Amended IN Assembly April 10, 2025

Amended IN Assembly March 28, 2025

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 1271

Introduced by Assembly Member Bonta

February 21, 2025

An act to add Chapter 8.2 (commencing with Section 21220) to Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to communications.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1271, as amended, Bonta. Communications: broadband internet service providers.

Existing law, the Digital Equity Bill of Rights, provides that it is the principle of the state to ensure digital equity for all residents of the state, that, among other things, residents have access to broadband that meets specific requirements, and provides that it is the policy of the state that, to the extent technically feasible, broadband internet subscribers benefit from equal access to broadband internet service within the service area of a broadband provider.

This bill would require a broadband internet service provider, on or before January 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, to submit to the Department of Consumer Affairs a report containing broadband internet access service pricing and speed data that includes, among other information, the advertised ~~and actual broadband~~ speeds offered to consumers and the advertised and ~~actual aggregated~~ total prices paid by consumers. The bill would require a broadband internet service provider to certify the accuracy and completeness of the reported data under penalty of perjury. By expanding the scope of the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the department to publish an annual broadband internet access service affordability and speed report aggregating and analyzing the data submitted by the broadband internet service providers and would require the department to make ~~broadband pricing and speed data collected~~ the data submitted by broadband internet service providers available to the public, as specified. The bill would make a broadband internet service provider that fails to comply with the bill’s provisions subject to an administrative penalty not to exceed $1,000 per violation per day until compliance is achieved.

Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
~~This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.~~

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: ~~YES~~NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

The Legislature finds and declares as follows:

(a) Californians receive their broadband internet access service from a variety of providers utilizing various technologies to deliver the service to residences and businesses.
(b) A variety of factors may negatively impact the speed performance of a subscriber’s broadband internet access service including the type of device being used, other hardware issues, equipment, network traffic, software issues, signal interference, physical obstructions, and user error.
(c) While not all factors that influence a subscriber’s speed performance are directly attributable to the broadband internet service provider, customers have a reasonable expectation that their provider will reliably provide the advertised speeds for their contracted plan that is purchased so that the service can be accessed with their devices.
(d) It is in the public interest to ensure that subscribers of broadband internet access service reliably receive the speeds they pay for, are fully informed about the pricing structure for their plans, and have access to affordable broadband that meets their connectivity needs.

SECTION 1.SEC. 2.

Chapter 8.2 (commencing with Section 21220) is added to Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, to read:

CHAPTER 8.2. Broadband Internet Service Providers

21220.

For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:

(a) “Broadband internet access service” has the same meaning as that term is defined in Section 3100 of the Civil Code.
~~(a)~~

(b) “Broadband internet service provider” means any ~~business~~ entity that provides broadband internet access service to an individual, corporation, government, or other customer in the state.

~~(b)~~

(c) “Broadband pricing and speed data” means information related to ~~broadband service rates, fees, and speed performance, including:~~ the following:

(1) Advertised ~~and actual broadband speeds, including promotional speeds and the average speeds experienced by consumers.~~ speeds by plan.

(2) Speed performance experienced by customers.
~~(2)~~

(3) Promotional ~~pricing and total aggregated pricing for broadband services, inclusive~~ pricing by plan.

(4) Total pricing for broadband internet access services paid by a customer per plan, inclusive of all fees, surcharges, and additional charges assessed on the ~~consumer,~~ customer, either as standalone broadband service or the broadband service component of bundled service offerings.

~~(3)~~

(5) Plan structures, including bundled service ~~offerings, discounts, and the~~ offerings and discounts.

(6) The most commonly purchased broadband internet access service plans aggregated to the census tract level.

~~(c)~~

(d) “Department” means the Department of Consumer Affairs.

~~(d)~~

(e) “Machine-readable format” means a structured data format that can be processed by a computer without human intervention, including, but not limited to, JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), comma-separated values (CSV), or Extensible Markup Language (XML) formats.

(f) “Speed performance” means the speed delivered to the customer.

21221.

(a) A broadband internet service provider operating in the state shall, on or before January 1, 2027, and then annually, submit to the department a report containing broadband internet access service pricing and speed data at the census tract or address level in a machine-readable format. The report shall include, at a minimum, all of the following:

(1) The advertised ~~and actual broadband~~ speeds offered to ~~consumers, including the average speed experienced by consumers.~~ consumers.

(2) Speed performance.
~~(2)~~

(3) The advertised and ~~actual aggregated~~ total price paid by consumers, including all fees and surcharges.

~~(3)~~

(4) A breakdown of broadband internet access service plans offered to consumers at the census-tract or address level, including standalone, bundled, and eligibility-based plans.

~~(b)A broadband internet service provider shall certify the accuracy and completeness of the reported data under penalty of perjury.~~
~~(c)~~

(b) The department may conduct audits and require broadband internet service providers to provide supporting documentation to verify compliance with this section.

21222.

(a) The department shall publish an annual broadband internet access service affordability and speed report aggregating and analyzing the data submitted pursuant to Section 21221.

(b)The department shall make broadband pricing and speed data collected pursuant to this chapter available to the public in an open-data format, except as necessary to protect proprietary business information, protected personal information, and personally identifiable information, as determined by the department.
(b) The data submitted pursuant to Section 21221 shall be made available to the public by the department in an open data format, subject to the protection of proprietary business information and personally identifying information, and consistent with the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1 of the Government Code).

21223.

(a) A broadband internet service provider that fails to comply with this chapter, including, but not limited to, failure to submit required data, submission of incomplete or misleading data, or failure to cooperate with audits conducted pursuant to this chapter, shall be subject to an administrative penalty by the department not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), per violation per day until compliance is achieved.

(b) The department shall adopt a data reporting template for entities to report the broadband pricing and speed data to the department. The template shall be in an open data format that shall be readily accessible to the public.
~~(b)~~

(c) The department ~~shall~~ may adopt rules and regulations necessary to implement and enforce this chapter.

SEC. 2.SEC. 3.

The Legislature finds and declares that Section 1 2 of this act, which adds Section 21222 to the Business and Professions Code, imposes a limitation on the public’s right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies within the meaning of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution. Pursuant to that constitutional provision, the Legislature makes the following findings to demonstrate the interest protected by this limitation and the need for protecting that interest:

In order to protect the confidentiality of consumers and the proprietary information of businesses subject to this act, it is necessary that this act limit the public’s right of access to proprietary business information, protected personal information, and personally identifiable information.

SEC. 3.
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.