I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1103 
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit franchising authorities 
from requiring approval for the sale of cable systems, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 18, 2021 
Mr. BURGESS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit fran-
chising authorities from requiring approval for the sale 
of cable systems, 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 TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Consumer Access to 
Broadband for Local Economies and Competition Act’’ or 
the ‘‘CABLE Competition Act’’. 
SEC. 2. SALES OF CABLE SYSTEMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 627 of the Communica-
tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 547) is amended to read: 
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‘‘SEC. 627. CONDITIONS OF SALE OR TRANSFER. 
‘‘(a) VALUE
OF CABLE SYSTEM UPON SALE
OR 
TRANSFER.— 
‘‘(1) AFTER
DENIAL
OF
FRANCHISE
RE-
NEWAL.—If a renewal of a franchise held by a cable 
operator is denied and the franchising authority ac-
quires ownership of the cable system or effects a 
transfer of ownership of the system to another per-
son, any such acquisition or transfer shall be at fair 
market value, determined on the basis of the cable 
system valued as a going concern but with no value 
allocated to the franchise itself. 
‘‘(2) AFTER REVOCATION OF FRANCHISE FOR 
CAUSE.—If a franchise held by a cable operator is 
revoked for cause and the franchising authority ac-
quires ownership of the cable system or effects a 
transfer of ownership of the system to another per-
son, any such acquisition or transfer shall be at fair 
market value. 
‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORITY OF FRANCHISING 
AUTHORITY WITH RESPECT TO TRANSFER OF FRAN-
CHISE.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—A franchising authority 
may not— 
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‘‘(A) preclude a cable operator from trans-
ferring a franchise to a person to which such 
franchise was not initially granted; or 
‘‘(B) require a cable operator to which a 
franchise is initially granted to receive approval 
from the franchising authority for the transfer 
of such franchise to a person who to which such 
franchise was not initially granted. 
‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION.—In the case of the trans-
fer of a franchise to a person to which such fran-
chise was not originally granted, a franchising au-
thority may require a cable operator to which a fran-
chise was initially granted to, not later than 15 days 
after a transfer of a franchise, notify the franchising 
authority in writing of such transfer. 
‘‘(3) TRANSFER DEFINED.—In this subsection, 
the term ‘transfer’ means the assignment rights 
under a franchise through any transaction, including 
a merger, sale, assignment, restructuring, or trans-
fer of control of a cable operator or a cable sys-
tem.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section, and the amend-
ments made by subsection (a), shall take effect 6 months 
after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
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(c) APPLICATION.—This section, and the amendment 
made by subsection (a), shall apply to a franchise grant-
ed— 
(1) on or after the effective date established by 
subsection (b); or 
(2) before such date, if such franchise (includ-
ing any renewal term thereof) is in effect on such 
date. 
Æ 
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