47 U.S.C. § 163 — Communications marketplace report

(a) In general In the last quarter of every even-numbered year, the Commission must publish on its website, and submit to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, a report on the state of the communications marketplace. (b) Contents Each report required by subsection (a) must: (1) assess the state of competition in the communications marketplace — for voice, video, audio, and data services — among providers of telecommunications, commercial mobile service, multichannel video programming distributors, broadcast stations, satellite communications, Internet service providers, and other communications-service providers; (2) assess the state of deployment of communications capabilities, including "advanced telecommunications capability" (as defined in section 1302 of this title), no matter what technology is used; (3) assess whether laws, regulations, regulatory practices — federal, state, local, tribal, or foreign — or actual marketplace practices, create a barrier to new competitors entering the communications marketplace, or to existing providers expanding; (4) describe the Commission's agenda for the next two years, for addressing the challenges and opportunities identified under (1) through (3); and (5) describe what the Commission has actually done to pursue the agenda described in the previous report submitted under this section. (c) Extension If the President names a Commissioner as Chairman of the Commission during the last quarter of an even-numbered year, the part of the report required by subsection (b)(4) — the two-year agenda — may instead be published and submitted as an addendum in the first quarter of the following odd-numbered year. (d) Special requirements (1) Assessing competition: When assessing competition under subsection (b)(1), the Commission must consider all forms of competition — including competition between different types of technology, competition based on physical facilities, and competition from new and emerging communications services, including providing content and communications over the Internet. (2) Assessing deployment: When assessing deployment under subsection (b)(2), the Commission must compile a list of geographic areas that no provider of advanced telecommunications capability serves. (3) Considering small businesses: When assessing competition under subsection (b)(1) and regulatory barriers under subsection (b)(3), the Commission must consider the barriers entrepreneurs and other small businesses face entering the communications marketplace, following the national policy set out in section 257(b) of this title.