Public Utility Commission

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details about how broadband providers will be regulated after this bill is enacted, leaving some uncertainty regarding future regulatory frameworks.

Broadband Services Regulation Act

This bill prohibits government entities from regulating broadband internet access services and interconnected VoIP services in Tennessee.

What This Bill Does

• Prohibits government entities, including the Public Utility Commission, from creating laws or rules that regulate broadband internet access service providers.
• Clarifies that certain federal regulations and consumer protection laws still apply to broadband services despite the removal of state-level regulation.
• Removes a requirement for the commission to submit an annual report on the competitive nature of communications in Tennessee.

Who It Names or Affects

• Broadband internet access service providers
• The Tennessee Public Utility Commission and other government entities

Terms To Know

broadband internet access service

A type of internet service that provides high-speed data transmission over a network.

interconnected VoIP service

Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) services that connect to the traditional telephone system.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how broadband providers will be regulated in the future.
• It is unclear what impact this change will have on consumer protection and competition in the broadband market.

Official Summary Text

PROHIBITED ACTIONS

In order to ensure that this state provides an attractive environment for investment in broadband technology by establishin
g certainty regarding the regulatory treatment of that technology, consistent with the decisions of the federal communications commission to preempt certain state actions that are not in accordance with such commission's policies, present law prohibits th
e
Tennessee public utility commission from exercising jurisdiction of any type over or relating to broadband services, regardless of the entity providing the service, except as provided in present law. Present law provides that the prohibitions of present

law as described above do not permit a carrier to treat services that constitute telecommunications services under federal law as nontelecommunications services for any purpose under state law.

This bill removes the provisions above and, instead, prohibi
ts a government entity within this state, including the public utility commission and any agency or subdivision of this state, from enacting, adopting, or enforcing any law, rule, regulation, ordinance, standard, order, or other provision with the force o
f
law that has the effect of regulating the entry, rates, terms, or conditions of any broadband internet access service or interconnected VoIP service, or otherwise treating a provider of either broadband internet access service or interconnected VoIP serv
i
ce as a carrier.

This bill also clarifies that such prohibited actions do not do any of the following:



Restrict authority delegated to the public utility commission or another state agency to administer a federal grant program under federal statute, rule, or order.



Restrict the application to broadband internet access service, or providers thereof, of any law that applies generally to the conduct of business in this state related to consumer protection and fair competition.



Modify or affect the rights or obligations of any carrier under the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996.



Restrict the assessment of nondiscriminatory fees against interconnected VoIP service associated with enhanced 911 service, telecommunications relay services, or universal service assessments.

This bill replaces the definition of "broadband services" with a definition for "broadband internet access services," which gives the term the same meaning as defined in federal regulations while preserving from the existing definition
that such term includes an intrastate service that was tariffed with the public utility commission and in effect as of May 15, 2006.

ANNUAL REPORTING REQUIREMENT REMOVED

Present law requires the commission to annually prepare and submit to the general
assembly a report describing the competitive nature of the communications market in this state. This bill removes this reporting requirement.

ON MARCH 3, 2025, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 1136, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 makes t
he following changes:



Removes the present law provision that provides that nothing in the "
Broadband Business Certainty Act of 2006
"
permit
s
any carrier to treat services that constitute telecommunications services under federal law as nontelecommunications services for any purpose under state law
and, instead, adds that b
roadband internet access services are not telecommunications services under the laws of this state.



Removes
a provider, owner, operator, or manager of broadband internet access services
as described in the "
Broadband Business Certainty Act of 2006
" from regulation by present law provisions
relative to regulation of public utilities by the Tennessee public utility commission
and provisions under the "
Rural Electric and Community Services Cooperative Act.
"

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 556
By Reeves

HOUSE BILL 1136
By Boyd

HB1136
002436
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 7 and
Title 65, relative to broadband enabled services.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 65-5-202(a), is amended by deleting
the subsection and substituting:
(a) As used in this part:
(1) "Broadband internet access service":
(A) Has the same meaning as defined in 47 CFR 8.1, or a
successor federal rule; and
(B) Does not include intrastate service that was tariffed with the
public utility commission and in effect as of May 15, 2006; furthermore,
the intrastate service shall not be reclassified, bundled, de-tariffed,
declared obsolete, or otherwise recharacterized to avoid the imposition of
inspection fees by the public utility commission; and
(2) "Interconnected VoIP service" has the same meaning as provided in
the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. § 151, et seq.), or a
successor federal law.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 65-5-202(b), is amended by deleting
the subsection and substituting:
(b) This part does not:

- 2 - 002436

(1) Restrict any authority delegated to the public utility commission or
another state agency to administer a federal grant program under federal statute,
rule, or order;
(2) Restrict the application to broadband internet access service, or
providers thereof, of any law that applies generally to the conduct of business in
this state related to consumer protection and fair competition;
(3) Modify or affect the rights or obligations of any carrier under the
federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. § 151, et seq.); or
(4) Restrict the assessment of nondiscriminatory fees against
interconnected VoIP service associated with enhanced 911 service,
telecommunications relay services, or universal service assessments under § 65-
5-107.
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 65-5-203, is amended by deleting the
section and substituting:
Except as provided in § 65-5-202, a government entity within this state, including
the public utility commission and any agency or subdivision of this state, shall not enact,
adopt, or enforce any law, rule, regulation, ordinance, standard, order, or other provision
with the force of law that has the effect of regulating the entry, rates, terms, or conditions
of any broadband internet access service or interconnected VoIP service, or otherwise
treating a provider of either broadband internet access service or interconnected VoIP
service as a carrier.
SECTION 4. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 65-5-109(q), is amended by deleting
the subsection.
SECTION 5. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.