[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 159 Introduced in Senate (IS)]


108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 159

To require the Federal Communications Commission to allocate additional 
  spectrum for unlicensed use by wireless broadband devices, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 14, 2003

 Mrs. Boxer (for herself and Mr. Allen) introduced the following bill; 
    which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Federal Communications Commission to allocate additional 
  spectrum for unlicensed use by wireless broadband devices, 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 ``Jumpstart Broadband Act''.

SEC. 2. ENCOURAGEMENT OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES.

    (a) Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure Devices.--
            (1) Immediate allocation of spectrum.--Within 180 days 
        after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall 
        allocate not less than an additional 255 megahertz of 
        contiguous spectrum in the 5 gigahertz band for unlicensed use 
        by wireless broadband devices while ensuring that Department of 
        Defense devices and systems are not compromised.
            (2) Interference protection.--Within 180 days after the 
        date of enactment of this Act, the National Telecommunications 
        and Information Administration shall, after consultation with 
        all interested agencies and parties, including the Department 
        of Defense, establish standards for interference protection 
        that is reasonably required to enable incumbent Federal 
        government agency users of spectrum allocated under paragraph 
        (1) to continue to use that spectrum, and advise the Commission 
        of those standards.
            (3) Device requirements.--Within 360 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Commission shall--
                    (A) with respect to spectrum allocation under 
                paragraph (1), adopt minimal technical and device rules 
                to facilitate robust and efficient use for wireless 
                broadband devices; and
                    (B) amend its rules to require that all wireless 
                broadband devices manufactured after the effective date 
                of those rules that operate in the spectrum allocated 
                under paragraph (1)--
                            (i) be capable of 2-way digital 
                        communications;
                            (ii) meet the interference protection 
                        standards established under paragraph (2).

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    (a) In General.--In this Act:
            (1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
        Communications Commission.
            (2) Broadband service.--The term ``broadband service'' 
        means high rate digital transmission service--
                    (A) via cable modem, digital subscriber line, 
                wireless, satellite, or other telecommunications 
                technology; and
                    (B) capable of reliably transmitting voice, data, 
                and/or video simultaneously between and among digital 
                devices and between these devices and the Internet, on 
                a consistent basis, at data transfer rates no slower 
                than those defined from time to time by the Commission.
            (3) Wireless broadband device.--The term ``wireless 
        broadband device'' includes--
                    (A) U-NII devices (as defined in section 15.403(i) 
                of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations); and
                    (B) other devices used to access wireless broadband 
                services.
    (b) Terms Defined in the Communications Act of 1934.--Except as 
provided in subsection (a), any term used in this Act that is defined 
in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153) has the 
meaning given that term in that section.
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