Bridging the Tribal Digital Divide Act of 2020
A BILL
To expedite and streamline the deployment of affordable broadband service on Tribal land, and for other purposes.
2. Definitions
In this Act:
Administrator— The term Administrator means the Administrator of the Rural Utilities Service.
Assistant Secretary— The term Assistant Secretary means the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information.
Broadband; broadband service— The term broadband or broadband service has the meaning given the term broadband internet access service in section 8.1 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation.
Commission— The term Commission means the Federal Communications Commission.
Indian Tribe— The term Indian Tribe has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153), as amended by section 301 of this Act.
Tribal broadband benchmark— The term Tribal broadband benchmark means the minimum acceptable level of broadband service on Tribal land, which shall consist of—
speed that is not slower than the speed required for the service to qualify as an advanced telecommunications capability, as that term is defined in section 706(d) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302(d)), as of the date on which that speed is measured; and
network round trip latency that is at or below 100 milliseconds for not less than 95 percent of all peak period measurements of network round trip latency.
Tribal entity— The term Tribal entity has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153), as amended by section 301 of this Act.
Tribal government— The term Tribal government means the governing body of a Tribal entity.
Tribal land— The term Tribal land has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153), as amended by section 301 of this Act.
Underserved Tribal entity—
In general— The term underserved Tribal entity means a Tribal entity, the Tribal land of which—
lacks affordable broadband service; or
has subscription rates for broadband service that are below 80 percent, as determined by the Commission.
Associated definition— In this paragraph, the term affordable broadband service means broadband service on Tribal land, the rates for which are not more than the average rates charged for broadband service in the 5 nearest municipalities to that Tribal land that have a population of more than 10,000 individuals, as determined by the Commission.
Working Group— The term Working Group means the Tribal Broadband Interagency Working Group established under section 102.