Rural Broadband Window of Opportunity Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1610 To direct the Federal Communications Commission to prioritize the timely processing of certain long-form applications in the Rural Digital Oppor- tunity Fund Phase I auction. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 8, 2021 Mr. BERGMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To direct the Federal Communications Commission to prioritize the timely processing of certain long-form ap- plications in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction. 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 ‘‘Rural Broadband Win- 4 dow of Opportunity Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 6 The purpose of this Act is to level the playing field 7 for service providers participating in the Rural Digital Op- 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:46 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1610.IH H1610 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1610 IH portunity Fund that are disadvantaged by short construc- 1 tion seasons. 2 SEC. 3. APPLICATION PROCESSING PRIORITIZATION. 3 With respect to the long-form applicants of the Rural 4 Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction provided for 5 in the Report and Order in the matter of Rural Digital 6 Opportunity Fund and Connect America Fund adopted by 7 the Federal Communications Commission (in this section 8 referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’) on December 7, 2020 9 (FCC 20–5), the Commission shall prioritize the timely 10 processing of long-form applications and any subsequent 11 paperwork (in this section referred to as the ‘‘applica- 12 tions’’) submitted by the long-form applicants as follows: 13 The Commission shall prioritize the timely processing of 14 applications which are proposing to provide service in geo- 15 graphic areas which the Commission determines to have 16 the shortest construction seasons (such as in areas charac- 17 terized by long winters with heavy snowfall). 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:46 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1610.IH H1610 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS