burden’ means significant difficulty or expense.
In determining whether an activity would result
in an undue burden, factors to be considered in-
clude—
‘‘(i) the nature and cost of the activ-
ity;
‘‘(ii) the impact on the operation of
the facility involved in the manufacturing
of the equipment or deployment of the net-
work service;
‘‘(iii) the financial resources of the
manufacturing affiliate in the case of man-
ufacturing of equipment, for as long as ap-
plicable regulatory rules prohibit cross-sub-
sidization of equipment manufacturing
with revenues from regulated telecommuni-
cations service or when the manufacturing
activities are conducted in a separate sub-
sidiary;
‘‘(iv) the financial resources of the
Bell Telephone Company in the case of
network services, or in the case of manu-
facturing of equipment if applicable regu-
latory rules permit cross-subsidization of
equipment manufacturing with revenues
from regulated telecommunications services
and the manufacturing activities are not
conducted in a separate subsidiary; and
‘‘(v) the type of operation or oper-
ations of the manufacturing affiliate or
Bell Telephone Company, as applicable.
‘‘(B) ADVERSE COMPETITIVE IMPACT.—In
determining whether the activity would result in
an adverse competitive impact, the following
factors will be considered—
‘‘(i) whether such activity would raise
the cost of the equipment or network serv-
ice in question beyond the level at which
there would be sufficient consumer demand
by the general population to make the
equipment or network service profitable;
and
‘‘(ii) whether such activity would, with
respect to the equipment or network serv-
ice in question, put the manufacturing af-
filiate or Bell Telephone Company, as ap-
plicable, at a competitive disadvantage in
comparison with one or more providers of
one or more competing products and serv-
ices. This factor may only be considered so
long as competing manufacturers and net-
work service providers are not held to the
same obligation with respect to access by
persons with disabilities.
‘‘(C) ACTIVITY.—
‘‘(i) the research, design, development,
deployment, and fabrication activities nec-
essary to comply with the requirements of
this section; and
‘‘(ii) the acquisition of the related ma-
terials and equipment components.
‘‘(5) EFFECTIVE
DATE.—The regulations re-
quired by this subsection shall become effective 18
months after the date of enactment of this section.
‘‘(6) IMPACT OF ADA.—Nothing in this section
will be interpreted to limit or otherwise affect the
application of the Americans with Disabilities Act or
its implementing regulations.
‘‘(h) PUBLIC NETWORK ENHANCEMENT.—A Bell
Telephone Company manufacturing affiliate shall, as a
part of its overall research and development effort, estab-
lish a permanent program for the manufacturing research
and development of products and applications for the en-
hancement of the public switched telephone network and
to promote public access to advanced telecommunications
services. Such program shall focus its work substantially
on developing technological advancements in public tele-
phone network applications, telecommunication equipment
and products, and access solutions to new services and
technology, including access by (1) public institutions, in-
cluding educational and health care institutions; and (2)
people with disabilities and functional limitations. Not-
withstanding the limitations in subsection (a), a Bell Tele-
phone Company and its affiliates may engage in such a
program in conjunction with a Bell Telephone Company
not so affiliated or any of its affiliates. The existence or
establishment of such a program that is jointly provided
by manufacturing affiliates of Bell Telephone Companies
shall satisfy the requirements of this section as it pertains
to all such affiliates of a Bell Telephone Company. Not-
withstanding any other provision of this Act, the manufac-
turing affiliate may engage in close collaboration with its
Bell Telephone Company Operating Company affiliate for
the purpose of identifying public switched network require-
ments and solutions under this subsection.
‘‘(i) ACCESS NEEDS OF INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABIL-
ITIES.—A Bell Telephone Company and its affiliates that
engage in any manufacturing authorized by subsection (a)
shall accommodate the alternate access needs of individ-
uals with disabilities, including individuals with functional
limitations of hearing, vision, movement, manipulation,
speech, and interpretation of information, unless such
Company or affiliate can demonstrate that the accommo-
dation would impose an undue hardship on such Company
or affiliate. For purposes of this subsection, the term
‘undue hardship’ has the meaning provided in section
101(10) of the Americans With Disabilities Act (42
U.S.C. 12112).–
‘‘(j) ADDITIONAL RULES AUTHORIZED.—The Com-
mission may prescribe such additional rules and regula-
tions as the Commission determines necessary to carry out
the provisions of this section.
‘‘(k) ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT AUTHOR-
ITY.—
‘‘(1) COMMISSION REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—
For the purposes of administering and enforcing the
provisions of this section and the regulations pre-
scribed thereunder, the Commission shall have the
same authority, power, and functions with respect to
any Bell Telephone Company as the Commission has
in administering and enforcing the provisions of this
title with respect to any common carrier subject to
this Act.
‘‘(2) PRIVATE
ACTIONS.—Any regulated local
telephone exchange carrier injured by an act or
omission of a Bell Telephone Company or its manu-
facturing affiliate which violates the requirements of
paragraph (7) or (8) of subsection (c), or the Com-
mission’s regulations implementing such paragraphs,
may initiate an action in a district court of the Unit-
ed States to recover the full amount of damages sus-
tained in consequence of any such violation and ob-
tain such orders from the court as are necessary to
terminate existing violations and to prevent future
violations; or such regulated local telephone ex-
change carrier may seek relief from the Commission
pursuant to sections 206 through 209.
‘‘(l) EFFECTIVE DATE; RULEMAKING SCHEDULE.—
The authority of the Commission to prescribe regulations
to carry out this section is effective on the date of enact-
ment of this section. The Commission shall prescribe such
regulations within 180 days after such date of enactment,
and the authority to engage in the manufacturing author-
ized in subsection (a) shall not take effect until regulations
prescribed by the Commission under subsections (c), (d),
and (e) are in effect.
‘‘(m) EXISTING
MANUFACTURING
AUTHORITY.—
Nothing in this section shall prohibit any Bell Telephone
Company from engaging, directly or through any affiliate,
in any manufacturing activity in which any Bell Telephone
Company or affiliate was authorized to engage on the date
of enactment of this section.
‘‘(n) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:
‘‘(1) The term ‘affiliate’ means any organiza-
tion or entity that, directly or indirectly, owns or
controls, is owned or controlled by, or is under com-
mon ownership with a Bell Telephone Company. The
terms ‘owns’, ‘owned’, and ‘ownership’ mean an eq-
uity interest of more than 10 percent.
‘‘(2) The term ‘Bell Telephone Company’
means those companies listed in appendix A of the
Modification of Final Judgment, and includes any
successor or assign of any such company, but does
not include any affiliate of any such company.
‘‘(3) The term ‘customer premises equipment’
means equipment employed on the premises of a
person (other than a carrier) to originate, route, or
terminate telecommunications.
‘‘(4) The term ‘manufacturing’ has the same
meaning as such term has in the Modification of
Final Judgment as interpreted in United States v.
Western Electric Civil Action No. 82–0192 (United
States District Court, District of Columbia) (filed
December 3, 1987).
‘‘(5) The term ‘manufacturing affiliate’ means
an affiliate of a Bell Telephone Company established
in accordance with subsection (b) of this section.
‘‘(6) The term ‘Modification of Final Judg-
ment’ means the decree entered August 24, 1982, in
United States v. Western Electric Civil Action No.
82–0192 (United States District Court, District of
Columbia).
‘‘(7) The term ‘telecommunications’ means the
transmission, between or among points specified by
the user, of information of the user’s choosing, with-
out change in the form or content of the information
as sent and received, by means of an electromagnetic
transmission medium, including all instrumentalities,
facilities, apparatus, and services (including the col-
lection, storage, forwarding, switching, and delivery
of such information) essential to such transmission.
‘‘(8) The term ‘telecommunications equipment’
means equipment, other than customer premises
equipment, used by a carrier to provide tele-
communications services.
‘‘(9) The term ‘telecommunications service’
means the offering for hire of telecommunications
facilities, or of telecommunications by means of such
facilities.’’.
SEC. 4. ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS.
Section 710 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
U.S.C. 610) is amended by adding at the end the following
new subsection:
‘‘(i) Network capabilities to be deployed by common
carriers shall be designed to accommodate the needs of
individuals whose access might otherwise be impeded by
a disability or functional limitation, unless such carrier
can demonstrate that the accommodation would impose an
undue hardship on such carriers. Such capabilities shall
seek to permit the use of both standard and special equip-
ment, and seek to minimize the need for individuals to
acquire expensive devices to obtain such access. For pur-
poses of this subsection, the term ‘undue hardship’ has
the meaning provided in section 101(10) of the Americans
With Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. 12112).’’.
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 228 of the Communica-
tions Act of 1934 (as added by this Act) shall be effective
30 days after the Federal Communications Commission
prescribes final regulations pursuant to such section.
(b) RULEMAKING AUTHORITY EFFECTIVE ON EN-
ACTMENT.—Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this sec-
tion, the authority of the Federal Communications Com-
mission to prescribe regulations pursuant to such section
228 is effective upon enactment of this Act.
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HR 3609 IH——2
HR 3609 IH——3