1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Small Business Broadband Deployment Act of 2017”.
Small Business Broadband Deployment Act of 2017
A BILL
To ensure that small business providers of broadband Internet access service can devote resources to broadband deployment rather than compliance with cumbersome regulatory requirements, and for other purposes.
2. Small business exemption
Definitions— In this section—
the term appropriate congressional committees means—
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate; and
the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives;
the term broadband Internet access service has the meaning given the term in section 8.2 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations;
the term Commission means the Federal Communications Commission; and
the term small business means any provider of broadband Internet access service that has not more than 250,000 subscribers.
Exception for small businesses— The enhancements to the transparency rule of the Commission under section 8.3 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, as described in paragraphs 162 through 184 of the Report and Order on Remand, Declaratory Ruling, and Order of the Commission with regard to protecting and promoting the open Internet (adopted by the Commission on February 26, 2015) (FCC 15–24), shall not apply to any small business.
Sunset— Subsection (b) shall not have any force or effect after the date that is 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act.
Report by FCC— Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that contains the recommendations of the Commission, and data supporting those recommendations, regarding whether—
the exception provided under subsection (b) should be made permanent; and
the definition of the term “small business” for the purposes of the exception provided under subsection (b) should be modified from the definition in subsection (a)(4).