[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1766 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1766

   To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to permit Bell operating 
   companies to provide interstate and intrastate telecommunications 
   services within one year after the date of enactment of this Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 16, 1998

  Mr. McCain introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to permit Bell operating 
   companies to provide interstate and intrastate telecommunications 
   services within one year after the date of enactment of this Act.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Telecommunications Competition Act 
of 1998''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) competition in telecommunications will encourage 
        infrastructure development, have beneficial effects on the 
        price, universal availability, variety and quality of 
        telecommunications services, and improve our economy, our 
        culture, and our political system;
            (2) all telecommunications markets should be open to 
        competition and all providers of telecommunications services 
        should be able to provide such services and be subject to 
        equivalent regulation when offering such services;
            (3) all providers of telecommunications should be subject 
        to equivalent regulation;
            (4) the elimination of the restraints on the lines of 
        business will result in the creation of a substantial number of 
        new jobs;
            (5) if the removal of the restrictions on the lines of 
        business are delayed, the job creation resulting from the 
        removal of these constraints will also be delayed;
            (6) advanced telecommunications services can enhance the 
        quality of life and promote economic development, job creation, 
        and international competitiveness;
            (7) advancements in the nation's telecommunications 
        infrastructure will enhance the public welfare by helping to 
        speed the delivery of services such as telemedicine, distance 
        learning, remote medical services, and distribution of health 
        information;
            (8) improvements in the telecommunications infrastructure 
        will be greatly enhanced if all providers of telecommunications 
        services are permitted to offer these services on the same 
        basis and subject to equivalent regulatory requirements;
            (9) rural and sparsely populated areas will not receive the 
        benefits of advanced telecommunications services unless all 
        providers of telecommunications services have eliminated the 
        restrictions on the lines of business in which they may engage;
            (10) existing regulatory devices no longer work, and the 
        regulatory asymmetries that exist today are inconsistent with 
        competitive marketplaces; and
            (11) oversight of the telecommunications industry should be 
        conducted from the perspective of the Antitrust Laws by the 
        Department of Justice and from the regulatory perspective by 
        the Commission for interstate telecommunications services and 
        the States for intrastate telecommunications services.

SEC. 3. ONE-YEAR MAXIMUM START DATE FOR BOC INTERSTATE AND INTRASTATE 
              SERVICES.

    Part III of title II of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
271 et seq.) is amended by inserting before section 271 the following:

``SEC. 270. DATE CERTAIN FOR START OF BELL OPERATING COMPANY SERVICES.

    ``(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any provision of this Act to the 
contrary, on the date that is one year after the date of enactment of 
the Telecommunications Competition Act of 1998, a Bell operating 
company, and any affiliate of a Bell operating company, may provide 
interstate and intrastate telecommunications services.
    ``(b) State Law Superseded.--No State or local law may prohibit or 
prevent a Bell operating company, or an affiliate of a Bell operating 
company, from providing interstate and intrastate telecommunications 
services after the date specified in subsection (a).
    ``(c) Application with Other Provisions.--Any prerequisite 
established by any other provision of this Act that conditions the 
right to provide services regulated under this Act in any area upon the 
satisfaction by a Bell operating company of any requirement under this 
Act shall be, for all purposes of this Act, deemed to have been met on 
the date specified in subsection (a).''.
                                 <all>