Communities Overregulating Networks Need Economic Competition Today Act or the CONNECT Act
This bill prohibits a state or political subdivision thereof from providing or selling broadband internet access service. Such provision or sale may continue if there is no more than one other commercial provider of broadband internet access that provides competition in a particular area.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7363 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
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 Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Communities Overregulating Networks
Need Economic Competition Today Act'' or the ``CONNECT Act''.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON GOVERNMENT OWNED BROADBAND NETWORKS.
(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsections (b)(1) and (c),
a State or political subdivision thereof may not provide or offer for
sale to the public, a telecommunications provider, or to a commercial
provider of broadband internet access service, retail or wholesale
broadband internet access service.
(b) Transitional Rule.--Any State or political subdivision thereof
providing or offering for sale, either to the public, a
telecommunications provider, or to a provider of broadband internet
access service, retail or wholesale broadband internet access service,
before the date of the enactment of this section--
(1) notwithstanding subsection (a), may continue to provide
or offer for sale such service if the Commission finds there is
no more than one other commercial provider of broadband
internet access that provides competition for that service in a
particular area;
(2) shall notify each subscriber of the State or political
subdivision if a commercial provider of retail broadband
internet access enters the market; and
(3) may not construct or extend facilities used to deliver
broadband internet access service beyond the geographic area in
which the State or political subdivision thereof lawfully
operates.
(c) Exception.--Notwithstanding subsection (a), this section does
not apply to the Tennessee Valley Authority.
(d) Rules of Construction.--
(1) In general.--This section may not be construed to
restrict a State or political subdivision thereof, from
allowing the nondiscriminatory use of its rights-of-way,
including access to utility poles, conduits, ducts, or similar
support structures used for the deployment of facilities
necessary to deliver broadband internet access service.
(2) Public safety.--This section may not be construed to
restrict a State or political subdivision thereof, from
providing broadband facilities or services for 9-1-1, enhanced
9-1-1 service, or Next Generation 9-1-1.
(e) Limitation of Commission Authority.--Notwithstanding any
provision of law, including section 706 of the Communications Act of
1934 (47 U.S.C. 706), the Commission may not pre-empt State laws to
permit a State or political subdivision thereof to provide or offer for
sale to the public retail or wholesale broadband internet access
service.
(f) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) 9-1-1 request for emergency assistance.--The term ``9-
1-1 request for emergency assistance'' means a communication,
such as voice, text, picture, multimedia, or any other type of
data that is sent to an emergency communications center for the
purpose of requesting emergency assistance.
(2) Broadband internet access service.--The term
``broadband internet access service'' has the meaning given
that term in section 8.1(b) of title 47, Code of Federal
Regulations, or any successor regulation.
(3) Commonly accepted standards.--The term ``commonly
accepted standards'' means--
(A) the technical standards followed by the
communications industry for network, device, and
Internet Protocol connectivity, including standards
developed by the Third Generation Partnership Project,
the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers,
the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions,
the Internet Engineering Taskforce, and the
International Telecommunications Union; and
(B) standards that are accredited by a recognized
authority such as the American National Standards
Institute.
(4) Emergency communications center.--The term ``emergency
communications center'' means a facility that is designated to
receive a 9-1-1 request for emergency assistance and perform
one or more of the following functions:
(A) Process and analyze 9-1-1 requests for
emergency assistance and other gathered information.
(B) Dispatch appropriate emergency response
providers.
(C) Transfer or exchange 9-1-1 requests for
emergency assistance and other gathered information
with other emergency communications centers and
emergency response providers.
(D) Analyze any communications received from
emergency response providers.
(E) Support incident command functions.
(5) Emergency response provider.--The term ``emergency
response provider''--
(A) has the meaning given that term under section 2
of the Homeland Security Act (47 U.S.C. 101); and
(B) includes Federal, State, and local governmental
and nongovernmental emergency public safety, fire, law
enforcement, emergency response, emergency medical
(including hospital emergency facilities), and related
personnel, agencies, and authorities.
(6) Enhanced 9-1-1 service.--The term ``enhanced 9-1-1
service'' has the meaning given that term in section 7(10) of
the Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999 (47
U.S.C. 615b(10)).
(7) Interoperable.--The term ``interoperable'' means the
capability of emergency communications centers to receive 9-1-1
requests for emergency assistance and related data such as
location information and callback numbers from the public, then
process and share the 9-1-1 requests for emergency assistance
and related data with other emergency communications centers
and emergency response providers, regardless of jurisdiction,
equipment, device, software, service provider, or other
relevant factors, and without the need for proprietary
interfaces.
(8) Next generation 9-1-1.--The term ``Next Generation 9-1-
1'' means an interoperable, secure, Internet Protocol-based
system that--
(A) employs commonly accepted standards;
(B) enables the appropriate emergency
communications centers to receive, process, and analyze
all types of 9-1-1 requests for emergency assistance;
(C) acquires and integrates additional information
useful to handling 9-1-1 requests for emergency
assistance; and
(D) supports sharing information related to 9-1-1
requests for emergency assistance among emergency
communications centers and emergency response
providers.
(9) State.--The term ``State'' means any State of the
United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American
Samoa, Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, the Northern
Mariana Islands, and any other territory or possession of the
United States.
(10) Telecommunications provider.--The term
``telecommunications provider'' means an eligible
telecommunications carrier as designated under section
214(e)(2) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.
214(e)(2)).
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
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