Communications Act of 1994

Summary

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Protection and Advancement of Universal Service Title II: Telecommunications Investment Title III: Regulatory Reform Title IV: Authorized Activities of Bell Operating Companies Title V: Regulatory Parity Between Telephone and Cable Companies Title VI: Customer Control Over Information Title VII: Media Diversity Communications Act of 1994 - Title I: Protection and Advancement of Universal Service - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 (the Act) to provide as U.S. national and international communications policy goals: (1) equal access to basic telecommunications services at reasonable rates; (2) the development and availability of new technologies; (3) equal access to diverse sources of information; and (4) the use of telecommunications services and technology to promote the exchange of ideas, economic welfare and quality of life, and the protection of control over an individual's use of such services. (Sec. 102) Requires every common carrier engaged in interstate, intrastate, or foreign communication by wire or radio to preserve and advance universal telecommunications service. Directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to set forth (and periodically revise) guidelines for the definition of universal service, delegating to each State the primary responsibilities of defining such term and ensuring that universal service goals are met. Allows direct assistance to telecommunications carriers to be considered by the States as a means of providing universal service. Requires each State to act within two years or the FCC would assume such responsibility. (Sec. 103) Requires all telecommunications carriers that use public rights of way to permit the following entities to obtain access to intrastate and interstate services provided by such carriers at preferential rates: educational and health care institutions, State and local governments, public broadcast stations, libraries and other public entities, community newspapers, and broadcasters in the smallest markets. Provides related FCC rulemaking responsibilities. Title II: Telecommunications Investment - Amends the Act to require the FCC to take appropriate action to ensure that State regulatory authorities achieve the goal of ensuring that telecommunications carriers provide consumers in rural and noncompetitive markets with access to high quality, interoperable telecommunications network facilities and capabilities at reasonable, nondiscriminatory rates. Provides FCC preemptive authority over conflicting State or local statutes or regulations in such regard. Encourages States to implement regulatory incentives for the development of high quality telecommunications network facilities and capabilities. Encourages telecommunications carriers and equipment manufacturers to develop standards which ensure the interconnection and interoperability of such networks. Allows the FCC to develop such standards when industry participants fail to do so. Directs the FCC to prescribe regulations: (1) that permit joint coordinated network planning, design, and cooperative implementation among all telecommunications carriers in the provision of public switched network infrastructure and services; and (2) that require a local exchange carrier to share public switched network infrastructure and functions with requesting carriers which lack the economies of scale or scope for the required function. Requires the FCC and the States to ensure that advances in network capabilities and telecommunications services deployed by carriers are designed to be accessible to individuals with disabilities. Requires the FCC to: (1) publish annually a survey of the deployment of technologies on a State-by-State basis; and (2) develop regulations to allocate a local exchange carrier's costs of deploying broadband telecommunications facilities between local exchange service and competitive services. Title III: Regulatory Reform - Prohibits, after a specified conditional date, a State or local statute, regulation, or requirement from having the effect of prohibiting the ability of an entity to provide interstate or intrastate telecommunications services, or discriminating among telecommunications carriers. Allows an electric, gas, water, or steam utility to provide telecommunications services. Directs the FCC to prescribe regulations that require each telecommunications carrier to provide upon request to any telecommunications equipment manufacturer or entity certain interconnection services and nondiscriminatory access to facilities, as well as information necessary for interoperability. Requires consumers to be informed of telecommunications alternatives among competing service providers. Directs the FCC to prescribe regulations ensuring telecommunications number portability (the ability of telecommunications service users to retain existing numbers without adverse effects when switching from one telecommunications carrier to another). Allows the FCC to provide regulatory flexibility to ensure that carriers with small market power can effectively compete for the provision of telecommunications services with larger entities. Directs the FCC, and encourages the States, to permit carriers pricing flexibility in competitive service or geographic markets. Requires FCC implementing regulations. Title IV: Authorizes Activities of Bell Operating Companies - Subtitle A: Telecommunications Equipment Research and Manufacturing Competition - Telecommunications Equipment Research and Manufacturing Competition Act of 1994 - Amends the Act to authorize a Bell operating company (BOC), through an affiliate, to manufacture and provide telecommunications equipment and to manufacture customer premises equipment, except that no BOC may engage in such manufacturing with an unaffiliated BOC or affiliates thereof. (Sec. 403) Allows such manufacturing or provision to be conducted only through an affiliate that is separate from any BOC. Requires the FCC to prescribe regulations ensuring the separability of such an affiliate. Requires the affiliate to conduct all of its manufacturing, and have all of its customer premises equipment manufactured, within the United States, with an exception after a good faith effort to do so. Requires each such affiliate to make available to all regulated local telephone exchange carriers, without discrimination or preference, any telecommunications equipment (including upgrades) manufactured by such affiliate for use with the public telecommunications network, so long as each purchaser does not manufacture such equipment or agrees to make available to the BOC or any of its affiliates any telecommunications equipment manufactured by such purchaser or any of its affiliates. Directs the FCC to require that each BOC maintain and file with the FCC complete information with respect to the protocols and technical requirements for connection with and use of its telephone exchange service facilities. Prohibits a BOC from disclosing any such information to its affiliates unless such information is immediately so filed. Directs the FCC to prescribe appropriate regulations ensuring open and equal competition between a BOC that has a manufacturing affiliate and other manufacturers of telecommunications and customer premises equipment. Allows a BOC and its affiliate to engage in close collaboration with any such manufacturer during the design and development of hardware and software relating to such equipment. Provides FCC administration and enforcement authority with respect to this subtitle. Requires annual audits of BOCs with manufacturing affiliates, with audit review by the FCC. (Sec. 404) Amends the Act to increase from $6,000 to $10,000 the daily fine for failure to keep or submit any required telecommunications carrier records. Subtitle B: Regulation of Alarm Services and Electronic Publishing by Bell Operating Companies - Amends the Act to prohibit a BOC or its affiliates from providing alarm monitoring services for the protection of life, safety, or property. Allows a BOC to transport alarm monitoring service signals, but on a common carrier basis only. Allows a BOC or its affiliate, after five and one half years after the enactment of this Act, to petition the FCC for permission to provide alarm monitoring services. Authorizes the FCC to grant such permission beginning six years from the enactment of this Act, after certain findings by the FCC and the Department of Justice. Requires FCC regulation of such services. Provides expedited consideration of complaints arising from a BOC's provision of such services, and remedies. (Sec. 452) Prohibits a BOC or its affiliate from providing electronic publishing that is disseminated by means of the basic telephone service of the BOC or affiliate. Allows a separated affiliate or joint venture to engage in electronic publishing if certain requirements are met concerning the separate business aspect of the separated affiliate or joint venture. Outlines specified requirements of a BOC under common ownership or control with a separated affiliate or joint venture which ensure that any transactions between the BOC and the separated affiliate or joint venture involving the provision of personnel, facilities, or services to aid in electronic publishing are offered on an equal basis to all unaffiliated entities. Requires annual compliance reviews. Prohibits a BOC or its affiliate from providing to any electronic publisher, including separated affiliates or joint ventures, customer proprietary network information for electronic publishing use that is disseminated by the basic telephone service of the BOC or its affiliate unless such information is made equally available to all electronic publishers. Outlines permissible joint activities between a BOC and its separated affiliate, joint venture, or affiliate, including joint telemarketing, nondiscriminatory teaming or business arrangements, and electronic publishing joint ventures. (Sec. 453) Requires a written contract, recorded in the books and auditable, for transactions related to the provision of electronic publishing between: (1) a BOC and any affiliate; and (2) a BOC affiliate and a separated affiliate. Prohibits a BOC from having officers, employees, property, or facilities in common with any entity whose principal business is electronic publishing. Requires a BOC to provide equally to all entities any facilities, services, or telephone information disseminated through the BOC's basic telephone service which is provided to an entity that engages in electronic publishing. Provides a private right of action for violations of such electronic publishing requirements. Subtitle C: Information Services - Requires BOCs or affiliates to make any gateway service available to all subscribers under nondiscriminatory rates and terms and to offer such services to all information services on a nondiscriminatory basis as well. Defines a "gateway service" as an information service that, at the request of the provider of an electronic publishing or other information service, provides a subscriber with access to such service, utilizing the following functions: data transmission, address translation, billing information, protocol conversion, and introductory information content. Directs the FCC to prescribe cost allocation regulations to prevent any BOC or affiliate that offers services that have market power from using revenues from such services to subsidize competitive information services. Restricts State regulation of information services, except as provided in title VI. Subtitle D: InterLATA Telecommunications Services - Authorizes a BOC to engage in the provision of inter local access and transport area (LATA) (as defined in United States v. Western Electric Company ) telecommunications services subject to specified requirements. Requires the company, as part of such requirements, to demonstrate that there is no possibility of using market power in a telephone exchange and exchange access service market to impede competition. Authorizes Bell companies or affiliates to: (1) own and operate receive-only antennas, satellite master antenna television facilities, satellite earth stations, and interLATA distribution facilities solely for purposes of providing cable service; and (2) engage in interLATA telecommunications service for purposes of one-way transmission of video and audio programming solely for cable service. Permits such companies or their cellular affiliates to provide: (1) authorized interLATA service for cellular mobile radio services; (2) intersystem handoff across LATA boundaries of cellular mobile radio transmissions between adjacent cellular systems; and (3) the routing of cellular transmissions between their cellular systems and a cellular system located in another LATA for purposes of completing a call to one of its out-of-region cellular customers. Requires the FCC to prescribe uniform equal access and long distance presubscription requirements for providers of all cellular and two-way wireless services. Title V: Regulatory Parity Between Telephone and Cable Companies - Revises provisions concerning ownership restrictions to prohibit local exchange carriers subject to title II of the Act from: (1) acquiring more than a five percent interest in any cable system that is providing service within the carrier's telephone exchange service area and is owned by an unaffiliated person; or (2) entering into a joint venture or partnership with a cable operator to provide video programming to subscribers within the telephone exchange service area. Prohibits such carriers from providing video programming (cable) directly to subscribers in its telephone exchange service area unless: (1) such programming is provided through a separate subsidiary; and (2) the FCC finds that the carrier's service is in compliance with specified regulations governing telecommunications competition under this Act. Bars such carriers from engaging in activities that subsidize its video programming operations. Exempts a carrier from such prohibitions if the carrier has no market power in its telephone service area. Establishes similar conditions for cable operators with respect to the provision of telecommunications services. (Sec. 503) Requires subsidiaries to maintain separation from local exchange carriers in terms of operation, commercial activities, and recordkeeping. Requires carriers to establish cost allocation systems that prohibit the costs of providing competitive services from being subsidized by revenue from telephone exchange services. Directs the FCC to ensure that the economic risks associated with the provision of competitive services by a carrier are not borne by the customers of telephone exchange services in the event of a business loss or failure. Title VI: Customer Control Over Information - Prohibits a local exchange carrier, except upon the customer's request, from: (1) using customer proprietary network information in the provision of any service other than telephone exchange or toll service, in the identification or solicitation of potential customers for any service other than the service from which such information is derived, or in the provision of customer premises equipment; or (2) disclosing such information to any affiliate of, or any other person that is not an employee of, such common carrier. Requires the common carrier to: (1) disclose such information to any customer designee at the customer's request; (2) notify the FCC of the availability of aggregate customer proprietary information it provides to an affiliate or to its personnel that are engaged in providing any service that is not necessary to the provision of telephone exchange service or customer premises equipment or to any other person who is not an employee or affiliate; and (3) provide such aggregate information on reasonable terms and conditions to any other service or equipment provider, upon reasonable request. Prohibits the common carrier from discriminating between affiliated and unaffiliated service or equipment providers in providing individual and aggregate or compiled information. States that this Act shall not be construed to prohibit the disclosure of proprietary information as necessary to render, bill, and collect for telephone exchange or toll service or for any other telecommunications service that the customer has requested. Requires a carrier that provides subscriber list information to any affiliated or unaffiliated service provider or person to provide such list on a timely and unbundled basis, under nondiscriminatory and reasonable rates, terms, and conditions, upon reasonable request. Requires any common carrier or affiliate providing automatic number identification (ANI) services to any person to provide such services under a contract or tariff containing telephone subscriber information requirements that: (1) permit such person to use the information provided for billing and collection, completion of the customer's call or transaction, or for services directly related to the customer's call or transaction; (2) prohibit such person from reusing or selling the information provided without the customer's consent; and (3) prohibit such person from disclosing, without the customer's consent, any information derived from such service for any purpose other than performing the services or transactions that are the subject of the customer's call ensuring network performance, security, and the effectiveness of call delivery, compiling, using, and disclosing aggregate information, and complying with applicable law or legal process. Directs the FCC to commence a proceeding to: (1) examine the impact on the privacy rights and remedies of consumers of the integration into interconnected communications networks of wireless telephone, cable, satellite, and other technologies; (2) examine the impact that the globalization of integrated communications networks has on the international dissemination of consumer information and the privacy rights and remedies to protect consumers; (3) propose changes in the FCC's regulations to ensure that consumer privacy rights are protected in new telecommunications services; and (4) prepare recommendations to the Congress for any legislative changes required to correct defects in privacy rights and remedies. Title VII: Media Diversity - Requires the FCC to modify or remove national and local ownership rules on radio and television broadcast stations as necessary to ensure that broadcasters are able to compete fairly with other media providers and that the public receives information from a diversity of media sources. (Sec. 702) Directs the FCC to review a certain ownership restriction with respect to cable operators and report to the Congress on whether such restriction serves the public interest. (Sec. 703) Requires the FCC to complete a notice and comment proceeding to consider the applicability of the FCC's rules regarding network non-duplication protection and syndicated exclusivity protection to other multichannel video programming providers. (Sec. 704) Directs the FCC to prescribe regulations to permit broadcasters to make use of the broadcast spectrum that they are licensed to use for services related to the programming services which they are authorized to provide. Authorizes the FCC, to the extent that the broadcast licensee provides commercial services using broadcast spectrum, to collect a fee from the licensee.

This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.

Timeline

No timeline events have been ingested for this record yet.

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

No version snapshots stored. Document URLs remain at the source.

Documents

6 official files

• Reported to Senate (text)

  Reported to Senate · EN · 14 September 1994

  ViewDownloadOpen at official source

• Reported to Senate (PDF)

  Reported to Senate · EN · 14 September 1994

  ViewDownloadOpen at official source

• Reported to Senate with amendment(s)

  summary · EN · 14 September 1994

  Open at official source

• Introduced in Senate (text)

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 3 February 1994

  ViewDownloadOpen at official source

• Introduced in Senate (PDF)

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 3 February 1994

  ViewDownloadOpen at official source

• Introduced in Senate

  summary · EN · 3 February 1994

  Open at official source

Sponsors

No sponsors or actors listed by the source.

Related records

No cross-record relationships stored yet.