C–BAND Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4855 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for an auction of C–Band spectrum, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 24, 2019 Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, Ms. MATSUI, and Mr. GIANFORTE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for an auction of C–Band spectrum, 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 ‘‘Clearing Broad Air- 4 waves for New Deployment Act’’ or the ‘‘C–BAND Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. AUCTION OF C–BAND SPECTRUM. 6 Title III of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 7 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 8 following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4855.IH H4855 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4855 IH ‘‘PART V—C–BAND SPECTRUM 1 ‘‘SEC. 399L. AUCTION OF C–BAND SPECTRUM. 2 ‘‘Not later than September 30, 2022, the Commission 3 shall— 4 ‘‘(1) clear and reallocate no less than 200 5 megahertz and no more than 300 megahertz of con- 6 tiguous C–Band spectrum (reserving 20 megahertz 7 as guard band)— 8 ‘‘(A) for the provision of broadband inter- 9 net access service; and 10 ‘‘(B) in such a way that ensures that C– 11 Band-dependent users— 12 ‘‘(i) receive equal or better service as 13 before the implementation of this section; 14 and 15 ‘‘(ii) receive such service continuously 16 throughout the transition process; and 17 ‘‘(2) through a system of competitive bidding 18 under section 309(j), assign licenses for the use of 19 the spectrum reallocated under paragraph (1), ex- 20 cept for the spectrum reserved as guard band. 21 ‘‘SEC. 399M. DEFINITIONS. 22 ‘‘In this part: 23 ‘‘(1) C–BAND-DEPENDENT USER.—The term 24 ‘C–Band-dependent user’ means a person who— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4855.IH H4855 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4855 IH ‘‘(A) is a licensee or registrant of an earth 1 station receiving signals over C–Band spectrum; 2 or 3 ‘‘(B) receives or distributes programming 4 or services using C–Band spectrum. 5 ‘‘(2) C–BAND SPECTRUM.—The term ‘C–Band 6 spectrum’ means electromagnetic spectrum between 7 the frequencies of 3700 megahertz and 4200 mega- 8 hertz, inclusive. 9 ‘‘(3) CLEAR.—The term ‘clear’ means, with re- 10 spect to C–Band spectrum, to make such spectrum 11 available for reallocation and the assignment of li- 12 censes through a system of competitive bidding (or 13 reservation as guard band) under section 399L.’’. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4855.IH H4855 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS