[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5846 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5846

 To require the Federal Communications Commission to auction spectrum 
             for a free and open access broadband service.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 17, 2008

  Ms. Eshoo (for herself, Mr. Cannon, and Mr. Markey) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the Federal Communications Commission to auction spectrum 
             for a free and open access broadband service.

    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 ``Wireless Internet Nationwide for 
Families Act of 2008''.

SEC. 2. OPEN ACCESS BROADBAND SPECTRUM AUCTION.

    Section 309(j) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(17) Open access broadband spectrum auction.--
                    ``(A) Auctions required.--The Commission shall 
                promote nationwide broadband competition through the 
                use of wireless services by issuing nationwide 
                licenses, for a term of not less than 15 years, for two 
                bands of frequencies that consist of an initial band 
                and a second band of frequencies--
                            ``(i) each of which shall be composed of 20 
                        megahertz of unpaired contiguous spectrum;
                            ``(ii) the initial band of which shall be 
                        spectrum located between 2155 and 2180 
                        megahertz, inclusive; and
                            ``(iii) the second band of which shall be 
                        spectrum that--
                                    ``(I) is located under 3 gigahertz; 
                                and
                                    ``(II) is not part of the recovered 
                                analog spectrum, as such term is 
                                defined in paragraph (15)(C)(vi).
                    ``(B) Deadlines for initial auction.--The 
                Commission shall carry out the initial auctions 
                required by this paragraph by--
                            ``(i) commencing an auction of a single 
                        nationwide license for the initial band 
                        described in subparagraph (A)(ii) not later 
                        than 180 days after the date of enactment of 
                        the Wireless Internet Nationwide for Families 
                        Act of 2008; and
                            ``(ii) depositing the proceeds of such 
                        auction in accordance with paragraph (8)(A) not 
                        later than 210 days after such date of 
                        enactment.
                    ``(C) Second auction.--The Commission shall 
                commence and complete a separate rule-making or other 
                procedures for licensing through auction additional 
                unpaired contiguous spectrum of 20 megahertz below 3 
                gigahertz within 1 year of such date of enactment. Such 
                auction shall be conducted without the conditions 
                specified in subparagraph (F) unless the Commission 
                finds it is in the public interest to do so pursuant to 
                a rulemaking.
                    ``(D) Interference protection.--The Commission 
                shall ensure that licensees of spectrum obtained 
                pursuant to an auction under this paragraph and 
                licensees of adjacent spectrum are mutually and 
                adequately protected from harmful interference.
                    ``(E) Service and auction rules.--At least 30 days 
                prior to the deadlines established in subparagraphs 
                (B)(i) and (C), the Commission shall promulgate service 
                and auction rules for the licenses issued under 
                subparagraphs (B) and (C) that--
                            ``(i) make available spectrally efficient 
                        nationwide broadband services; and
                            ``(ii) promote the goals listed in 
                        subparagraphs (B), (D) and (F) of paragraph 
                        (4).
                    ``(F) Content of service requirements rules for 
                auctioned spectrum.--The Commission shall promulgate 
                such rules and regulations as are necessary to require, 
                as conditions of the licenses for the use of the 
                frequencies auctioned under this paragraph, that the 
                licensees shall--
                            ``(i) offer, at a minimum, always-on 
                        wireless broadband services within 2 years from 
                        the date of receipt of the license, and 
                        complete the construction of such wireless 
                        network with a signal covering at least 95 
                        percent of the population of the United States 
                        and its territories within 10 years from the 
                        initial operation of the network;
                            ``(ii) offer a data service that is faster 
                        than 200 kilobits per second one way (subject 
                        to subparagraph (G)) for free to consumers and 
                        authorized public safety users without 
                        subscription, airtime, usage, or other charges;
                            ``(iii) consistent with section 230 of this 
                        Act, offer such free data service with a 
                        technology protection measure or measures that 
                        protect underage users from accessing obscene 
                        or indecent material through such service;
                            ``(iv) provide such free data services on a 
                        wireless network that permits open access to 
                        affiliated and unaffiliated consumer devices by 
                        providing, publicly and royalty-free, published 
                        technical standards for developing and 
                        deploying subscriber equipment that can operate 
                        on the network subject to this paragraph; and
                            ``(v) provide such free data services using 
                        advanced and spectrally efficient wireless 
                        technologies that provide services to the 
                        largest feasible number of users and encourages 
                        broadband competition making broadband services 
                        more available and affordable.
                    ``(G) Review of free data service requirement.--The 
                Commission shall evaluate whether the speed of free 
                services under subparagraph (F) should be increased in 
                light of consumer demand, developments in wireless 
                broadband technologies, and the public interest and 
                shall conduct the first such evaluation 5 years after 
                the licensee commences operations, and shall conduct 
                subsequent evaluations at the time of license renewal 
                thereafter.
                    ``(H) Biennial broadband spectrum utilization 
                report.--
                            ``(i) Beginning in March of 2009, the 
                        Commission and the National Telecommunications 
                        and Information Administration shall jointly 
                        review competitive market conditions with 
                        respect to availability and affordability of 
                        broadband as well as the state of utilization 
                        of spectrum under the Commission's and the 
                        Administration's respective jurisdictions. 
                        Thereafter, the Commission and the 
                        Administration shall provide Congress a joint 
                        biannual report of their findings.
                            ``(ii) Such reports shall consider the 
                        state-of-the-art efficient use of all spectrum 
                        bands and shall include the basis on which such 
                        utilization and efficiency are determined.
                            ``(iii) In making their recommendations, 
                        the Commission and the Administration shall 
                        expressly consider the technological advances 
                        in commercial use of the spectrum as well as 
                        other relevant uses including public safety, 
                        national defense and other uses as determined 
                        by the public interest.
                            ``(iv) The joint report shall also provide 
                        specific recommendations for the reallocation 
                        or reassignment of spectrum found to be 
                        underutilized in light of the public interest, 
                        necessity and convenience found in promoting 
                        broadband availability and affordability. In 
                        the joint report, the Commission and the 
                        Administration shall also recommend to Congress 
                        any statutory changes that would be required to 
                        implement any such reassignment or reallocation 
                        within 24 months of the report.''.
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