2023 Montana Code Annotated › Title 90. Planning, Research, and Development › Chapter 1. Development Coordination › Part 6. ConnectMT Act › 90-1-602. Definitions

90-1-602. (Temporary) Definitions.
As used in this part, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the following definitions apply:
(1) (a) "Broadband" means a mass-market retail service by wire or radio that provides the capability to transmit data to and receive data from all or substantially all internet endpoints. The term includes capabilities that are incidental to and enable the operation of the communications service.
(b) The term does not include dial-up internet access service.
(2) "Broadband equity, access, and deployment program" means the program established by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Public Law 117-58, and implemented by the national telecommunications and information administration.
(3) "Broadband service" means the signal transmission facilities and associated network equipment proposed to be deployed in a project area used for the provision of broadband service to residential, business, and government customers.
(4) "Challenge" means a contest to a proposal submitted to the department for funding on the grounds as provided for by the national telecommunications and information administration.
(5) "Commission" means the communications advisory commission established in 90-1-603.
(6) "Community anchor institution" means an entity such as a school, library, health clinic, health center, hospital or other medical provider, public safety entity, institution of higher education, or community support organization.
(7) "Department" means the department of administration.
(8) "Eligible provider" means an entity that:
(a) has authorization to do business in the state; and
(b) has demonstrated that it has the technical, financial, and managerial resources and experience to provide broadband service or other communications service to customers in the state.
(9) "Extremely high cost per location threshold" is a subsidy cost for each location to be utilized during the proposal selection process in which a proposal may be declined if use of an alternative technology meeting the broadband, equity, access, and deployment program program's technical requirements would be less expensive.
(10) "FCC" means the federal communications commission.
(11) "High-cost area" means an unserved area in which the cost of building out broadband service is fiscally imprudent, and the area contains no less than 80% of unserved broadband-serviceable locations.
(12) "Last mile" means broadband infrastructure that serves as the final leg connecting the broadband service provider's network to the end-user customer's premises.
(13) "Middle mile" means broadband infrastructure that does not connect directly to an end-user location, including a community anchor institution, and includes leased dark fiber, interoffice transport, backhaul, transport connectivity to data centers, special access transport and other similar services, and wired or private wireless broadband infrastructure, including microwave capacity, radio tower access, and other services or infrastructure for wireless broadband network, such as towers, fiber, and microwave links.
(14) "Project" means a proposed deployment of broadband service infrastructure set forth in a proposal for funding authorized under this part.
(15) "Project area" means a shapefile area in an unserved or underserved area where the proposed broadband service infrastructure would be built as described in a proposal for funding authorized under this part.
(16) "Shapefile" means a GIS file format for storing, depicting, and analyzing geospatial data depicting broadband coverage. It is made up of several component files, such as a main file (.shp), an index file (.shx), and a dBASE table (.dbf).
(17) "Underserved area" means a location or area that is not an unserved location and that lacks access to broadband service offered with a speed of not less than 100 megabits per second for downloads, a speed of not less than 20 megabits per second for uploads, and latency less than or equal to 100 milliseconds.
(18) "Underserved service project" means a project in which not less than 80% of broadband-serviceable locations served by the project are unserved areas or underserved areas.
(19) "Unserved area" means a broadband-serviceable location or area that has no access to broadband service or lacks service offered with a speed of not less than 25 megabits per second for downloads, a speed of not less than 3 megabits per second for uploads, and a latency less than or equal to 100 milliseconds.
(20) "Unserved service project" means a project in which not less than 80% of broadband-serviceable locations served by the project are unserved locations. An unserved service project may be as small as a single unserved location. (Terminates on occurrence of contingency--sec. 9, Ch. 696, L. 2023.)
History: En. Sec. 2, Ch. 449, L. 2021; amd. Sec. 40(1), Ch. 401, L. 2021; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 696, L. 2023.