Broadband Transparency and Accountability Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4024 To improve the collection and distribution of broadband availability data. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 25, 2019 Ms. FINKENAUER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To improve the collection and distribution of broadband availability data. 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 ‘‘Broadband Trans- 4 parency and Accountability Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—In this Act— 7 (1) the term ‘‘affordable broadband service’’— 8 (A) except as provided in subparagraph 9 (B), with respect to a covered household, means 10 broadband service at the baseline speed with an 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:53 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4024.IH H4024 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4024 IH annual cost of not more than 1.5 percent of the 1 annual median household income for the county 2 in which the covered household is located; and 3 (B) with respect to a covered household lo- 4 cated in a county in which the annual median 5 household income exceeds the annual median 6 household income for the United States, means 7 broadband service at the baseline speed with an 8 annual cost of not more than 1.5 percent of the 9 annual median household income for the United 10 States; 11 (2) the term ‘‘annual median household in- 12 come’’ means annual median household income as 13 reported by the Bureau of the Census; 14 (3) the term ‘‘baseline speed’’, with respect to 15 broadband service, means the highest download and 16 upload speeds available to a majority of urban sub- 17 scribers to broadband service, as determined by the 18 Commission; 19 (4) the term ‘‘Broadband Map’’ means the map 20 developed and maintained by the Commission under 21 section 4; 22 (5) the term ‘‘broadband service’’— 23 (A) subject to subsection (b), has the 24 meaning given the term ‘‘advanced tele- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:53 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4024.IH H4024 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4024 IH communications capability’’ in section 706 of 1 the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 2 U.S.C. 1302); and 3 (B) does not include mobile service or sat- 4 ellite-based service; 5 (6) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Federal 6 Communications Commission; 7 (7) the term ‘‘county’’, in the case of a State 8 that does not have a local county system of govern- 9 ance, means an equivalent political subdivision as 10 determined by the Commission, consistent with State 11 law; 12 (8) the term ‘‘covered entity’’ means an entity 13 that— 14 (A) is required to report data to the Com- 15 mission under the Form 477 Program; and 16 (B) provides broadband service; 17 (9) the term ‘‘covered household’’— 18 (A) means a household; and 19 (B) includes a farm, a ranch, a business, 20 and a public facility, without regard to whether 21 any such entity serves as a residence; 22 (10) the term ‘‘Form 477 Program’’ means the 23 program carried out by the Commission under sub- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:53 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4024.IH H4024 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4024 IH part V of part 1 of title 47, Code of Federal Regula- 1 tions, or any successor regulation; 2 (11) the term ‘‘has access to broadband serv- 3 ice’’, with respect to a covered household, means af- 4 fordable broadband service— 5 (A) is being provided to the covered house- 6 hold; or 7 (B) could be provided to the covered 8 household not later than 10 days after the date 9 on which the covered household chooses to sub- 10 scribe to such service, if the household so choos- 11 es; 12 (12) the term ‘‘qualified technology’’— 13 (A) means a technology that delivers 14 broadband service at not less than the baseline 15 speed; and 16 (B) does not include any technology— 17 (i) used to provide broadband service 18 to fewer than 5 percent of urban sub- 19 scribers to broadband service in the United 20 States; or 21 (ii) that is experimental or specula- 22 tive, until a provider of the technology has 23 proven through consumer choices to be a 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:53 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4024.IH H4024 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4024 IH competitor in the marketplace, as deter- 1 mined by the Commission; and 2 (13) the term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning given 3 the term in section 3 of the Communications Act of 4 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153). 5 (b) UPDATES TO DEFINITION OF BROADBAND SERV- 6 ICE.—Not less frequently than once every 2 years, the 7 Commission shall update the definition of the term 8 ‘‘broadband service’’. 9 SEC. 3. COLLECTION OF DATA. 10 (a) FORM 477 PROGRAM.— 11 (1) COLLECTION OF MORE GRANULAR DATA.— 12 In collecting data from a covered entity under the 13 Form 477 Program, the Commission shall require 14 the covered entity to report data for each covered 15 household in a census block. 16 (2) DATA COLLECTION.— 17 (A) TYPES OF DATA.—In collecting data 18 from a covered entity under the Form 477 Pro- 19 gram, the Commission shall require the covered 20 entity to report data that reflects the average 21 speed and other characteristics of broadband 22 service, including— 23 (i) price and affordability, including, 24 with respect to price, the total monthly 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:53 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4024.IH H4024 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4024 IH price charged to a covered household for 1 each distinct broadband service plan or tier 2 of standalone broadband service, net of any 3 promotional discount, including mandatory 4 equipment charges, usage-based fees, and 5 fees for early termination of required con- 6 tracts; 7 (ii) latency, including latency— 8 (I) internal to the network, as 9 measured on the backbone; and 10 (II) from the backbone out to the 11 entire internet routing table, reported 12 as an average based on a measure- 13 ment of latency against 10 anchor 14 sites selected by the Commission from 15 among the most popular websites in 16 the United States; 17 (iii) denials of service and the reason 18 for such denials, such as— 19 (I) insufficient bandwidth capac- 20 ity to serve additional customers; or 21 (II) the inability to reach a loca- 22 tion; and 23 (iv) the type of broadband technology 24 available. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:53 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4024.IH H4024 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4024 IH (B) CHARACTERISTICS OF BROADBAND 1 SERVICE AS ADVERTISED, AS AGREED TO, AND 2 AS DELIVERED.—In collecting data from a cov- 3 ered entity under the Form 477 Program, the 4 Commission shall require the covered entity to 5 report data that measures the characteristics of 6 broadband service reported under subparagraph 7 (A)— 8 (i) as advertised by the covered entity; 9 (ii) as subscribed to by the consumer; 10 and 11 (iii) that the covered entity actually 12 delivers to subscribers during high-volume 13 hours, which shall be defined by the Com- 14 mission based on the type of broadband 15 service usage in a particular area, includ- 16 ing whether the usage is primarily— 17 (I) commercial or industrial; or 18 (II) residential. 19 (3) UPDATES TO REPORTING REQUIRE- 20 MENTS.— 21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently 22 than once every 3 years, the Commission shall 23 update the reporting requirements for covered 24 entities under the Form 477 Program. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:53 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4024.IH H4024 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4024 IH (B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 1 subparagraph (A) shall be construed to author- 2 ize the Commission to collect less granular data 3 than is required under this subsection. 4 (b) GOVERNMENT SOURCES.—The Commission shall 5 collect data relating to broadband service from— 6 (1) each Federal agency that has such data, in- 7 cluding the Department of Agriculture; and 8 (2) each State or local governmental entity that 9 is willing to share such data. 10 (c) CONSOLIDATION OF DATA.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall con- 12 solidate all data relating to broadband service that 13 is collected under the Form 477 Program or under 14 subsection (b) into a single database. 15 (2) USAC.—The Commission may enter into a 16 contract with the Universal Service Administrative 17 Company to administer the database described in 18 paragraph (1). 19 SEC. 4. DISTRIBUTION OF DATA. 20 (a) AVAILABILITY OF DATA.—Subject to subsection 21 (b), the Commission shall make all data relating to 22 broadband service collected under the Form 477 Program 23 or from governmental entities under section 3(b) available 24 in native electronic format to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:53 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4024.IH H4024 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4024 IH (1) other Federal agencies; 1 (2) a broadband office, public utility commis- 2 sion, broadband mapping program, or other 3 broadband program of a State, in the case of data 4 pertaining to the needs of that State; 5 (3) a unit of local government, in the case of 6 data pertaining to the needs of that locality; 7 (4) a nonprofit organization; and 8 (5) an individual conducting research for non- 9 commercial purposes. 10 (b) PROTECTION OF DATA.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may not 12 share any data described in subsection (a) with an 13 entity or individual described in that subsection un- 14 less the Commission has determined that the receiv- 15 ing entity or individual has the capability and intent 16 to protect any personally identifiable information 17 contained in the data. 18 (2) DETERMINATION OF PERSONALLY IDENTI- 19 FIABLE INFORMATION.—The Commission— 20 (A) shall define the term ‘‘personally iden- 21 tifiable information’’, for purposes of paragraph 22 (1), through notice and comment rulemaking; 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:53 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4024.IH H4024 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4024 IH (B) may not share any data under sub- 1 section (a) before completing the rulemaking 2 under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph. 3 (3) BALANCING ACCESS AND PROTECTION.—If 4 the Commission is unable to determine under para- 5 graph (1) that an entity or individual requesting ac- 6 cess to data under subsection (a) has the capability 7 to protect personally identifiable information con- 8 tained in the data, the Commission shall make as 9 much of the data available as possible in a format 10 that does not compromise personally identifiable in- 11 formation, through methods such as anonymization. 12 (c) MAP.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission, in coordi- 14 nation with the Secretary of Commerce, the Sec- 15 retary of Agriculture, and State and local stake- 16 holders, shall develop and maintain a searchable, 17 interactive, and comprehensive nationwide inventory 18 map of existing broadband service capability and 19 availability in the United States that depicts the ge- 20 ographic extent to which broadband service is de- 21 ployed and available from a commercial provider or 22 public provider throughout each State. 23 (2) PARAMETERS.—Not later than 180 days 24 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commis- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:53 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4024.IH H4024 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 4024 IH sion shall establish parameters for, and make avail- 1 able to the public, the map required under para- 2 graph (1). 3 (3) REVISIONS.—Not less frequently than every 4 2 years, the Commission shall revise the parameters 5 established under paragraph (2). 6 (4) REPLACEMENT OF PRIOR MAPS.—The map 7 developed by the Commission under paragraph (1) 8 shall replace any broadband deployment map main- 9 tained by the Commission before the date of enact- 10 ment of this Act. 11 (d) GRADATED OR TIERED MAPPING.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—In producing the Broadband 13 Map, the Commission shall— 14 (A) create, at a minimum— 15 (i) a map that indicates the percent- 16 age of covered households in each census 17 block that have access to broadband service 18 at the baseline speed during peak usage 19 hours; 20 (ii) a map that indicates the percent- 21 age of covered households in each census 22 block that have access to broadband service 23 delivered using a qualified technology; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:53 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4024.IH H4024 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 4024 IH (iii) a map that layers the types of 1 telecommunications technology available to 2 deliver broadband service in each census 3 block; and 4 (iv) a map that indicates the relative 5 affordability of broadband service in each 6 census block; and 7 (B) enable users of the Broadband Map 8 to— 9 (i) layer the maps described in sub- 10 paragraph (A); and 11 (ii) filter the maps described in sub- 12 paragraph (A) by broadband provider. 13 (2) TIERS.—The Commission shall display the 14 percentage of covered households in a census block 15 that have access to broadband service or technology 16 under paragraph (1) by reference to one of the fol- 17 lowing tiers: 18 (A) Less than 20 percent. 19 (B) Not less than 20 percent and less than 20 40 percent. 21 (C) Not less than 40 percent and less than 22 60 percent. 23 (D) Not less than 60 percent and less than 24 80 percent. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:53 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4024.IH H4024 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 4024 IH (E) Not less than 80 percent and less than 1 90 percent. 2 (F) Not less than 90 percent and less than 3 95 percent. 4 (G) Not less than 95 percent. 5 (e) UPDATES.—Not later than 180 days after col- 6 lecting data relating to broadband service under the Form 7 477 Program, the Commission, in consultation with the 8 Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, and 9 State and local stakeholders, shall— 10 (1) update the Broadband Map with the data, 11 and with any data collected from a governmental en- 12 tity under section 3(b) since the last update to the 13 Broadband Map; and 14 (2) make the data described in paragraph (1) 15 available under subsection (a). 16 SEC. 5. REPORT ON BROADBAND LAST-MILE TECH- 17 NOLOGIES. 18 Section 706 of th [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]