Section 77-19-3 - DefinitionsAs used in this chapter:
(a) "Applicant" means an eligible broadband service provider that has authorization to do business in this state and has demonstrated that it has the technical, financial and managerial resources and experience to provide broadband services in the state to retail end users.(b) "Broadband service" means a mass-market retail service by wire, cable, fiber, or radio provided to customers in the State of Mississippi that provides the capability to transmit data to, and receive data from, all or substantially all Internet endpoints, at speeds of at least one hundred (100) megabits per second downstream and twenty (20) megabits per second upstream, and including, but not limited to, any capabilities that are incidental to and enable the operation of communications service, but excluding dial-up Internet access service.(c) "Office" means the Office of Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi (BEAM) within the Department of Finance and Administration created in Section 77-19-5.(d) "Deployed" means, with respect to availability of broadband service at a location, when the person or entity has access regardless of whether a person or entity subscribes to the broadband service at the location.(e) "Eligible broadband service provider" means any company, firm, corporation, limited liability company, partnership or association (i) that has been providing broadband service to at least one hundred (100) residences and businesses in Mississippi for at least three (3) consecutive years; (ii) is an electric power association's broadband affiliate operating pursuant to Section 77-17-1 et seq.; or (iii) that has demonstrated financial, technical, and operational capability in building and operating a broadband network.(f) "Eligible project" means a discrete and specific project located in an unserved or underserved area of the state seeking to provide broadband services to residences, businesses, and community institutions not currently available for service in accordance with the applicable federal guidelines.(g) "Shapefile" means a digital storage format containing geospatial or location-based data and attribute information regarding the availability of broadband Internet access service, and that can be viewed, edited, and mapped in geographic information system software.Added by Laws, 2022, ch. 397, HB 1029,§ 2, eff. 4/14/2022.