65-407 C.M.R. ch. 288, § 2 - DEFINITIONS

A. Access Charges."Access charges" and "access rates" are those charges and rates that an IXC must pay to LECs for using the LECs' facilities to originate and terminate intrastate interexchange service in Maine.

B. Basic Service Calling Area. A "Basic Service Calling Area" is the area that a local exchange subscriber may call without toll charges, as defined in Chapter 204 of the Commission's Rules.

C. Billing Account Number. "Billing Account Number" or "BAN" is a unique number used by telecommunications service providers to designate a specific customer account or customer location to be billed.

D. Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC). A "competitive local exchange carrier" or "CLEC" is any LEC that is not an ILEC.

E. Dark fiber provider. "Dark fiber provider" means a person, its lessees, trustees, receivers or trustees appointed by any court, owning, controlling, operating or managing federally supported dark fiber that:

(a) offers its federally supported dark fiber on an open-access basis without unreasonable discrimination as confirmed in a schedule of rates, terms and conditions filed for informational purposes with the commission;

(b) is required to conduct its business subject to restrictions established and enforced by the Federal Government pursuant to Title VI of the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Public Law 111-5, 123 Stat. 115 (2009) and to grant security interests to the Federal Government under that Act; and

(c) does not transmit communications for compensation inside this State.

F. Eligible Telecommunications Carrier (ETC). An "eligible telecommunications carrier" or "ETC" is a carrier designated by this Commission as eligible to receive universal service support pursuant to the provisions of 47 U.S.C § 214(e).

G. Exchange Access. "Exchange access" means the offering of access to telephone exchange services or facilities for the purpose of the origination or termination of telephone toll services.

H. Fund Administrator. The "Fund Administrator" is an independent fiscal agent that is not a state entity, and that is selected by the Commission through a state-approved Request For Proposals procedure, and that contracts with the Commission to provide all services necessary to administer and manage the MUSF.

I. Home Service Provider. A "Home Service Provider" means the facilities-based carrier or reseller with which the customer contracts for the provision of mobile telecommunications services.

J. Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier (ILEC). "Incumbent local exchange carrier" or "ILEC" means, with respect to an area, the local exchange carrier that on February 8, 1996 provided telephone exchange service in the area and:

(a) On February 8, 1996 was deemed to be a member of the exchange carrier association pursuant to 47 Code of Federal Regulations, Section 69.601(b); or

(b) Is a person or entity that, on or after February 8, 1996, became a successor or assign of a member described in (a) above.

K. Interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol Service (Interconnected VoIP). "Interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol Service" or "interconnected VoIP" means a service that enables real-time, two-way voice communications; requires a broadband connection from the user's location; requires internet protocol-compatible customer premises equipment (CPE); and permits users generally to receive calls that originate on the public switched telephone network and to terminate calls to the public switched telephone network.

L. Intrastate Interexchange Carrier (IXC). An "intrastate interexchange carrier" or "IXC" is any person, association, corporation, or other entity that provides intrastate interexchange telecommunications services, including a local exchange carrier that provides interexchange service.

M. Intrastate Service. An "intrastate service" is the provision of a telecommunications service that is functionally intrastate, with points of origination and termination within Maine, regardless of the actual routing of the communication. In the case of mobile telecommunications and paging services, the points of origination and termination of the communication shall be assumed to be the antenna locations at which the carrier acquires and passes on the end user's signal, unless the actual location of the end user can be determined.

N. Line. A "line" is any wired or wireless connection capable of real-time concurrent inbound or outbound voice communication calls that are made to or received from the public switched telephone network. For the purposes of this Chapter, private branch exchange (PBX) lines and Centrex lines are considered to be lines. For the purposes of this Chapter, the number of lines a service provider provides to a subscriber shall be deemed to equal the number of inbound or outbound calls the subscriber can maintain at the same time using the service provider's service.

O. Local Exchange Carrier (LEC). A "local exchange carrier" or "LEC" means any person that is engaged in the provision of telephone exchange service or exchange access. "Local exchange carrier" does not include a person insofar as that person is engaged in the provision of a commercial mobile service under 47 United States Code, Section 332(c), unless the commission by rule determines that the Federal Communications Commission includes such service in the definition of the term. "Local exchange carrier" does not include a person insofar as that person is engaged in the provision of interconnected voice over Internet protocol service unless the person is providing provider of last resort service. "Local exchange carrier" does include a person insofar as the person is a dark fiber provider.

P. Mobile Telecommunications Services. "Mobile telecommunications Services" means telecommunications services licensed by the Federal Communications Commission for mobile use.

Q. Nomadic Interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol Service. "Nomadic Interconnected Voice over internet Protocol Service" or "Nomadic interconnected VoIP service" is an interconnected VoIP service that permits users to make and receive calls from any location where the user can obtain access to a broadband connection that will permit connection to the interconnected VoIP service provider.

R. Place of Primary Use. "Place of Primary Use" means the street address representative of where the customer's use of the mobile telecommunications services primarily occurs, which must be:

(a) the residential street address or the primary business street address of the customer; and

(b) within the licensed service area of the home service provider.

S. Prepaid Wireless Telecommunications Service Provider. "Prepaid wireless telecommunications service provider" or "prepaid wireless provider" is a provider of prepaid wireless telecommunications service as defined in Title 25 M.R.S. §2921(14)

T. Price Cap Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier. "Price cap incumbent local exchange carrier" or "price cap ILEC' means an incumbent local exchange carrier that agreed to accept Connect America Fund Phase II support pursuant to the Federal Communications Commission's Report and Order released on December 18, 2014, in In the Matter of Connect America Fund, WC Docket No. 10-90, FCC 14-190, for locations within the State on or before January 1, 2016 and does not receive funding from a state universal service fund under section 7104.

U. Provider of Last Resort Service. "Provider of Last Resort or "POLR Service" means a flat-rate service with voice grade access to the public switched telephone network; local usage within the basic service calling areas of the incumbent local exchange carriers as of January 1, 2012; dual-tone multifrequency signaling or its functional equivalent; single-party service or its functional equivalent; access to emergency services; access to operator services; access to interexchange services; access to directory assistance; toll limitation for qualifying low-income customers; and the capacity to maintain uninterrupted voice service during a power failure, either through the incorporation into the network or network interface devices of suitable battery backup or through electric current.

V. Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). "Public Switched Telephone Network" or "PSTN" is the worldwide voice telephone network accessible to all those with telephones.

W. Radio Paging Service. "Radio paging service" is a service provided by a communications common carrier engaged in rendering signaling communications. Signaling communication is one-way communication from a base station to a mobile or fixed receiver, or to multipoint mobile or fixed receivers by audible or subaudible means, for the purpose of activating a signaling device in the receiver or communicating information to the receiver, whether or not the information is to be retained in record form. Radio paging service is limited to the following types of communications:

(a) An optical readout paging service is one which communicates a message to a receiver which displays the message on an optical or tactile readout, either in a permanent form or a temporary form;

(b) A tone only paging service is one which activates an aural, visual or tactile signaling device when received; or

(c) A tone-voice paging service is one which transmits tone to activate a signaling device and audio circuit in the addressed receiver, following which a voice-grade signal is transmitted, to be amplified by the audio circuit.

X. Registered Location. "Registered Location" means the most recent information obtained by an interconnected VoIP service provider that identifies the physical location of an end user.

Y. Telecommunications. "Telecommunications" means 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.

Z. Telecommunications Carrier. "Telecommunications carrier" means any provider of telecommunications services, except that it does not include aggregators of telecommunications services which, in the ordinary course of their operations, make telephones available to the public or to transient users of their premises using a provider of operator services.

AA. Telecommunications Service. "Telecommunications service" means the offering of telecommunications for a fee directly to the public, or to such class of users as to be effectively available directly to the public, regardless of the facilities used.

BB. Telephone Exchange Service. "Telephone exchange service" means (A) service within a telephone exchange, or within a connected system of telephone exchanges within the same exchange area operated to furnish to subscribers intercommunicating service of the character ordinarily furnished by a single exchange, and which is covered by the exchange service charge, or (B) comparable service provided through a system of switches, transmission equipment or other facilities, or combination thereof, by which a subscriber can originate and terminate a telecommunications service.

CC. Voice Network Service Provider. "Voice Network Service Provider" means a voice service provider that offers its subscribers the means to initiate or receive voice communications using the public switched telephone network.

DD. Working Telephone Number. A "Working Telephone Number" is an active ten-digit telephone number that (1) is compliant with the guidelines established by the North American Numbering Plan Administrator for use by a voice network service provider; (2) has been assigned to an end-user customer of the voice network service provider; and (3) is capable of receiving voice traffic from, or originating voice traffic to, the Public Switched Telephone Network.

Notes

65-407 C.M.R. ch. 288, § 2