Adopted
AMENDMENT NO 3 PROPOSED TO
Cmte Sub for Senate Bill No. 2604
BY: Senator(s) Bryan
AMEND by inserting the following sections after line 254 and renumbering subsequent sections accordingly:
SECTION *. The following shall be codified as Section 21-27-79, Mississippi Code of 1972:
21-27-79. (1) Any municipally-owned electric utility created under this chapter which has more than one-third (1/3) of its service area located outside the corporate boundaries of the municipality shall have the same powers as are granted to an electric cooperative by the Mississippi Broadband Enabling Act, Section 77-17-1 et seq.
(2) If more than one-fifth (1/5) of the land area of a municipal school district is located in the territory served by a municipally-owned electric utility described in subsection (1) of this section, then the electric utility owned by the municipality in which the central office of that school district is located shall have the same powers as are granted to an electric cooperative by the Mississippi Broadband Enabling Act, Section 77-17-1 et seq.
SECTION *. Section 17-13-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
17-13-5. For the purpose of this chapter, the following words shall be defined as herein provided unless the context requires otherwise:
(a) "Local governmental unit" shall mean any county, any incorporated city, town or village, any school district, any utility district, any community college, any institution of higher learning, any municipal airport authority or regional airport authority in the state, any local tourism commission in the state or any public improvement district created under the Public Improvement District Act. For the purposes of this chapter, the term "local governmental unit" includes a municipally-owned electric utility system described in Section 21-27-79 for the purpose authorized in that section.
(b) "Governing authority" shall mean the board of supervisors of any county, board of trustees of any school district or community college whether elective or appointive, the governing board of any city, town or village, the board of commissioners of a utility district, the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, the commissioners of a municipal airport authority or regional airport authority, the commission of a local tourism commission or the board of directors of any public improvement district created under the Public Improvement District Act.
SECTION *. Section 77-17-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
77-17-3. As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(a) "Broadband affiliate" or "affiliate" means any entity that is (i) wholly or partially owned by an electric cooperative, and (ii) formed to own or operate a broadband system or provide broadband services.
(b) "Broadband
service provider" means an entity that provides broadband services to
others on a wholesale basis or to * * *
end-user customers on a retail basis.
(c) "Broadband operator" means a broadband service provider that owns or operates a broadband system on an electric cooperative's electric delivery system with the electric cooperative's consent.
(d) "Broadband services" means any service that consists of or includes the provision of or connectivity to a high-speed, high-capacity transmission medium that can carry signals from or to multiple sources and that either: (i) is used to provide access to the Internet, or (ii) provides computer processing, information storage, information content or protocol conversion, including any service applications or information service provided over such high-speed access service. As used herein, "broadband services" also includes video services, voice over Internet protocol services, any wireless services, and Internet protocol-enabled services.
(e) "Broadband system" means the fiber, cables, materials, equipment and other facilities that are used or useful for the provision of broadband services.
(f) "Electric delivery system" means the poles, lines, fiber, cables, broadband system, materials, equipment, easements and other facilities or properties used by an electric cooperative to deliver or facilitate the delivery, sale or use of electric energy.
(g) "Electric cooperative" means an electric power association formed or operating under Sections 77-5-201, et seq. For the purposes of this chapter, the term "electric cooperative" includes a municipally-owned electric utility system described in Section 21-27-79.
(h) "Internet protocol-enabled services" means any service, capability, functionality or application provided using Internet protocol, or any successor protocol, that enables an end user to send or receive a communication in Internet protocol format, or any successor format, regardless of whether the communications is voice, data or video.
(i) "Landowner" includes any person or entity holding an interest in real property.
(j) "Video services" means video programming services without regard to delivery technology, including Internet protocol technology ("Internet Protocol television or IPTV") and video programming provided as a part of a service that enables users to access content, information, email or other services offered over the public Internet. The term "video programming" means any programming generally considered comparable to programming provided by a television broadcast station or others.
(k) "Voice over Internet protocol services" means any service that: (i) enables real-time, two-way voice communications that originate from or terminate to the user's location in Internet protocol or any successor protocol; (ii) uses a broadband connection from the user's location; and (iii) permits users generally to receive calls that originate on the public switched telephone network and to terminate calls to the public switched telephone network.
FURTHER, AMEND the title to conform.