Texas Administrative Code › Title 16 - ECONOMIC REGULATION › Part 2 - PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION OF TEXAS › Chapter 26 - SUBSTANTIVE RULES APPLICABLE TO TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE PROVIDERS › Subchapter G - ADVANCED SERVICES › Section 26.143 - Provision of Advanced Services in Rural Areas

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) Purpose. The purpose of this section is
				  to implement Public Utility Regulatory Act (PURA) §55.014 regarding the
				  provision of advanced services to facilitate connection of end users to the
				  Internet. This section is also intended to promote the policy, pursuant to PURA
				  §51.001(g), that customers in all regions of this state have access to
				  advanced telecommunications and information services.
(b) Application. This section applies to a
				  company electing under PURA Chapter 58 or a company that holds a certificate of
				  operating authority (COA) or service provider certificate of operating
				  authority (SPCOA). This section does not apply to a deregulated company holding
				  a certificate of operating authority or to an exempt carrier under PURA
				  §52.154.
(c) Definitions. The
				  following words and terms, when used in this section, shall have the following
				  meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Advanced services provider--Any entity
				  that offers or deploys advanced services, such as a holder of a certificate of
				  convenience and necessity, a COA, a SPCOA, a cable company, a fixed wireless
				  company, a satellite company, or any other provider of an advanced
				  service.
(2) Advanced
				  telecommunications services--Any retail telecommunications services that,
				  regardless of transmission medium or technology, are capable of originating and
				  receiving data transmissions for the purpose of accessing the Internet with a
				  speed of at least 200 kilobits per second in the last mile in one direction and
				  with a speed of at least 128 kilobits a second in the last mile in the opposite
				  direction.
(3) Advanced
				  services--Any retail services that, regardless of transmission medium or
				  technology, are capable of originating and receiving data transmissions for the
				  purpose of accessing the Internet with a speed of at least 200 kilobits per
				  second in the last mile in one direction and with a speed of at least 128
				  kilobits a second in the last mile in the opposite direction. An advanced
				  service includes any advanced telecommunications service.
(4) Company--A telecommunications utility
				  electing under PURA Chapter 58 or an entity that holds a COA or a SPCOA that
				  provides advanced telecommunications services in urban areas of this state and
				  provides local exchange telephone services in a rural area seeking provision of
				  advanced services.
(5) Reasonably
				  comparable or similar services--Any services that meet the definition of an
				  advanced service. Each advanced service is substitutable for any other advanced
				  service.
(6) Rural area or rural
				  service area--Any community located in a county not included within any
				  Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) boundary, as defined by the United States
				  Office of Management and Budget, and any community within an MSA with a
				  population of 20,000 or fewer not adjacent to the primary MSA city.
(7) Urban area or urban service area--A
				  municipality in this state with a population of more than 190,000.