II
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3995
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 1, 2010
Ms. Snowe (for herself and Mr. Warner) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works
A BILL
To direct the Administrator of the General Services Administration to install Wi-Fi hotspots and wireless neutral host systems in all Federal buildings in order to improve in-building wireless communications coverage and commercial network capacity by offloading wireless traffic onto wireline broadband networks.
Short title
This Act may be cited as
the Federal Wi-Net
Act
.
Installation of Wi-Fi hotspots and wireless neutral host systems in all Federal buildings
In general
The Administrator of the General Services Administration shall—
install Wi-Fi hotspots in all publicly accessible Federal buildings constructed after the date of enactment of this Act;
allow for the installation of wireless neutral host systems by any eligible carriers upon request in all publicly accessible Federal buildings; and
in a manner consistent with sound management principles, retrofit all Federal buildings constructed prior to the date of enactment of this Act on a timetable that reflects the importance of wireless communication to the Federal functions being performed by the occupants of such buildings, provided that all such building shall be retrofitted not later than December 31, 2013.
Funding
There shall be made available from the Federal Buildings Fund established under section 592 of title 40, United States Code, $15,000,000 to carry out this section. Such sums shall be derived from the unobligated balance of amounts made available from the Federal Buildings Fund for fiscal year 2010, and prior fiscal years, for repairs and alterations and other activities (excluding amounts made available for the energy program). Such sums shall remain available until expended.
Federal easements and rights-of-way
Grant
If an executive agency, a State, a political subdivision or agency of a State, or a person applies for the grant of an easement or rights-of-way to, in, over, or on a building owned by the Federal Government for the right to install, construct, and maintain wireless transmitters and backhaul transmission, the executive agency having control of the building may grant to the applicant, on behalf of the Federal Government, an easement or rights-of-way to perform such installation, construction, and maintenance.
Application
The Administrator of the General Services Administration shall develop a common form for rights-of-way applications required under subsection (a) for all executive agencies that shall be used by applicants with respect to the buildings of each such agency.
Fee
In general
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in making a grant of an easement or rights-of-way pursuant to subsection (a), the Administrator of the General Services Administration shall establish a reasonable fee for the award of such grant that is based on fair market prices.
Exceptions
The Administrator of the General Services Administration may establish exceptions to the fee amount required under paragraph (1)—
in consideration of the public benefit provided by a grant of an easement or rights-of-way; and
in the interest of expanding wireless and broadband coverage.
Use of fees collected
Any fee amounts collected by an executive agency pursuant to subsection (b) shall be used by the agency for the construction and maintenance of Wi-Fi hotspots and wireless neutral host systems.
Master contracts for wireless transmitter sitings
In general
Notwithstanding section 704 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, or any regulation pursuant thereto, or any other provision of law, and not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the General Services Administration shall develop one or more master contracts that shall govern the placement of wireless transmitters on buildings owned by the Federal Government. Such master contract shall, with respect to the siting of wireless transmitters, standardize the treatment of covering rooftop space, equipment, and technology, and any other key issues that the Administrator determines appropriate.
Applicability
The master contract developed by the Administrator of the General Services Administration under subsection (a) shall apply to all publicly accessible buildings owned by the Federal Government, unless the Administrator decides that local issues with respect to the siting of wireless transmitters requires non-standard treatment of a specific building.
Application
The Administrator of the General Services Administration shall develop a common form or set of forms for wireless transmitter siting applications required under this section for all executive agencies that shall be used by applicants with respect to the buildings of each such agency.
Definitions
As used in this Act:
Wireless neutral host system
The term wireless neutral host
system
means a small cellular communications base station and related
antenna, such as a femtocell, picocell, or similar device or apparatus, that is
connected to a broadband service to provide—
improved cellular coverage within a building; and
increased network capacity.
Wi-Fi hotspot
The term Wi-Fi hotspot
means a site or
area in which the public can access the Internet via a wireless
connection.