For an amount for `Broadband Technology Opportunities Program’,
$7,000,000,000, to remain available
until September 30, 2010: Provided, That of the funds provided under this heading, $6,650,000,000 shall be expended pursuant to section 201 of this Act, of which: not less than $200,000,000 shall be available for competitive grants for expanding public computer center capacity, including at community colleges and public libraries; not less than $250,000,000 shall be available for competitive grants for innovative programs to encourage sustainable adoption of broadband service; and $10,000,000 shall be transferred to `Department of Commerce, Office of Inspector General’ for the purposes of audits and oversight of funds provided under this heading and such funds shall remain available until expended: Provided further, That 50 percent of the funds provided in the previous proviso shall be used to support projects in rural communities, which in part may be transferred to the Department of Agriculture for administration through the Rural Utilities Service if deemed necessary and appropriate by the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, and only if the Committees on Appropriations of the House and the Senate are notified not less than 15 days in advance of the transfer of such funds: Provided further, That of the funds provided under this heading, up to $350,000,000 may be expended pursuant to Public Law 110-385 (47 U.S.C. 1301 note) and for the purposes of developing and maintaining a broadband inventory map pursuant to section 201 of this Act: Provided further, That of the funds provided under this heading, amounts deemed necessary and appropriate by the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), may be transferred to the FCC for the purposes of developing a national broadband plan or for carrying out any other FCC responsibilities pursuant to section 201 of this Act, and only if the Committees on Appropriations of the House and the Senate are notified not less than 15 days in advance of the transfer of such funds: Provided further, That not more than 3 percent of funds provided under this heading may be used for administrative costs, and this limitation shall apply to funds which may be transferred to the Department of Agriculture and the FCC.
digital-to-analog converter box program
For an amount for `Digital-to-Analog Converter Box Program’, $650,000,000, for additional coupons and related activities under the program implemented under section 3005 of the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005, to remain available until September 30, 2010: Provided, That of the amounts provided under this heading, $90,000,000 may be for education and outreach, including grants to organizations for programs to educate vulnerable populations, including senior citizens, minority communities, people with disabilities, low-income individuals, and people living in rural areas, about the transition and to provide one-on-one assistance to vulnerable populations, including help with converter box installation: Provided further, That the amounts provided in the previous proviso may be transferred to the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) if deemed necessary and appropriate by the Secretary of Commerce in consultation with the Commission, and only if the Committees on Appropriations of the House and the Senate are notified not less than 5 days in advance of transfer of such funds: Provided further, That $2,000,000 of funds provided under this heading shall be transferred to `Department of Commerce, Office of Inspector General’ for audits and oversight of funds provided under this heading.
GENERAL PROVISIONS–THIS TITLE
Sec. 201. The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information (Assistant Secretary), in consultation with the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) (and, with respect to rural areas, the Secretary of Agriculture), shall establish a national broadband service development and expansion program in conjunction with the technology opportunities program, which shall be referred to the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program. The Assistant Secretary shall ensure that the program complements and enhances and does not conflict with other Federal broadband initiatives and programs.
(1) The purposes of the program are to–
(A) provide access to broadband service to citizens residing in unserved areas of the United States;
(B) provide improved access to broadband service to citizens residing in underserved areas of the United States;
(C) provide broadband education, awareness, training, access, equipment, and support to–
(i) schools, libraries, medical and healthcare providers, community colleges and other institutions of higher education, and other community support organizations and entities to facilitate greater use of broadband service by or through these organizations;
(ii) organizations and agencies that provide outreach, access, equipment, and support services to facilitate greater use of broadband service by low-income, unemployed, aged, and otherwise vulnerable populations; and
(iii) job-creating strategic facilities located within a State-designated economic zone, Economic Development District designated by the Department of Commerce, Renewal Community or Empowerment Zone designated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, or Enterprise Community designated by the Department of Agriculture.
(D) improve access to, and use of, broadband service by public safety agencies; and
(E) stimulate the demand for broadband, economic growth, and job creation.
(2) The Assistant Secretary may consult with the chief executive officer of any State with respect to–
(A) the identification of areas described in subsection (1)(A) or (B) located in that State; and
(B) the allocation of grant funds within that State for projects in or affecting the State.
(3) The Assistant Secretary shall–
(A) establish and implement the grant program as expeditiously as practicable;
(B) ensure that all awards are made before the end of fiscal year 2010;
(C) seek such assurances as may be necessary or appropriate from grantees under the program that they will substantially complete projects supported by the program in accordance with project timelines, not to exceed 2 years following an award; and
(D) report on the status of the program to the Committees on Appropriations of the House and the Senate, the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House, and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, every 90 days.
(4) To be eligible for a grant under the program an applicant shall–
(A) be a State or political subdivision thereof, a nonprofit foundation, corporation, institution or association, Indian tribe, Native Hawaiian organization, or other non-governmental entity in partnership with a State or political subdivision thereof, Indian tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization if the Assistant Secretary determines the partnership consistent with the purposes this section;
(B) submit an application, at such time, in such form, and containing such information as the Assistant Secretary may require;
(C) provide a detailed explanation of how any amount received under the program will be used to carry out the purposes of this section in an efficient and expeditious manner, including a demonstration that the project would not have been implemented during the grant period without Federal grant assistance;
(D) demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the Assistant Secretary, that it is capable of carrying out the project or function to which the application relates in a competent manner in compliance with all applicable Federal, State, and local laws;
(E) demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the Assistant Secretary, that it will appropriate (if the applicant is a State or local government agency) or otherwise unconditionally obligate, from non-Federal sources, funds required to meet the requirements of paragraph (5);
(F) disclose to the Assistant Secretary the source and amount of other Federal or State funding sources from which the applicant receives, or has applied for, funding for activities or projects to which the application relates; and
(G) provide such assurances and procedures as the Assistant Secretary may require to ensure that grant funds are used and accounted for in an appropriate manner.
(5) The Federal share of any project may not exceed 80 percent, except that the Assistant Secretary may increase the Federal share of a project above 80 percent if–
(A) the applicant petitions the Assistant Secretary for a waiver; and
(B) the Assistant Secretary determines that the petition demonstrates financial need.
(6) The Assistant Secretary may make competitive grants under the program to–
(A) acquire equipment, instrumentation, networking capability, hardware and software, digital network technology, and infrastructure for broadband services;
(B) construct and deploy broadband service related infrastructure;
(C) ensure access to broadband service by community anchor institutions;
(D) facilitate access to broadband service by low-income, unemployed, aged, and otherwise vulnerable populations in order to provide educational and employment opportunities to members of such populations;
(E) construct and deploy broadband facilities that improve public safety broadband communications services; and
(F) undertake such other projects and activities as the Assistant Secretary finds to be consistent with the purposes for which the program is established.
(7) The Assistant Secretary–
(A) shall require any entity receiving a grant pursuant to this section to report quarterly, in a format specified by the Assistant Secretary, on such entity’s use of the assistance and progress fulfilling the objectives for which such funds were granted, and the Assistant Secretary shall make these reports available to the public;
(B) may establish additional reporting and information requirements for any recipient of any assistance made available pursuant to this section;
(C) shall establish appropriate mechanisms to ensure appropriate use and compliance with all terms of any use of funds made available pursuant to this section;
(D) may, in addition to other authority under applicable law, deobligate awards to grantees that demonstrate an insufficient level of performance, or wasteful or fraudulent spending, as defined in advance by the Assistant Secretary, and award these funds competitively to new or existing applicants consistent with this section; and
(E) shall create and maintain a fully searchable database, accessible on the Internet at no cost to the public, that contains at least the name of each entity receiving funds made available pursuant to this section, the purpose for which such entity is receiving such funds, each quarterly report submitted by the entity pursuant to this section, and such other information sufficient to allow the public to understand and monitor grants awarded under the program.
(8) Concurrent with the issuance of the Request for Proposal for grant applications pursuant to this section, the Assistant Secretary shall, in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission, publish the non-discrimination and network interconnection obligations that shall be contractual conditions of grants awarded under this section.
(9) Within 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall complete a rulemaking to develop a national broadband plan. In developing the plan, the Commission shall–
(A) consider the most effective and efficient national strategy for ensuring that all Americans have access to, and take advantage of, advanced broadband services;
(B) have access to data provided to other Government agencies under the Broadband Data Improvement Act (47 U.S.C. 1301 note);
(C) evaluate the status of deployments of broadband service, including the progress of projects supported by the grants made pursuant to this section; and
(D) develop recommendations for achieving the goal of nationally available broadband service for the United States and for promoting broadband adoption nationwide.
(10) The Assistant Secretary shall develop and maintain a comprehensive nationwide inventory map of existing broadband service capability and availability in the United States that entities and depicts the geographic extent to which broadband service capability is deployed and available from a commercial provider or public provider throughout each State: Provided, That not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of the Act, the Assistant Secretary shall make the broadband inventory map developed and maintained pursuant to this section accessible to the public.
Sec. 202. The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information may reissue any coupon issued under section 3005(a) of the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 that has expired before use, and shall cancel any unredeemed coupon reported as lost and may issue a replacement coupon for the lost coupon.
PART VIII–Broadband Incentives
Sec. 1271. Broadband Internet access tax credit.
PART VIII–BROADBAND INCENTIVES
SEC. 1271. BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS TAX CREDIT.
(a) In General- Subpart E of part IV of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to rules for computing investment credit), as amended by this Act, is amended by inserting after section 48C the following new section:
`SEC. 48D. BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS CREDIT.
`(a) General Rule- For purposes of section 46, the broadband credit for any taxable year is the sum of–
`(1) the current generation broadband credit, plus
`(2) the next generation broadband credit.
`(b) Current Generation Broadband Credit; Next Generation Broadband Credit- For purposes of this section–
`(1) CURRENT GENERATION BROADBAND CREDIT- The current generation broadband credit for any taxable year is equal to 10 percent (20 percent in the case of qualified subscribers which are unserved subscribers) of the qualified broadband expenditures incurred with respect to qualified equipment providing current generation broadband services to qualified subscribers and taken into account with respect to such taxable year.
`(2) NEXT GENERATION BROADBAND CREDIT- The next generation broadband credit for any taxable year is equal to 20 percent of the qualified broadband expenditures incurred with respect to qualified equipment providing next generation broadband services to qualified subscribers and taken into account with respect to such taxable year.
`(c) When Expenditures Taken Into Account- For purposes of this section–
`(1) IN GENERAL- Qualified broadband expenditures with respect to qualified equipment shall be taken into account with respect to the first taxable year in which–
`(A) current generation broadband services are provided through such equipment to qualified subscribers, or
`(B) next generation broadband services are provided through such equipment to qualified subscribers.
`(2) LIMITATION-
`(A) IN GENERAL- Qualified broadband expenditures shall be taken into account under paragraph (1) only with respect to qualified equipment–
`(i) the original use of which commences with the taxpayer, and
`(ii) which is placed in service, after December 31, 2008, and before January 1, 2011.
`(B) SALE-LEASEBACKS- For purposes of subparagraph (A), if property–
`(i) is originally placed in service after December 31, 2008, by any person, and
`(ii) sold and leased back by such person within 3 months after the date such property was originally placed in service,
such property shall be treated as originally placed in service not earlier than the date on which such property is used under the leaseback referred to in clause (ii).
`(d) Special Allocation Rules for Current Generation Broadband Services- For purposes of determining the current generation broadband credit under subsection (a)(1) with respect to qualified equipment through which current generation broadband services are provided, if the qualified equipment is capable of serving both qualified subscribers and other subscribers, the qualified broadband expenditures shall be multiplied by a fraction–
`(1) the numerator of which is the sum of the number of potential qualified subscribers within the rural areas and the underserved areas and the unserved areas which the equipment is capable of serving with current generation broadband services, and
`(2) the denominator of which is the total potential subscriber population of the area which the equipment is capable of serving with current generation broadband services.
`(e) Definitions- For purposes of this section–
`(1) ANTENNA- The term `antenna’ means any device used to transmit or receive signals through the electromagnetic spectrum, including satellite equipment.
`(2) CABLE OPERATOR- The term `cable operator’ has the meaning given such term by section 602(5) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 522(5)).
`(3) COMMERCIAL MOBILE SERVICE CARRIER- The term `commercial mobile service carrier’ means any person authorized to provide commercial mobile radio service as defined in section 20.3 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations.
`(4) CURRENT GENERATION BROADBAND SERVICE- The term `current generation broadband service’ means the transmission of signals at a rate of at least 5,000,000 bits per second to the subscriber and at least 1,000,000 bits per second from the subscriber (at least 3,000,000 bits per second to the subscriber and at least 768,000 bits per second from the subscriber in the case of service through radio transmission of energy).
`(5) MULTIPLEXING OR DEMULTIPLEXING- The term `multiplexing’ means the transmission of 2 or more signals over a single channel, and the term `demultiplexing’ means the separation of 2 or more signals previously combined by compatible multiplexing equipment.
`(6) NEXT GENERATION BROADBAND SERVICE- The term `next generation broadband service’ means the transmission of signals at a rate of at least 100,000,000 bits per second to the subscriber (or its equivalent when the data rate is measured before being compressed for transmission) and at least 20,000,000 bits per second from the subscriber (or its equivalent as so measured).
`(7) NONRESIDENTIAL SUBSCRIBER- The term `nonresidential subscriber’ means any person who purchases broadband services which are delivered to the permanent place of business of such person.
`(8) OPEN VIDEO SYSTEM OPERATOR- The term `open video system operator’ means any person authorized to provide service under section 653 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 573).
`(9) OTHER WIRELESS CARRIER- The term `other wireless carrier’ means any person (other than a telecommunications carrier, commercial mobile service carrier, cable operator, open video system operator, or satellite carrier) providing current generation broadband services or next generation broadband service to subscribers through the radio transmission of energy.
`(10) PACKET SWITCHING- The term `packet switching’ means controlling or routing the path of a digitized transmission signal which is assembled into packets or cells.
`(11) PROVIDER- The term `provider’ means, with respect to any qualified equipment any–
`(A) cable operator,
`(B) commercial mobile service carrier,
`(C) open video system operator,
`(D) satellite carrier,
`(E) telecommunications carrier, or
`(F) other wireless carrier,
providing current generation broadband services or next generation broadband services to subscribers through such qualified equipment.
`(12) PROVISION OF SERVICES- A provider shall be treated as providing services to 1 or more subscribers if–
`(A) such a subscriber has been passed by the provider’s equipment and can be connected to such equipment for a standard connection fee,
`(B) the provider is physically able to deliver current generation broadband services or next generation broadband services, as applicable, to such a subscriber without making more than an insignificant investment with respect to such subscriber,
`(C) the provider has made reasonable efforts to make such subscribers aware of the availability of such services,
`(D) such services have been purchased by 1 or more such subscribers, and
`(E) such services are made available to such subscribers at average prices comparable to those at which the provider makes available similar services in any areas in which the provider makes available such services.
`(13) QUALIFIED EQUIPMENT-
`(A) IN GENERAL- The term `qualified equipment’ means property with respect to which depreciation (or amortization in lieu of depreciation) is allowable and which provides current generation broadband services or next generation broadband services–
`(i) at least a majority of the time during periods of maximum demand to each subscriber who is utilizing such services, and
`(ii) in a manner substantially the same as such services are provided by the provider to subscribers through equipment with respect to which no credit is allowed under subsection (a)(1).
`(B) ONLY CERTAIN INVESTMENT TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT- Except as provided in subparagraph (C) or (D), equipment shall be taken into account under subparagraph (A) only to the extent it–
`(i) extends from the last point of switching to the outside of the unit, building, dwelling, or office owned or leased by a subscriber in the case of a telecommunications carrier or broadband-over-powerline operator,
`(ii) extends from the customer side of the mobile telephone switching office to a transmission/receive antenna (including such antenna) owned or leased by a subscriber in the case of a commercial mobile service carrier,
`(iii) extends from the customer side of the headend to the outside of the unit, building, dwelling, or office owned or leased by a subscriber in the case of a cable operator or open video system operator, or
`(iv) extends from a transmission/receive antenna (including such antenna) which transmits and receives signals to or from multiple subscribers, to a transmission/receive antenna (including such antenna) on the outside of the unit, building, dwelling, or office owned or leased by a subscriber in the case of a satellite carrier or other wireless carrier, unless such other wireless carrier is also a telecommunications carrier.
`(C) PACKET SWITCHING EQUIPMENT- Packet switching equipment, regardless of location, shall be taken into account under subparagraph (A) only if it is deployed in connection with equipment described in subparagraph (B) and is uniquely designed to perform the function of packet switching for current generation broadband services or next generation broadband services, but only if such packet switching is the last in a series of such functions performed in the transmission of a signal to a subscriber or the first in a series of such functions performed in the transmission of a signal from a subscriber.
`(D) MULTIPLEXING AND DEMULTIPLEXING EQUIPMENT- Multiplexing and demultiplexing equipment shall be taken into account under subparagraph (A) only to the extent it is deployed in connection with equipment described in subparagraph (B) and is uniquely designed to perform the function of multiplexing and demultiplexing packets or cells of data and making associated application adaptions, but only if such multiplexing or demultiplexing equipment is located between packet switching equipment described in subparagraph (C) and the subscriber’s premises.
