[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2902 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2902

 To revise the definition of advanced service, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 20, 2000

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To revise the definition of advanced service, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Broadband Internet Regulatory Relief 
Act of 2000''.

SEC. 2. REGULATION OF ADVANCED SERVICE

    (a) In General.--Part II of title II of the Communications Act of 
1934 (47 U.S.C. 251 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end thereof 
the following:

``SEC. 262. PROVISION OF ADVANCED SERVICE BY INCUMBENT LOCAL EXCHANGE 
              CARRIERS.

    ``(a) In General.--Notwithstanding section 2(b) of this Act, or any 
other provision of law, an incumbent local exchange carrier shall not 
be subject to the requirements of--
            ``(1) section 251(c)(1), (c)(2), or (c)(5) with respect to 
        the duty to provide, for the facilities and equipment of any 
        requesting telecommunications carrier, interconnection with or 
        notice of changes regarding any packet-based functionality of 
        the local exchange carrier's network;
            ``(2) section 251(c)(1) or (c)(3) with respect to any 
        network element that consists of or is created by a packet-
        switched or successor technology;
            ``(3) section 251(c)(1) or (c)(4) with respect to the 
        provision of any advanced service;
            ``(4) section 251(c)(1) or (c)(6) with respect to any 
        premises or structure used solely for network elements 
        described in paragraph (2) of this subsection; or
            ``(5) section 251(c)(1), (c)(2)(3), or (c)(5) with respect 
        to any optical fiber in the incumbent's distribution network 
        that is used exclusively to provide telecommunications service 
        to residential subscribers; and
                    ``(i) that is or was either--
                            ``(I) deployed where previously no outside 
                        telephone distribution plant existed;
                            ``(II) deployed as a replacement for any 
                        outside telephone distribution plant; or
                            ``(III) deployed from a remote terminal to 
                        a customer premises; and
                    ``(ii) where the facilities are capable of 
                providing telephone exchange service, 10 Base T Data 
                (or its equivalent), and VHS-quality video, or are 
                capable of providing all of these services through the 
                upgrade of electronics.
Nothing in this subsection shall preclude the Commission or a State 
from requiring that an incumbent local exchange carrier provide an 
existing copper loop to a local exchange carrier upon request.
    ``(b) Buildout Requirements.--
            ``(1) An incumbent local exchange carrier or affiliate 
        shall--
                    ``(A) make available advanced service to 80 percent 
                of its telephone exchange service customers in a State 
                within 3 years of the date of enactment of the 
                Broadband Internet Regulatory Relief Act of 2000 where 
                such services can be provided using an industry-
                approved standard and existing loop facilities; and
                    ``(B) make available advanced service to 100 
                percent of its telephone exchange service customers in 
                a State within 5 years of that date within 30 days of a 
                bona fide request by any such customer where such 
                services can be provided using an industry-approved 
                standard and existing loop facilities.
            ``(2) An incumbent local exchange carrier that satisfies 
        the requirements of paragraph (1), within the time frames set 
        forth therein, shall continue to receive all regulatory relief 
        provided by subsections (a) and (c) for any service or 
        combination of services that consists of, or includes, the 
        offering of a capability to transmit information using a 
        packet-switched or successor technology downstream from a 
        provider to a consumer and upstream from a consumer to a 
        provider at a rated speed of 128 kilobits per second or more 
        where advanced service cannot be provided using an industry-
approved standard and existing loop facilities.
            ``(3) If an incumbent local exchange carrier fails to 
        comply with paragraph (1) within the time frames set forth 
        there, the regulatory relief provided by those subsections 
        shall not apply to it.
    ``(c) Pricing Flexibility.--
            ``(1) Competition for advanced service.--Except as provided 
        in this section, section 251, section 254, section 271, and 
        section 272, no advanced service offered by an incumbent local 
        exchange carrier nor the facilities used to provide such 
        service shall be subject to common carrier regulation by the 
        Commission or any State in any exchange where advanced service 
        is being provided by an unaffiliated advanced service provider.
            ``(2) Petition.--An incumbent local exchange carrier 
        seeking pricing flexibility under paragraph (1) may file a 
        petition with the Commission seeking such relief. A petition 
        under this paragraph is deemed to have been approved if the 
        Commission does not act on it within 30 days after it is filed.
            ``(3) Unconditional relief.--If the Commission determines 
        under paragraph (1) that advanced service is being offered by 
        an unaffiliated provider in the manner described in that 
        paragraph, the Commission shall approve the petition of the 
        incumbent local exchange carrier unconditionally.
            ``(4) Advanced service outside an incumbent's territory.--
        The rates, terms, and conditions of advanced service offered by 
        an incumbent local exchange carrier or its affiliate are not 
        subject to Federal or State regulation in any geographic area 
        in which that carrier, its successor, or assigns was not the 
        local incumbent exchange carrier on February 8, 1996.
            ``(5) Schedule of charges.--For any advanced service that 
        has not been determined by the Commission to be subject to 
        competition under paragraph (1), the incumbent local exchange 
        carrier furnishing such advanced service shall file with the 
        Commission a schedule of charges and practices for such 
        advanced service in a manner prescribed by the Commission under 
        section 203. Any such schedule of charges and practices shall 
        be deemed lawful and shall be effective 2 days after the date 
        on which it was filed with the Commission unless the Commission 
        takes action under section 204(a)(1) before the end of that 2-
        day period.
    ``(d) Noncompliance With Loop Provisioning and Collocation Rules.--
            ``(1) State determination.--Except as provided in paragraph 
        (2), subsections (a) and (c) shall cease to apply to an 
        incumbent local exchange carrier after the date on which a 
        State makes a final determination based on clear and convincing 
        evidence, in response to a complaint filed by another local 
        exchange carrier, that the incumbent local exchange carrier has 
        materially failed to comply with the rules of the Commission 
        with respect to collocation or the rules of the Commission or 
        the State with respect to loop provisioning. The burden of 
        proof shall be on the complainant.
            ``(2) Reinstatement.--
                    ``(A) In general.--An incumbent local exchange 
                carrier to which subsections (a) and (c) have ceased to 
                apply because of a determination by a State under 
                paragraph (1) may petition the State for a 
                reinstatement of the application of those subsections.
                    ``(B) Determination required.--If the State that 
                made the determination described in paragraph (1) 
                subsequently makes a final determination that the 
                carrier has complied fully with the rule with which the 
                carrier was found, under paragraph (1), not to have 
                complied, then the application of subsections (a) and 
                (c) to that incumbent local exchange carrier shall be 
                reinstated as of the date of that subsequent final 
                determination.
                    ``(C) Determination deemed affirmative if state 
                fails to act within 90 days.--For purposes of 
                subparagraph (B), a State that fails to make a 
                determination on a petition filed under subparagraph 
                (A) within 90 days shall be deemed to have made a 
                determination that the carrier is in full compliance 
                with the rules of the Commission with respect to 
                collocation and the rules of the Commission and the 
                State with respect to loop provisioning.
    ``(e) Remote Terminals.--
            ``(1) An incumbent local exchange carrier using equipment 
        located in a remote terminal to provide advanced services shall 
        have the duty to provide to any requesting telecommunications 
        carrier--
                    ``(A) access to subloop elements at such remote 
                terminal for the provision of advanced services; and
                    ``(B) access to rights of way consistent with 
                section 251(b)(4).
            ``(2) Collocation not required.--Nothing in paragraph (1), 
        any other provision of this Act, nor any other provision of law 
        shall require an incumbent local exchange carrier to provide 
        collocation at a remote terminal to any person.
    ``(f) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) the term `incumbent local exchange carrier' has the 
        meaning given to that term by section 251(h);
            ``(2) the term `customer premises' means the customer's 
        physical property or adjacent easement; and
            ``(3) the term `remote terminal' means the point in the 
        incumbent local exchange carrier's network where the electronic 
        capability to provide advanced service is deployed and where 
        such carrier provides subloop unbundling.''.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Section 251(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
251(b)) is amended by adding at the end thereof the following:
``Notwithstanding paragraph (5), after the date of enactment of the 
Broadband Internet Regulatory Relief Act of 2000, no local exchange 
carrier shall be required to make any payment for the transport, 
delivery, or termination of telecommunications to, or 
telecommunications that connects to, the Internet or any Internet 
service provider. The transport, delivery, or termination of 
telecommunications to, or telecommunications that connects to, the 
Internet or any Internet service provider is hereby deemed to be an 
interstate communication and subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of 
the Commission. The provisions of this subsection following paragraph 
(5) do not alter the terms of any interconnection agreement in effect 
on May 10, 2000, during the existing term of any such agreement. 
Neither section 252(i) nor any other legal or regulatory requirement 
shall require any local exchange carrier to make available to any other 
telecommunications carrier an interconnection arrangement under this 
subsection that is in an agreement that is in effect on or after May 
10, 2000. For the purposes of this subsection, the term `existing term' 
means the initial period of any interconnection agreement and does not 
include any period provided for negotiation or any extension of the 
initial period.''.
    (b) Section 251(c)(3) of that Act (47 U.S.C. 251(c)(3)) is amended 
by adding at the end thereof the following: ``An incumbent local 
exchange carrier shall not be required to provide network elements on 
an unbundled basis unless those elements are to be used predominantly 
to provide telephone exchange service.''.
    (c) Section 251(f) of that Act (47 U.S.C. 251(f)) is amended by 
adding at the end thereof the following:
            ``(3) Exemption for advanced services.--Neither section 
        251(c) nor any other common carrier regulation shall apply to 
        any local exchange carrier with fewer than 2 percent of the 
        nation's subscriber lines installed in the aggregate with 
        respect to its provision of advanced services. Any such carrier 
        may at its option continue to file tariffs for any advanced 
        service and may also continue to participate in any National 
        Exchange Carrier Association pooling arrangement.''.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    (a) In General.--Section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 153) is amended by--
            (1) redesignating paragraphs (1) through (51) as paragraphs 
        (3) through (53), respectively; and
            (2) inserting before paragraph (3), as redesignated, the 
        following:
            ``(1) Advanced service.--The term `advanced service' means 
        any service or combination of services that consists of, or 
        includes, the offering of a capability to transmit information 
        using a packet-switched or successor technology downstream from 
        a provider to a consumer at a rated speed of 200 kilobits per 
        second or more and upstream from a consumer to a provider at a 
        rated speed of 128 kilobits per second or more for access to 
        other services, to the Internet or other information or data 
        services, or to private network or data facilities.
            ``(2) Advanced service provider.--The term `advanced 
        service provider' means any provider of advanced services.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 271(c)(1)(A) of the 
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 271(c)(1)(A)) is amended by 
striking ``3(47)(A),'' and inserting ``3(50)(A),''.

                                 <all>