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S. 96, Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act of 2017 1 (Janaury 30, 2017)

handle is hein.congrec/cbo3322 and id is 1 raw text is: 




                  CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE
                             COST ESTIMATE

                                                                  January 30, 2017



                                      S.96
         Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act of 2017

As ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
                               on January 24, 2017


The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency that regulates
various aspects of wireline (telephone, for example), wireless, cable, and satellite
communications. S. 96 would require certain providers of voice communication services to
register with the FCC. It also would require the agency to issue rules establishing service
quality standards for those providers.

CBO assumes that S. 96 will be enacted in the first half of fiscal year 2017. On the basis of
an analysis of information from the FCC, CBO estimates that implementing S. 96 would
cost $4 million over the 2017-2022 period for the agency to establish and operate the
registry of voice communication service providers and to promulgate rules establishing
service quality standards. However, the FCC is authorized to collect fees sufficient to
offset the costs of its regulatory activities each year. Therefore, CBO estimates that the net
cost to implement S. 96 would be negligible, assuming annual appropriation actions
consistent the agency's authorities.

Enacting S. 96 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go
procedures do not apply. CBO estimates that enacting S. 96 would not increase net direct
spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in
2028.

S. 96 contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates
Reform Act (UMRA) and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal
governments.

The bill contains private-sector mandates as defined in UMRA. Specifically, the bill would
require all intermediate providers of voice communications services to register with the
FCC and to comply with service quality standards established by the agency. (Intermediate
providers contract with other telecommunication providers to transmit voice calls from one
destination to another.) The bill also would require telecommunications providers that
contract with intermediate providers to use only those providers that are registered with the
FCC. Lastly, if the FCC increases annual fee collections to offset the costs of implementing

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