CONNECT Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7363 To prohibit a State or political subdivision thereof from providing or offering for sale to the public retail or wholesale broadband internet access service, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 25, 2020 Mr. LONG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To prohibit a State or political subdivision thereof from providing or offering for sale to the public retail or wholesale broadband internet access service, 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 ‘‘Communities Over- 4 regulating Networks Need Economic Competition Today 5 Act’’ or the ‘‘CONNECT Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:52 Jul 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7363.IH H7363 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7363 IH SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON GOVERNMENT OWNED 1 BROADBAND NETWORKS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsections 3 (b)(1) and (c), a State or political subdivision thereof may 4 not provide or offer for sale to the public, a telecommuni- 5 cations provider, or to a commercial provider of broadband 6 internet access service, retail or wholesale broadband 7 internet access service. 8 (b) TRANSITIONAL RULE.—Any State or political 9 subdivision thereof providing or offering for sale, either 10 to the public, a telecommunications provider, or to a pro- 11 vider of broadband internet access service, retail or whole- 12 sale broadband internet access service, before the date of 13 the enactment of this section— 14 (1) notwithstanding subsection (a), may con- 15 tinue to provide or offer for sale such service if the 16 Commission finds there is no more than one other 17 commercial provider of broadband internet access 18 that provides competition for that service in a par- 19 ticular area; 20 (2) shall notify each subscriber of the State or 21 political subdivision if a commercial provider of re- 22 tail broadband internet access enters the market; 23 and 24 (3) may not construct or extend facilities used 25 to deliver broadband internet access service beyond 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:52 Jul 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7363.IH H7363 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7363 IH the geographic area in which the State or political 1 subdivision thereof lawfully operates. 2 (c) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), 3 this section does not apply to the Tennessee Valley Au- 4 thority. 5 (d) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—This section may not be con- 7 strued to restrict a State or political subdivision 8 thereof, from allowing the nondiscriminatory use of 9 its rights-of-way, including access to utility poles, 10 conduits, ducts, or similar support structures used 11 for the deployment of facilities necessary to deliver 12 broadband internet access service. 13 (2) PUBLIC SAFETY.—This section may not be 14 construed to restrict a State or political subdivision 15 thereof, from providing broadband facilities or serv- 16 ices for 9–1–1, enhanced 9–1–1 service, or Next 17 Generation 9–1–1. 18 (e) LIMITATION OF COMMISSION AUTHORITY.—Not- 19 withstanding any provision of law, including section 706 20 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 706), the 21 Commission may not pre-empt State laws to permit a 22 State or political subdivision thereof to provide or offer 23 for sale to the public retail or wholesale broadband inter- 24 net access service. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:52 Jul 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7363.IH H7363 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7363 IH (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 1 (1) 9–1–1 REQUEST FOR EMERGENCY ASSIST- 2 ANCE.—The term ‘‘9–1–1 request for emergency as- 3 sistance’’ means a communication, such as voice, 4 text, picture, multimedia, or any other type of data 5 that is sent to an emergency communications center 6 for the purpose of requesting emergency assistance. 7 (2) BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE.— 8 The term ‘‘broadband internet access service’’ has 9 the meaning given that term in section 8.1(b) of title 10 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor 11 regulation. 12 (3) COMMONLY ACCEPTED STANDARDS.—The 13 term ‘‘commonly accepted standards’’ means— 14 (A) the technical standards followed by the 15 communications industry for network, device, 16 and Internet Protocol connectivity, including 17 standards developed by the Third Generation 18 Partnership Project, the Institute of Electrical 19 and Electronics Engineers, the Alliance for 20 Telecommunications Industry Solutions, the 21 Internet Engineering Taskforce, and the Inter- 22 national Telecommunications Union; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:52 Jul 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7363.IH H7363 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7363 IH (B) standards that are accredited by a rec- 1 ognized authority such as the American Na- 2 tional Standards Institute. 3 (4) EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS CENTER.— 4 The term ‘‘emergency communications center’’ 5 means a facility that is designated to receive a 9– 6 1–1 request for emergency assistance and perform 7 one or more of the following functions: 8 (A) Process and analyze 9–1–1 requests 9 for emergency assistance and other gathered in- 10 formation. 11 (B) Dispatch appropriate emergency re- 12 sponse providers. 13 (C) Transfer or exchange 9–1–1 requests 14 for emergency assistance and other gathered in- 15 formation with other emergency communica- 16 tions centers and emergency response providers. 17 (D) Analyze any communications received 18 from emergency response providers. 19 (E) Support incident command functions. 20 (5) EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROVIDER.—The 21 term ‘‘emergency response provider’’— 22 (A) has the meaning given that term under 23 section 2 of the Homeland Security Act (47 24 U.S.C. 101); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:52 Jul 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7363.IH H7363 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7363 IH (B) includes Federal, State, and local gov- 1 ernmental and nongovernmental emergency 2 public safety, fire, law enforcement, emergency 3 response, emergency medical (including hospital 4 emergency facilities), and related personnel, 5 agencies, and authorities. 6 (6) ENHANCED 9–1–1 SERVICE.—The term ‘‘en- 7 hanced 9–1–1 service’’ has the meaning given that 8 term in section 7(10) of the Wireless Communica- 9 tions and Public Safety Act of 1999 (47 U.S.C. 10 615b(10)). 11 (7) INTEROPERABLE.—The term ‘‘interoper- 12 able’’ means the capability of emergency communica- 13 tions centers to receive 9–1–1 requests for emer- 14 gency assistance and related data such as location 15 information and callback numbers from the public, 16 then process and share the 9–1–1 requests for emer- 17 gency assistance and related data with other emer- 18 gency communications centers and emergency re- 19 sponse providers, regardless of jurisdiction, equip- 20 ment, device, software, service provider, or other rel- 21 evant factors, and without the need for proprietary 22 interfaces. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:52 Jul 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7363.IH H7363 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7363 IH (8) NEXT GENERATION 9–1–1.—The term 1 ‘‘Next Generation 9–1–1’’ means an interoperable, 2 secure, Internet Protocol-based system that— 3 (A) employs commonly accepted standards; 4 (B) enables the appropriate emergency 5 communications centers to receive, process, and 6 analyze all types of 9–1–1 requests for emer- 7 gency assistance; 8 (C) acquires and integrates additional in- 9 formation useful to handling 9–1–1 requests for 10 emergency assistance; and 11 (D) supports sharing information related 12 to 9–1–1 requests for emergency assistance 13 among emergency communications centers and 14 emergency response providers. 15 (9) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any 16 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 17 Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the United 18 States Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Is- 19 lands, and any other territory or possession of the 20 United States. 21 (10) TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROVIDER.—The 22 term ‘‘telecommunications provider’’ means an eligi- 23 ble telecommunications carrier as designated under 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:52 Jul 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7363.IH H7363 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7363 IH section 214(e)(2) of the Communications Act of 1 1934 (47 U.S.C. 214(e)(2)). 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:52 Jul 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7363.IH H7363 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS