[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1583 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1583
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to expand the contribution base
for universal service, establish a separate account within the
universal service fund to support the deployment of broadband service
in unserved areas of the United States, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 29, 2005
Mr. Smith (for himself, Mr. Dorgan, and Mr. Pryor) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to expand the contribution base
for universal service, establish a separate account within the
universal service fund to support the deployment of broadband service
in unserved areas of the United States, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Universal Service for the 21st
Century Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The preservation and advancement of universal service
is a fundamental goal of the Communications Act of 1934 and the
Telecommunications Act of 1996.
(2) Access throughout the Nation to high-quality and
advanced telecommunications and information services is
essential to secure the many benefits of our modern society.
(3) As the Internet becomes a critical element of any
economic and social growth, universal service should shift from
sustaining voice grade infrastructure promoting the development
of efficient and advanced networks that can sustain advanced
communications services.
(4) The current structure established by the Federal
Communications Commission has placed the burden of universal
service support on only a limited class of carriers, causing
inequities in the system, incentives to avoid contribution, and
a threat to the long term sustainability of the universal
service fund.
(5) Current fund contributors are paying an increasing
portion of their interstate and international service revenue
into the universal service fund.
(6) Any fund contribution system should be equitable,
nondiscriminatory and competitively neutral, and the funding
mechanism must be sufficient to ensure affordable
communications services for all.
SEC. 3. UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND CONTRIBUTION REQUIREMENTS.
(a) Inclusion of Intrastate Revenues.--Section 254(d) of the
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(d)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``Every'' and inserting ``Notwithstanding
section 2(b) of this Act, a'';
(2) by striking ``interstate'' each place it appears; and
(3) by adding at the end ``Nothing in this subsection
precludes a State from adopting rules or regulations to
preserve and advance universal service within that State as
permitted by section 2(b) and subsections (b) and (f) of this
section.''.
(b) Universal Service Proceeding.--
(1) Proceeding.--The Federal Communications Commission
shall initiate a proceeding, or take action pursuant to any
proceeding on universal service existing on the date of
enactment of this Act, to establish a permanent mechanism to
support universal service, that will preserve and enhance the
long term financial stability of universal service, and will
promote the public interest.
(2) Criteria.--In establishing such a permanent mechanism,
the Commission may include collection methodologies such as
total telecommunications revenues, the assignment of telephone
numbers and any successor identifier, connections (which could
include carriers with a retail connection to a customer), and
any combination thereof if the methodology--
(A) promotes competitive neutrality among providers
and technologies;
(B) to the greatest extent possible ensures that
all communications services that are capable of
supporting 2-way voice communications be included in
the assessable base for universal service support;
(C) takes into account the impact on low volume
users, and proportionately assesses high volume users,
through a capacity analysis or some other means; and
(D) ensures that a carrier is not required to
contribute more than once for the same transaction,
activity, or service.
(3) Excluded providers.--If a provider of communications
services that are capable of supporting 2-way voice
communications would not contribute under the methodology
established by the Commission, the Commission shall require
such a provider to contribute to universal service under an
equitable alternative methodology if exclusion of the provider
from the contribution base would jeopardize the preservation,
enhancement, and long term sustainability of universal service.
(4) Deadline.--The Commission shall complete the proceeding
and issue a final rule not more than 6 months after the date of
enactment of this Act.
SEC. 4. INTERCARRIER COMPENSATION.
(a) Jurisdiction.--Notwithstanding section 2(b) of the
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 152(b)), the Federal
Communications Commission shall have exclusive jurisdiction to
establish rates for inter-carrier compensation payments and shall
establish rules providing a comprehensive, unified system of inter-
carrier compensation, including compensation for the origination and
termination of intrastate telecommunications traffic.
(b) Criteria.--In establishing these rules, and in conjunction with
its action in its universal service proceeding under section 3, the
Commission, in consultation with the Federal-State Joint Board on
Universal Service, shall--
(1) ensure that the costs associated with the provision of
interstate and intrastate telecommunications services are fully
recoverable;
(2) examine whether sufficient requirements exist to ensure
traffic contains necessary identifiers for the purposes of
inter-carrier compensation; and
(3) to the greatest extent possible, minimize opportunities
for arbitrage.
(c) Sufficient Support.--The Commission should, to the greatest
extent possible, ensure that as a result of its universal service and
inter-carrier compensation proceedings, the aggregate amount of
universal service support and inter-carrier compensation provided to
local exchange carriers with fewer than 2 percent of the Nation's
subscriber lines will be sufficient to meet the just and reasonable
costs of such local exchange carriers.
(d) Negotiated Agreements.--Nothing in this section precludes
carriers from negotiating their own inter-carrier compensation
agreements.
(e) Deadline.--The Commission shall complete the pending
Intercarrier Compensation proceeding in Docket No. 01-92 and issue a
final rule not more than 6 months after the date of enactment of this
Act.
SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF BROADBAND ACCOUNT WITHIN UNIVERSAL SERVICE
FUND.
Part I of title II of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 201
et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 254 the following:
``SEC. 254A. BROADBAND FOR UNSERVED AREAS ACCOUNT.
``(a) Account Established.--
``(1) In general.--There shall be, within the universal
service fund established pursuant to section 254, a separate
account to be known as the `Broadband for Unserved Areas
Account'.
``(2) Purpose.--The purpose of the account is to provide
financial assistance for the deployment of broadband
communications services to unserved areas throughout the United
States.
``(b) Implementation.--
``(1) In general.--The Commission shall by rule establish--
``(A) guidelines for determining which areas may be
considered to be unserved areas for purposes of this
section;
``(B) criteria for determining which facilities-
based providers of broadband communications service,
and which projects, are eligible for support from the
account;
``(C) procedural guidelines for awarding assistance
from the account on a merit-based and competitive
basis;
``(D) guidelines for application procedures,
accounting and reporting requirements, and other
appropriate fiscal controls for assistance made
available from the account; and
``(E) a procedure for making funds in the account
available among the several States on an equitable
basis.
``(2) Study and annual reports on unserved areas.--
``(A) In general.--Within 6 months after the date
of enactment of the Universal Service for the 21st
Century Act, the Commission shall conduct a study to
determine which areas of the United States may be
considered to be `unserved areas' for purposes of this
section. For purposes of the study and for purposes of
the guidelines to be established under subsection
(a)(1), the availability of broadband communications
services by satellite in an area shall not preclude
designation of that area as unserved if the Commission
determines that subscribership to the service in that
area is de minimis.
``(B) Annual updates.--The Commission shall update
the study annually.
``(C) Report.--The Commission shall transmit a
report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science,
and Transportation and the House of Representatives
Committee on Energy and Commerce setting forth the
findings and conclusions of the Commission for the
study and each update under this paragraph and making
recommendations for an increase or decrease, if
necessary, in the amounts credited to the account under
this section.
``(3) State involvement.--The Commission may delegate the
distribution of funding under this section to States subject to
Commission guidelines and approval by the Commission.
``(c) Limitations.--
``(1) Annual amount.--Amounts obligated or expended under
subsection (c) for any fiscal year may not exceed $500,000,000.
``(2) Use of funds.--To the extent that amounts in the
account are not obligated or expended for financial assistance
under this section, they shall be used to support universal
service under section 254.
``(3) Support limited to facilities-based single provider
per unserved area.--Assistance under this section may be
provided only to--
``(A) facilities-based providers of broadband
communications service; and
``(B) 1 facility-based provider of broadband
communications service in any unserved area.
``(d) Application With Sections 214, 254, and 410.--
``(1) Section 214(e).--Section 214(e) shall not apply to
the Broadband for Unserved Areas Account.
``(2) Section 254.--Section 254 shall be applied to the
Broadband for Unserved Areas Account--
``(A) by disregarding--
``(i) subsections (a) and (e) thereof; and
``(ii) any other provision thereof
determined by the Commission to be
inappropriate or inapplicable to implementation
of this section; and
``(B) by reconciling, to the maximum extent
feasible and in accordance with guidelines prescribed
by the Commission, the implementation of this section
with the provisions of subsections (h) and (l) thereof.
``(3) Section 410.--Section 410 shall not apply to the
Broadband for Unserved Areas Account.
``(e) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Broadband.--
``(A) In general.--The term `broadband' shall be
defined by the Commission in accordance with the
requirements of this paragraph.
``(B) Revision of initial definition.--Within 30
days after the date of enactment of the Universal
Service for the 21st Century Act, the Commission shall
revise its definition of broadband to require a data
rate--
``(i) greater than the 200 kilobits per
second standard established in its Section 706
Report (14 FCC Rec. 2406); and
``(ii) consistent with data rates for
broadband communications services generally
available to the public on the date of
enactment of that Act.
``(C) Annual review of definition.--The Commission
shall review its definition of broadband no less
frequently than once each year and revise that
definition as appropriate.
``(2) Broadband communications service defined.--The term
`broadband communications service' means a high-speed
communications capability that enables users to originate and
receive high-quality voice, data, graphics, and video
communications using any technology.''.
SEC. 6. IMPLEMENTATION OF SECTION 254A.
The Federal Communications Commission shall complete a proceeding
and issue a final rule to implement section 254A of the Communications
Act of 1934 not more than 6 months after the date of enactment of this
Act.
<all>D23/