I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4814 
To amend the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to preserve and protect 
the ability of local governments to provide broadband capability and services. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 17, 2018 
Ms. ESHOO (for herself, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. ELLI-
SON, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. O’ROURKE, Mr. POCAN, and Mr. POLIS) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy 
and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to preserve 
and protect the ability of local governments to provide 
broadband capability and services. 
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 ‘‘Community Broadband 
Act of 2018’’. 
SEC. 2. COMMUNITY BROADBAND CAPABILITY AND SERV-
ICES. 
Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 
(47 U.S.C. 1302) is amended— 
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(1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub-
section (e) and inserting after subsection (c) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(d) LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROVISION OF ADVANCED 
TELECOMMUNICATIONS CAPABILITY AND SERVICES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No State statute, regula-
tion, or other State legal requirement may prohibit 
or have the effect of prohibiting any public provider 
from providing, to any person or any public or pri-
vate entity, advanced telecommunications capability 
or any service that utilizes the advanced tele-
communications capability provided by such pro-
vider. 
‘‘(2) ANTIDISCRIMINATION
SAFEGUARDS.—To 
the extent any public provider regulates competing 
private providers of advanced telecommunications 
capability or services that utilize advanced tele-
communications capability, it shall apply its ordi-
nances and rules without discrimination in favor of 
itself or any provider that it owns of services that 
utilize advanced telecommunications capability. 
‘‘(3) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this sub-
section shall exempt a public provider from any Fed-
eral or State telecommunications law or regulation 
that applies to all providers of advanced tele-
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communications capability or services that utilize 
such advanced telecommunications capability.’’; and 
(2) in subsection (e), as redesignated— 
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 
by striking ‘‘this subsection’’ and inserting 
‘‘this section’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) PUBLIC PROVIDER.—The term ‘public pro-
vider’ means a State or political subdivision thereof, 
any agency, authority, or instrumentality of a State 
or political subdivision thereof, or an Indian tribe 
(as defined in section 4(e) of the Indian Self-Deter-
mination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 
5304(e))), that provides advanced telecommuni-
cations capability, or any service that utilizes such 
advanced telecommunications capability, to any per-
son or public or private entity.’’. 
Æ 
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