Researcher: LRH Page 1 6/4/21
OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 6442 (as amended by House "A")*
AN ACT CONCERNING EQUITABLE ACCESS TO BROADBAND.
SUMMARY
This bill contains various provisions related to broadband Internet
access service (referred to as “broadband service” below) and
broadband Internet access service providers (“broadband providers”).
Among other things, it:
1. requires the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) to
develop and maintain an up-to-date broadband map with data
showing the availability and adoption of broadband service;
2. requires the Department of Energy and Environmental
Protection (DEEP) commissioner to establish and administer a
grant program to support the deployment of broadband service,
subject to the availability of federal funding;
3. requires (a) DEEP to maintain a public listing of federal funding
opportunities to facilitate deploying broadband service and (b)
broadband providers to notify DEEP if they intend to apply for
the funding;
4. requires the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) to
impose certain requirements on broadband providers when
they apply to build certain underground facilities (e.g.,
notifying other providers about the proposed excavation to
reduce the potential for future street excavations in the same
location);
5. gives each broadband provider the same right of access to an
occupied building as telecommunications service providers
have under current law; 2021HB-06442-R01-BA.DOCX
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6. requires the State Building Code to be revised to require that
new construction or major alterations of a commercial or multi-
family building include a minimum infrastructure requirement
to support broadband service; and
7. expands the annual assessment that supports the Public Utility
Control Fund to also cover OPM’s expenses related to
developing the broadband map and data required by the bill.
Under the bill, “broadband Internet access service” is a mass-market
retail service by wire that provides the capability to transmit data to,
and receive data from, all or substantially all Internet endpoints,
including any capabilities that are incidental to and enable the
service’s operation, but excluding dial-up Internet access service. A
“broadband Internet access service provider” is an entity that provides
broadband Internet access service through facilities occupying public
highways or streets authorized by PURA, including through a
certificate of public convenience and necessity, a certificate of video
franchise authority, a certificate of cable franchise authority, or as a
certified telecommunications provider (see BACKGROUND).
*House Amendment “A” adds the provisions on the grant program
and federal funding opportunities to facilitate broadband deployment.
Among other things, it also removes numerous provisions from the
underlying bill, such as those that would have (1) required property
owners to disclose their property’s Internet speeds when they publicly
list it for sale or rent, (2) allowed municipalities to use grants from the
Local Capital Improvement Program to build a municipal broadband
network, (3) generally expanded PURA’s regulatory powers over
broadband providers, (4) required broadband providers to refund
customers for service outages that last more than 24 hours, (5) required
PURA to develop a “one-touch make-ready” procedure for attaching
additional equipment to utility poles; and (6) limited the days and
times when a broadband provider can terminate a customer’s service
due to delinquent payments.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2021 2021HB-06442-R01-BA.DOCX
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§ 2 — BROADBAND MAPPING
The bill requires OPM, in consultation with other state agencies that
the OPM secretary deems appropriate, to develop and maintain an up-
to-date broadband map with accompanying data showing the
availability and adoption of broadband service, including upload and
download speeds, in the state. It must do this in accordance with the
state laws on geospatial information systems and the state data plan.
To develop and maintain the map, OPM may (1) rely on credible and
relevant data, as the secretary determines, provided by broadband
providers, state agencies, political subdivisions (e.g., municipalities),
and other third parties, such as broadband service consumers, and (2)
employ outside consultants to develop and maintain the map.
The bill requires (1) each state agency and political subdivision to
provide all information requested by OPM to develop and maintain
the broadband map and (2) OPM to begin annually publishing the
map on its website by December 1, 2022.
Provider Information
The bill requires each broadband provider to provide OPM with
information required to develop and ma intain an up-to-date
broadband map showing broadband service availability and
subscription data by broadband Internet speed offered by the
provider.
The information must include the maximum advertised
downstream and upstream bandwidths and the transmissio n
technology for each address or structure in the state at which service is
available from the provider. For each area the provider serves, as long
as it is not larger than a census block group, the information must also
include the total number of connections and consumer connections for
each combination of advertised downstream and upstream
bandwidths of the service as sold and transmission technology.
The bill requires the OPM secretary to prescribe the form and
manner for providing the information, but it explicitly allows the
information to be submitted as a labeled shapefile. Under the bill, a 2021HB-06442-R01-BA.DOCX
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“shapefile” is a digital storage format containing geospatial or
location-based data and attribute information (1) on broadband service
availability and (2) that can be viewed, edited, and mapped in
geographic information system software.
The bill also requires the secretary, when prescribing the form and
manner for providing the information, to make reasonable efforts to
conform with the (1) federal Broadband Deployment Accuracy and
Technological Availability Act (47 USC 641 et seq., as amended from
time to time), (2) Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) rules
adopted under that act, and (3) FCC’s Form 477 filing process.
Confidentiality
Under the bill, the information provided by the broadband
providers must be deemed a trade secret and exempt from disclosure
under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). OPM may provide the
information, under a data sharing agreement, to DEEP, the Office of
State Broadband, and the Commission for Educational Technology for
administering the grant program (see § 3 below), but may not disclose
it to a non-governmental individual or entity other than an outside
consultant employed as allowed under the bill. Any contract or data-
sharing agreement entered into by OPM with other governmental
entities or outside consultants must include a confidentiality
agreement about the trade secret information under the bill.
The information may also be disclosed (1) in an aggregated form
needed to develop and maintain OPM’s broadband map and data
described above or (2) with the broadband provider’s permission.
§ 3 — BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT GRANT PROGRAM
The bill requires the DEEP commissioner, by January 1, 2022, to
establish and administer a grant program, subject to the availability of
federal funding, to support the deployment of broadband service. It
allows the commissioner to employ outside consultants to develop and
implement the program.
Criteria for Awarding Grants 2021HB-06442-R01-BA.DOCX
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The commissioner must establish criteria for the grants consistent
with any federal requirements for them. The criteria must at least
include (1) application requirements; (2) applicant eligibility; (3)
addressing unserved areas in distressed municipalities (see
“BACKGROUND”); (4 ) broadband service speed; and (5) an
applicant’s commitment to pay at least 20% of the costs for a grant-
eligible project with the applicant’s own funding, as long as it does not
derive from government grants, loans, or subsidies to the applicant.
Under the bill, an “unserved area” is an area (1) that is no larger
than a U.S. census block, as determined in the most recent census, and
(2) where no broadband provider offers broadband service with
download speeds of at least 25 megabits per second and upload speeds
of at least three megabits per second, as identified on OPM’s
broadband map.
The bill allows the commissioner, when awarding the grants, to
prioritize applicants based on the percentage of their commitment to
cost sharing. It also allows her to deny applications from broadband
providers that do not provide information to OPM and DEEP as
required by the bill (see § 2 above and § 4 below).
Reports
Grant Recipients. Starting by January 1, 2023, and annually for five
years after receiving a grant, the bill requires a grant recipient to
submit a report to the commissioner on the status of its broadband
service deployment and other information deemed relevant by the
commissioner.
DEEP Annual Report to the Governor. The bill requires DEEP,
starting by December 1, 2022, to biennially report to the governor on
(1) the broadband deployment grants awarded; (2) the status and
progress made towards a state-wide goal of attaining universal access
to broadband download speeds of one gigabit per second and
broadband upload speeds of 100 megabits per second; and (3)
broadband service adoption rates, the price and non-price barriers to
broadband adoption, and digital equity. The report must also include 2021HB-06442-R01-BA.DOCX
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recommendations to overcome those barriers and at least address
issues of digital literacy and affordability.
DEEP must prepare the report in consultation with OPM, the Office
of State Broadband, the Commission for Educational Technology, and
other state agencies deemed appropriate by the DEEP commissioner.
Under the bill, “digital equity” is a condition in which all
individuals and communities have the information technology
capacity needed to participate in society, democracy, and the state’s
economy. “Digital literacy” is the ability to use information and
communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and
communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical
skills.
§ 4 — FEDERAL FUNDING OPPO RTUNITIES
The bill requires DEEP to maintain on its website a public listing of
federal funding opportunities to facilitate deploying broadband
service in the state. Then, within 90 days after each opportunity is
listed, each broadband provider must notify DEEP whether it applied
or intends to apply for the opportunity. The notification must be in a
form and manner DEEP prescribes and to the extent allowed under
applicable federal law, rules, or guidelines.
If the provider intends to apply for the funding opportunity, the bill
also requires it to notify DEEP, in a form and manner that DEEP
prescribes, about the municipalities where broadband deployment
would be facilitated. Each provider that applies for the funding must
also provide DEEP with a copy of the application, to the extent
allowed under federal law, rules, or guidelines. The bill deems these
applications a trade secret and exempt from public disclosure under
FOIA.
If the provider did not apply or does not intend to do so, it must
notify DEEP about the reasons for its determination, to the extent
allowed under applicable federal law, rules, or guidelines, in a form
and manner that DEEP prescribes. 2021HB-06442-R01-BA.DOCX
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§ 5 — UNDERGROUND CONDUIT
The bill requires PURA, by January 1, 2022, to initiate an
uncontested proceeding to develop a process for constructing facilities
in the public highways, streets, or other public rights-of-way to ensure
timely and nondiscriminatory procedures that accomplish conduit
excavations for telecommunications service providers and broadband
providers.
It requires PURA to impose certain requirements on broadband
providers when they apply to build underground facilities that will
contain conduit for telecommunications service providers or
broadband providers (presumably, this must occur as part of the
process PURA develops). PURA must condition its approval on
meeting the following requirements:
1. the size of the conduit must be consistent with industry best
practices and sufficient to accommodate potential demand;
2. handholes and manholes for fiber optic cable access and pulling,
respectively, must be placed at intervals consistent with
industry best practices;
3. the conduit must be installed with a pull tape and capable of
supporting additional fiber optic cable;
4. the applicant must notify telecommunications service providers
and broadband providers about the proposed excavation to
reduce the potential for future street excavations in the same
location;
5. a telecommunications service provider or broadband provider,
upon request, must be able to access the conduit on a
competitively neutral and nondiscriminatory basis, and for a
charge that does not exceed a cost-based rate;
6. the applicant must report to PURA upon completion to verify
that it has complied with the above requirements; and 2021HB-06442-R01-BA.DOCX
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7. any other condition PURA deems prudent and reasonable.
Excavations in State Highway Rights-of-Way
For excavations in the state highway rights-of-way, the bill requires
the applicant to comply with the Department of Transportation’s
(DOT) encroachment permit process, including paying any applicable
fees. Under the bill, an application for construction in the public
highways, streets, or other public rights-of-way must require the
applicant to install a conduit for DOT’s benefit, as required by law.
The bill authorizes the DOT commissioner to lease space or enter
into a contract or agreement to permit access to the space in any
conduit installed by DOT in the public highways, streets, or other
public rights-of-way. The lease or contract may be on the terms and
conditions, and for any purpose, that the commissioner deems to be in
the public interest. The bill specifies that it does not limit DOT’s use of
conduits on public highways, streets, or other public rights-of-way as
otherwise permitted by law.
Provision Coverage & Penalties
Under the bill, all telecommunications service providers and
broadband providers that PURA authorizes to install facilities in,
under, or over the public highways, streets, or other public rights-of-
way must obey, observe, and comply with these provisions on
underground conduits and PURA’s applicable orders about them.
Failure to comply may result in a civil penalty levied by PURA as
allowed under existing law. Under the bill, these fines cannot be
recovered in any rate proceeding conducted by PURA.
§ 6 — ACCESS TO OCCUPIED B UILDINGS
The bill gives each broadband provider the same right of access to
an “occupied building” as telecommunications service providers have
under current law. Under the bill, an “occupied building” is a building
or a part of a building that is rented, leased, hired out, arranged or
designed to be occupied, or is occupied (1) as the home or residence of
at least three families living independently of each other; (2) as the
place of business of at least three businesses conducting business 2021HB-06442-R01-BA.DOCX
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independently of each other; or (3) by any combination of at least three
independent families and businesses. It includes trailer parks, mobile
manufactured home parks, nursing homes, hospitals, and
condominium associations.
In effect this requires, among other things, an occupied building’s
owner to allow wiring to provide broadband service in the building if:
(1) a tenant requests services from the broadband provider; (2) the
entire cost of the wiring is assumed by the provider; and (3) the
provider indemnifies and holds the owner harmless for any damages
caused by the wiring.
§ 7 — STATE BUILDING CODE
The bill requires the state building inspector and the Codes and
Standards Committee to revise the State Building Code so that it
requires buildings that qualify as a new construction or a major
alteration of a commercial or multi-family building to include a
minimum infrastructure requirement to support broadband service.
The inspector and committee must define these requirements in the
revisions. (The bill does not establish a deadline for this revision.)
§ 8 — PUBLIC UTILITY CONTROL FUND
Under current law, the administrative costs of PURA, the Office of
Consumer Counsel (OCC), and DEEP’s Bureau of Energy and
Technology are funded through assessments on public service
companies, telephone companies, certified telecommunications
providers, retail electric suppliers, and certified competitive video
service providers that had more than $100,000 in gross revenues in the
state in the preceding calendar year. PURA annually assesses each
company for its share of expenses for OCC, DEEP’s energy bureau,
and PURA.
The bill expands the assessment to also cover OPM’s expenses
related to the bill’s provisions on broadband mapping and the
broadband deployment grant program (see §§ 2 & 3).
BACKGROUND 2021HB-06442-R01-BA.DOCX
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Certified Competitive Video Service Provider
By law, a certified competitive video service provider is an entity
providing video service under a PURA-issued certificate of video
franchise authority (e.g., AT&T’s U-Verse service) (CGS § 16-1(a)(41)).
A certificate of video franchise authority grants the right to own, lease,
maintain, operate, manage, or control facilities in, under or over any
public highway to offer video service to any subscribers in the state
(CGS § 16-1(a)(42)).
Certificate of Cable Franchise Authority
By law, a certificate of cable franchise authority is a PURA-issued
authorization giving a cable-TV company the right to own, lease,
maintain, operate, manage or control a cable-TV system in, under or
over any public highway to (a) offer cable-TV service in its designated
franchise area, or (b) use the public rights-of-way to offer video service
in a designated franchise area (CGS § 16-1(a)(43)).
Certified Telecommunications Provider
By law, a certified telecommunications provider is an entity certified
by PURA to provide intrastate telecommunications services (CGS § 16-
1(a)(32)).
Distressed Municipalities
By law, the Department of Economic and Community Development
commissioner must annually designate distressed municipalities based
on a combination of economic, education, demographic, and housing
criteria. In 2020, she designated the following 25 municipalities as
distressed: Ansonia, Bridgeport, Bristol, Chaplin, Derby, East Hartford,
East Haven, Griswold, Hartford, Meriden, Montville, New Britain,
New Haven, New London, Norwich, Preston, Putnam, Sprague,
Stratford, Torrington, Voluntown, Waterbury, West Haven,
Winchester, and Windham.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Energy and Technology Committee
Joint Favorable 2021HB-06442-R01-BA.DOCX
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Yea 19 Nay 7 (03/18/2021)
Appropriations Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 30 Nay 18 (05/03/2021)