Broadband Speed Act

Bill: 116-s-3093
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR]
Introduced: 2019-12-18
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures

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Civil actions and liability

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Fraud offenses and financial crimes

Government information and archives

Internet and video services

Internet, web applications, social media
Latest action: action_date: 2019-12-18
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Summaries:
action_date: 2019-12-18
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><b>Broadband Speed Act</b></p> <p>This bill establishes a reporting requirement for all broadband internet service providers and a capacity requirement for providers that&nbsp;use federal funds to construct new broadband infrastructure.</p> <p>Specifically, the bill requires an internet service provider to report the actual speed of the broadband it provides consumers, and it establishes a fine for any provider that has willfully or knowingly provided false data about the speed it is capable of offering. Additionally, the bill requires any new broadband infrastructure built using federal funds to provide service of at least 100 megabits per second. </p>

tv_txt: II 116th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 3093 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES December 18, 2019 Mr. Merkley introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To improve the collection of broadband speed data by the Federal Communications Commission in order to support the effective deployment of broadband services to all areas in the United States, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Broadband Speed Act . 2. Broadband speed test (a) Definitions In this section: (1) Broadband internet access service The term broadband internet access service — (A) means a mass-market retail service by wire or radio that provides the capability to transmit data to and receive data from all or substantially all internet endpoints, including any capabilities that are incidental to and enable the operation of the communications service; (B) includes any service that the Commission finds to be providing a functional equivalent of the service described in subparagraph (A); and (C) does not include dial-up internet service. (2) Commission The term Commission means the Federal Communications Commission. (b) Regulations required Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall issue a rule that— (1) establishes an annual reporting requirement under which each provider of broadband internet access service shall submit to the Commission a report on broadband speed data based on a reasonable sample that is captured to demonstrate that the provider is capable of performing at the speed reported to the Commission on Form 477 or any successor report; (2) establishes a fine for any provider that is found under paragraph (1) to have willfully or knowingly provided false data about the speeds offered; and (3) to minimize duplication, incorporates any other requirements issued by the Commission relating to reporting on broadband speed data. (c) Broadband speed requirement for infrastructure funding Any broadband infrastructure that is built with funding awarded on or after the date of enactment of this Act from the Federal universal service support programs established under section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 254 ) shall provide broadband internet access service with a download speed of not less than 100 megabits per second.