“To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to preserve cable franchising authority, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes requirements for franchising authorities (i.e., local governments granting cable franchises) regarding requests to place, construct, or modify a covered facility (i.e., a facility for cable service that serves subscribers using an easement or public right-of-way) within their jurisdiction. It preserves such authorities' decision-making power except to prohibit or effectively prohibit a cable operator's ability to provide or enhance cable service under a franchise and imposes approval timelines on complete requests—90 days if in or on eligible support infrastructure (i.e., existing infrastructure supporting wire communications) or 150 days otherwise—with no tolling for moratoriums; denials must be written, supported by substantial evidence in a public record; and a request is complete unless notice of deficiencies is provided within 10 business days.