§ 7501 — Purpose; definitions

[Subsection (a) effective until July 1, 2025; see also subsection (a) effective July 1, 2025 set out below.]
(a) It is the purpose of this chapter to create a financial structure that will allow every Vermont household to obtain basic telecommunications service at an affordable price, and to finance that structure with a proportional charge on all telecommunications transactions that interact with the public switched network.
[Subsection (a) effective July 1, 2025; see also subsection (a) effective until July 1, 2025 set out above.]
(a) It is the purpose of this chapter to create a financial structure that will allow every Vermont household to obtain basic telecommunications service at an affordable price and to finance that structure with a charge on all telecommunications transactions that interact with the public switched network.
(b) As used in this chapter:
(1) “Basic telecommunications service” means that a customer has available at his or her location:
(A) switched voice grade interactive telecommunications service permitting origination and termination of calls;
(B) the ability to transmit network switching instructions through tones generated by customer-owned equipment;
(C) the ability to transmit and receive the customer’s computer-generated digital data, either by digital or analog transmission, reliably and at common transmission rates, using customer-owned equipment;
(D) the ability to communicate quickly and effectively with emergency response personnel; and
(E) telecommunications relay service, as authorized under section 218a of this title.
(2) “Interactive” means that a communications medium is regularly used to transmit information in two directions.
(3) “Line in service” means a circuit or channel connecting a customer to the public switched network or to the internet.
(4) “Private network” means a telecommunications system entirely owned and operated by a single corporate or individual person other than a telecommunications service provider and not available to the general public.
(5) “Public switched network” means the communications network owned and operated by telecommunications service providers, some of whom are common carriers.
(6) “Service area” means:
(A) in the case of a rural telephone company, the company’s study area as approved by the Federal Communications Commission; or
(B) in the case of a local exchange carrier, other than a rural telephone company, the carrier’s local exchange service area as approved by the Public Utility Commission.
(7) “Service location” means a business or residential geographic point of contact of a telecommunications service for purposes of the Enhanced 911 network. The number of service locations in each exchange shall be determined by the Department of Public Service in periodic updates to the State Telecommunications Plan based on analysis of the locations in the database of the Vermont Enhanced 911 Board.
[Subdivision (b)(8) effective until July 1, 2025; see also subdivision (b)(8) effective July 1, 2025 set out below.]
(8) “Telecommunications service” means the transmission of any interactive electromagnetic communications that passes through the public switched network. The term includes transmission of voice, image, data, and any other information, by means of wire, electric conductor cable, optic fiber, microwave, radio wave, or any combinations of such media, and the leasing of any such service.
(A) Telecommunications service includes:
(i) local telephone service, including any facility or service provided in connection with such local telephone service;
(ii) toll telephone service;
(iii) directory assistance;
(iv) two-way cable television service; and
(v) mobile telephone or telecommunication service, both analog and digital.
(B) Notwithstanding the provisions of this subdivision (8), as used in this chapter, telecommunications service does not include:
(i) Services consisting primarily of the creation of artistic material or other information that is later transmitted over telecommunications equipment, including information services and electronic bulletin boards, but only to the extent that charges for such information processing are separated from charges for other telecommunications services, and only to the extent that such information is not used by any telecommunications service provider in the administration of the telecommunications network.
(ii) Mobile radio and paging services that do not have an electronic interface into the public switched network.
(iii) Private network services; provided, however, that payments by a private network to a telecommunications service provider, such as for point-to-point transmission services, are not exempt under this subdivision.
(iv) [Repealed.]
(v) Telecommunications services paid for at the point of purchase by depositing coins or currency.
(vi) Charges incurred by utilizing prepaid telephone calling cards or prepaid authorization numbers.
[Subdivision (b)(8) effective July 1, 2025; see also subdivision (b)(8) effective until July 1, 2025 set out above.]
(8) “Telecommunications service” means the transmission of any real-time, interactive electromagnetic communications that passes through the public switched network. The term includes transmission of voice, image, data, and any other information, by means of wire, electric conductor cable, optic fiber, microwave, radio wave, or any combinations of such media, and the leasing of any such service.
(A) Telecommunications service includes:
(i) local telephone service, including any facility or service provided in connection with such local telephone service;
(ii) toll telephone service;
(iii) directory assistance;
(iv) interconnected VoIP service, as defined in 47 C.F.R. § 9.3; and
(v) mobile telecommunications service, as defined in 4 U.S.C. § 124(7).
(B) Notwithstanding the provisions of this subdivision (8), as used in this chapter, telecommunications service does not include:
(i) Services consisting primarily of the creation of artistic material or other information that is later transmitted over telecommunications equipment, including information services and electronic bulletin boards, but only to the extent that charges for such information processing are separated from charges for other telecommunications services, and only to the extent that such information is not used by any telecommunications service provider in the administration of the telecommunications network.
(ii) Mobile radio and paging services that do not have an electronic interface into the public switched network.
(iii) Private network services; provided, however, that payments by a private network to a telecommunications service provider, such as for point-to-point transmission services, are not exempt under this subdivision.
(iv) [Repealed.]
(v) Telecommunications services paid for at the point of purchase by depositing coins or currency.
(vi) Charges incurred by utilizing prepaid telephone calling cards or prepaid authorization numbers.
(9) “Telecommunications service provider” means a company required by law to hold a certificate of public good from the Public Utility Commission to offer telecommunications service for intrastate service, or is authorized by the Federal Communications Commission to offer interstate telecommunications service. (Added 1993, No. 197 (Adj. Sess.), § 5; amended 1995, No. 99 (Adj. Sess.), § 12; 1997, No. 71 (Adj. Sess.), § 29, eff. March 11, 1998; 1997, No. 156 (Adj. Sess.), § 31, eff. April 29, 1998; 2013, No. 190 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. June 16, 2014; 2023, No. 145 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. July 1, 2025.)