CABLE Competition Act

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- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Consumer Access to 4 Broadband for Local Economies and Competition Act’’ or 5 the ‘‘CABLE Competition Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. SALES OF CABLE SYSTEMS. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 627 of the Communica- 8 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 547) is amended to read: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1103.IH H1103 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1103 IH ‘‘SEC. 627. CONDITIONS OF SALE OR TRANSFER. 1 ‘‘(a) VALUE OF CABLE SYSTEM UPON SALE OR 2 TRANSFER.— 3 ‘‘(1) AFTER DENIAL OF FRANCHISE RE- 4 NEWAL.—If a renewal of a franchise held by a cable 5 operator is denied and the franchising authority ac- 6 quires ownership of the cable system or effects a 7 transfer of ownership of the system to another per- 8 son, any such acquisition or transfer shall be at fair 9 market value, determined on the basis of the cable 10 system valued as a going concern but with no value 11 allocated to the franchise itself. 12 ‘‘(2) AFTER REVOCATION OF FRANCHISE FOR 13 CAUSE.—If a franchise held by a cable operator is 14 revoked for cause and the franchising authority ac- 15 quires ownership of the cable system or effects a 16 transfer of ownership of the system to another per- 17 son, any such acquisition or transfer shall be at fair 18 market value. 19 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORITY OF FRANCHISING 20 AUTHORITY WITH RESPECT TO TRANSFER OF FRAN- 21 CHISE.— 22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A franchising authority 23 may not— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1103.IH H1103 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1103 IH ‘‘(A) preclude a cable operator from trans- 1 ferring a franchise to a person to which such 2 franchise was not initially granted; or 3 ‘‘(B) require a cable operator to which a 4 franchise is initially granted to receive approval 5 from the franchising authority for the transfer 6 of such franchise to a person who to which such 7 franchise was not initially granted. 8 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION.—In the case of the trans- 9 fer of a franchise to a person to which such fran- 10 chise was not originally granted, a franchising au- 11 thority may require a cable operator to which a fran- 12 chise was initially granted to, not later than 15 days 13 after a transfer of a franchise, notify the franchising 14 authority in writing of such transfer. 15 ‘‘(3) TRANSFER DEFINED.—In this subsection, 16 the term ‘transfer’ means the assignment rights 17 under a franchise through any transaction, including 18 a merger, sale, assignment, restructuring, or trans- 19 fer of control of a cable operator or a cable sys- 20 tem.’’. 21 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section, and the amend- 22 ments made by subsection (a), shall take effect 6 months 23 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1103.IH H1103 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1103 IH (c) APPLICATION.—This section, and the amendment 1 made by subsection (a), shall apply to a franchise grant- 2 ed— 3 (1) on or after the effective date established by 4 subsection (b); or 5 (2) before such date, if such franchise (includ- 6 ing any renewal term thereof) is in effect on such 7 date. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1103.IH H1103 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS