CABLE Competition Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7336 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 JUNE 25, 2020 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 621 of the Communica- 8 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 541) is amended by adding 9 at the end the following: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:10 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7336.IH H7336 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7336 IH ‘‘(g)(1) A franchising authority may not— 1 ‘‘(A) preclude a cable operator from transfer- 2 ring a franchise to a person to which such franchise 3 was not initially granted; or 4 ‘‘(B) require a cable operator to which a fran- 5 chise is initially granted to receive approval from the 6 franchising authority for the transfer of such fran- 7 chise to a person who to which such franchise was 8 not initially granted. 9 ‘‘(2) In the case of the transfer of a franchise to a 10 person to which such franchise was not originally granted, 11 a franchising authority may require a cable operator to 12 which a franchise was initially granted to, not later than 13 15 days after a transfer of a franchise, notify the fran- 14 chising authority in writing of such transfer. 15 ‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘transfer’ means the 16 assignment rights under a franchise through any trans- 17 action, including a merger, sale, assignment, restruc- 18 turing, or transfer of control of a cable operator or a cable 19 system.’’. 20 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section, and the amend- 21 ment made by subsection (a), shall take effect 6 months 22 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:10 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7336.IH H7336 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7336 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 19:10 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7336.IH H7336 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS