I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2120
To ensure the application of the antitrust laws to local telephone monopolies,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 12, 2001
Mr. CANNON (for himself, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. ISSA, and Mr. NADLER) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju-
diciary, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned
A BILL
To ensure the application of the antitrust laws to local
telephone monopolies, 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 ‘‘Broadband Antitrust
Restoration and Reform Act’’.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE CLAYTON ACT.
The Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12 et seq.) is amended
by adding at the end the following:
‘‘SEC. 28. COMPETITION IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERV-
ICES.
‘‘(a) APPLICATION PREREQUISITE TO PROVIDING
HIGH SPEED DATA SERVICE OR INTERNET BACKBONE
SERVICE; ATTORNEY GENERAL REINSTATEMENT OF PRO-
COMPETITIVE REGULATIONS.—
‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT
TO
FILE
APPLICATION
WITH
ATTORNEY
GENERAL
OF
THE
UNITED
STATES.—A Bell operating company or an affiliate
of a Bell operating company may not provide any
interLATA service in any of its in-region States
under the authority of any amendment to section
271 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.
271) enacted after June 13, 2001—
‘‘(A) unless it files with the Attorney Gen-
eral of the United States an application to pro-
vide such service; and
‘‘(B) until the Attorney General—
‘‘(i) approves such application before
the expiration of the 90-day period begin-
ning on the date such application is filed;
or
‘‘(ii) fails to approve or to disapprove
such application during such 90-day pe-
riod.
‘‘(2) AUTHORITY
OF
ATTORNEY
GENERAL.—
The Attorney General of the United States—
‘‘(A) may issue rules to establish require-
ments applicable to the form and contents of
applications filed under paragraph (1);
‘‘(B) may make recommendations to an
applicant regarding—
‘‘(i) withdrawal of an application filed
under paragraph (1); or
‘‘(ii) filing of an application under
paragraph (1), with or without modifica-
tions, subsequent to the withdrawal of an
application filed under such paragraph;
and
‘‘(C) may not approve an application filed
in compliance with this subsection if the Attor-
ney General determines that the applicant—
‘‘(i) has monopoly power in the local
exchange market; and
‘‘(ii) is using or is likely to use its mo-
nopoly power in order to engage in exclu-
sionary or other anticompetitive conduct.
‘‘(3) WITHDRAWAL OF APPLICATION.—An ap-
plication filed under paragraph (1) may be with-
drawn by the applicant at any time before the Attor-
ney General approves or disapproves such applica-
tion, but may not be modified after being filed.
‘‘(4) REINSTATEMENT OF REGULATION.—If the
Attorney General, sua sponte, determines that the
conditions specified in paragraph (2)(C) have been
met with respect to a Bell operating company or an
affiliate of a Bell operating company, then the At-
torney General may reinstate, as to such company or
such affiliate, any Federal regulation in effect as of
June 13, 2001, which the Attorney General deter-
mines was designed to protect against exclusionary
conduct or other abusive monopoly power.
‘‘(5) EXCLUSION.—Nothing in this subsection
shall apply to two-percent carriers.
‘‘(b) CONTINUING OPERATION OF THE ANTITRUST
LAWS.—The rights, obligations, powers, and remedies
provided under the antitrust laws are in addition to, and
are—
‘‘(1) not preempted by;
‘‘(2) not inconsistent with; and
‘‘(3) not incompatible with;
any of the rights, obligations, powers, and remedies pro-
vided under the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.
151 et seq.), under the Telecommunications Act of 1996
(Public Law 104–104; 110 Stat. 56), or under any law
amended by either such Act, regardless of the progress
of competition in any market.
‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:
‘‘(1) AFFILIATE.—The term ‘affiliate’ means a
person that (directly or indirectly) owns or controls,
is owned or controlled by, or is under common own-
ership or control with, another person. For purposes
of this paragraph, the term ‘own’ means to own an
equity interest (or equivalent thereof) of more than
10 percent.
‘‘(2) BELL
OPERATING
COMPANY.—The term
‘Bell operating company’ has the meaning given
such term in section 3 of the Communications Act
of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153).
‘‘(3) IN-REGION
STATE.—The term ‘in-region
State’ has the meaning given to such term in section
271(i) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
U.S.C. 271(i)).
‘‘(4) 
INTERLATA 
SERVICE.—The 
term
‘interLATA service’ has the meaning given such
term in section 3 of the Communications Act of
1934 (47 U.S.C. 153).
‘‘(5) TWO-PERCENT CARRIER.—The term ‘two-
percent carrier’ means an incumbent local exchange
carrier within the meaning of section 251(h) of the
Communications Act (47 U.S.C. 254(h)) whose ac-
cess lines, when aggregated with the access lines of
any local exchange carrier that such incumbent local
exchange carrier directly or indirectly controls, is
controlled by, or is under common control with, are
fewer than two percent of the Nation’s subscriber
lines installed in the aggregate nationwide.’’.
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