Sec.  54.5   Terms and definitions.

   Terms used in this part have the following meanings:

   Act. The term “Act” refers to the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.

   Administrator  . The term “Administrator” shall refer to the Universal
   Service Administrative Company that is an independent subsidiary of the
   National Exchange Carrier Association, Inc., and that has been appointed the
   permanent Administrator of the federal universal service support mechanisms.

   Competitive eligible telecommunications carrier. A “competitive eligible
   telecommunications carrier” is a carrier that meets the definition of an
   “eligible telecommunications carrier” below and does not meet the definition
   of an “incumbent local exchange carrier” in  Sec. 51.5 of this chapter.

   Contributor. The term “contributor” shall refer to an entity required to
   contribute to the universal service support mechanisms pursuant to  Sec. 54.706.

   Eligible telecommunications carrier. “Eligible telecommunications carrier”
   means  a  carrier designated as such by a state commission pursuant to
    Sec. 54.201.

   Incumbent local exchange carrier. “Incumbent local exchange carrier” or
   “ILEC”  has  the same meaning as that term is defined in  Sec. 51.5 of this
   chapter.

   Information service. “Information service” is the offering of a capability
   for generating, acquiring, storing, transforming, processing, retrieving,
   utilizing, or making available information via telecommunications, and
   includes electronic publishing, but does not include any use of any such
   capability for the management, control, or operation of a telecommunications
   system or the management of a telecommunications service.

   Interconnected VoIP Provider. An “interconnected VoIP provider” is an entity
   that  provides interconnected VoIP service, as that term is defined in
   section 9.3 of these rules.

   Internet access. “Internet access” includes the following elements:

   (1) The transmission of information as common carriage;

   (2) The transmission of information as part of a gateway to an information
   service,  when  that  transmission  does not involve the generation or
   alteration of the content of information, but may include data transmission,
   address translation, protocol conversion, billing management, introductory
   information content, and navigational systems that enable users to access
   information  services, and that do not affect the presentation of such
   information to users; and

   (3) Electronic mail services (e-mail).

   Interstate  telecommunication.  “Interstate  telecommunication”  is  a
   communication or transmission:

   (1) From any State, Territory, or possession of the United States (other
   than the Canal zone), or the District of Columbia, to any other State,
   Territory, or possession of the United States (other than the Canal Zone),
   or the District of Columbia,

   (2) From or to the United States to or from the Canal Zone, insofar as such
   communication or transmission takes place within the United States, or

   (3) Between points within the United States but through a foreign country.

   Interstate transmission. “Interstate transmission” is the same as interstate
   telecommunication.

   Intrastate  telecommunication.  “Intrastate  telecommunication”  is  a
   communication  or  transmission  from  within any State, Territory, or
   possession of the United States, or the District of Columbia to a location
   within that same State, Territory, or possession of the United States, or
   the District of Columbia.

   Intrastate transmission. “Intrastate transmission” is the same as intrastate
   telecommunication.

   LAN. “LAN” is a local area network, which is a set of high-speed links
   connecting devices, generally computers, on a single shared medium, usually
   on the user's premises.

   Rate-of-return  carrier.  “Rate-of-return  carrier” shall refer to any
   incumbent local exchange carrier not subject to price cap regulation as that
   term is defined in  Sec. 61.3(x) of this chapter.

   Rural area. For purposes of the schools and libraries universal support
   mechanism, a “rural area” is a nonmetropolitan county or county equivalent,
   as defined in the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Revised Standards
   for Defining Metropolitan Areas in the 1990s and identifiable from the most
   recent Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) list released by OMB, or any
   contiguous  non-urban  Census  Tract  or Block Numbered Area within an
   MSA-listed metropolitan county identified in the most recent Goldsmith
   Modification published by the Office of Rural Health Policy of the U.S.
   Department of Health and Human Services. For purposes of the rural health
   care universal service support mechanism, a “rural area” is an area that is
   entirely outside of a Core Based Statistical Area; is within a Core Based
   Statistical Area that does not have any Urban Area with a population of
   25,000 or greater; or is in a Core Based Statistical Area that contains an
   Urban Area with a population of 25,000 or greater, but is within a specific
   census tract that itself does not contain any part of a Place or Urban Area
   with a population of greater than 25,000. “Core Based Statistical Area” and
   “Urban  Area”  are  as  defined by the Census Bureau and “Place” is as
   identified by the Census Bureau.

   Rural incumbent local exchange carrier. “Rural incumbent local exchange
   carrier”  is  a carrier that meets the definitions of “rural telephone
   company” and “incumbent local exchange carrier,” as those terms are defined
   in  Sec. 51.5 of this chapter.

   Rural telephone company. “Rural telephone company” has the same meaning as
   that term is defined in  Sec. 51.5 of this chapter.

   State commission. The term “state commission” means the commission, board or
   official (by whatever name designated) that, under the laws of any state,
   has  regulatory  jurisdiction with respect to intrastate operations of
   carriers.

   Technically   feasible  .  “Technically  feasible”  means  capable  of
   accomplishment as evidenced by prior success under similar circumstances.
   For  example,  preexisting  access at a particular point evidences the
   technical  feasibility  of  access  at substantially similar points. A
   determination  of  technical  feasibility  does not consider economic,
   accounting,  billing,  space or site except that space and site may be
   considered if there is no possibility of expanding available space.

   Telecommunications . “Telecommunications” is the transmission, between or
   among points specified by the user, of information of the user's choosing,
   without  change  in the form or content of the information as sent and
   received.

   Telecommunications carrier . A “telecommunications carrier” is any provider
   of telecommunications services, except that such term does not include
   aggregators of telecommunications services as defined in section 226 of the
   Act. A telecommunications carrier shall be treated as a common carrier under
   the   Act  only  to  the  extent  that  it  is  engaged  in  providing
   telecommunications services, except that the Commission shall determine
   whether the provision of fixed and mobile satellite service shall be treated
   as common carriage. This definition includes cellular mobile radio service
   (CMRS) providers, interexchange carriers (IXCs) and, to the extent they are
   acting  as  telecommunications  carriers,  companies that provide both
   telecommunications and information services. Private mobile radio service
   (PMRS) providers are telecommunications carriers to the extent they provide
   domestic or international telecommunications for a fee directly to the
   public.

   Telecommunications channel . “Telecommunications channel” means a telephone
   line, or, in the case of wireless communications, a transmittal line or cell
   site.

   Telecommunications service . “Telecommunications service” is the offering of
   telecommunications for a fee directly to the public, or to such classes of
   users as to be effectively available directly to the public, regardless of
   the facilities used.

   Website . The term “website” shall refer to any websites operated by the
   Administrator  in  connection  with  the schools and libraries support
   mechanism, the rural health care support mechanism, the high cost mechanism,
   and the low income mechanism.

   Wire center. A wire center is the location of a local switching facility
   containing one or more central offices, as defined in the Appendix to part
   36 of this chapter. The wire center boundaries define the area in which all
   customers served by a given wire center are located.

   [ 62 FR 32948 , June 17, 1997, as amended at  62 FR 41303 , Aug. 1, 1997;  63 FR 70571 , Dec. 21, 1998;  64 FR 67431 , Dec. 1, 1999;  66 FR 30087 , June 5, 2001;
    66 FR 59726 , Nov. 30, 2001;  70 FR 6372 , Feb. 7, 2005;  71 FR 38796 , July 10,
   2006]

   Effective Date Note:   At  71 FR 38796 , July 10, 2006,  Sec. 54.5 was amended by
   revising the definition of “ contributor ” and adding the definition of
   “interconnected VoIP provider” in alphabetical order. This text contains
   information collection and recordkeeping requirements and will not become
   effective until approval has been given by the Office of Management and
   Budget.