2009 North Carolina Code
Chapter 62A - Public Safety Telephone Service and Wireless Telephone Service.
§ 62A-40. Definitions.

Article 3.

Emergency Telephone Service.

§ 62A‑40.  Definitions.

The following definitions apply in this Article.

(1)        911 Board. – The 911 Board established in G.S. 62A‑41.

(2)        911 Fund. – The North Carolina 911 Fund established in G.S. 62A‑43.

(3)        911 State Plan. – A document prepared, maintained, and updated by the 911 Board that provides a comprehensive plan for communicating 911 call information across networks and among PSAPs, addresses all aspects of the State's 911 system, and describes the allowable uses of revenue in the 911 Fund.

(4)        911 system. – An emergency telephone system that does all of the following:

a.         Enables the user of a voice communications service connection to reach a PSAP by dialing the digits 911.

b.         Provides enhanced 911 service.

(5)        Call taking. – The act of processing a call for emergency assistance up to the point that the call is ready for dispatch, including the use of equipment, call classification, location of a caller, and determination of the appropriate response level for emergency responders.

(6)        Commercial Mobile Radio Service (CMRS). – Defined in 47 C.F.R. § 20.3.

(7)        CMRS connection. – Each mobile handset telephone number assigned to a CMRS subscriber with a place of primary use in North Carolina.

(8)        CMRS provider. – An entity, whether facilities‑based or nonfacilities‑based, that is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to provide CMRS or that resells CMRS within North Carolina.

(9)        Enhanced 911 service. – Directing a 911 call to an appropriate PSAP by selective routing based on the geographical location from which the call originated and providing information defining the approximate geographic location and the telephone number of a 911 caller, in accordance with the FCC Order.

(10)      Exchange access facility. – The access from a subscriber's premises to the telephone system of a service supplier. The term includes service supplier provided access lines, private branch exchange trunks, and centrex network access registers, as defined by applicable tariffs approved by the North Carolina Utilities Commission. The term does not include service supplier owned and operated telephone pay station lines, Wide Area Telecommunications Service (WATS), Foreign Exchange (FX), or incoming only lines.

(11)      FCC Order. – The Order of the Federal Communications Commission, FCC Docket No. 94‑102, adopted on December 1, 1997, and any consent decrees, rules, and regulations adopted by the Federal Communications Commission pursuant to the Order.

(12)      GIS mapping. – Computerized geographical information that can be used to assist in locating a person who calls emergency assistance, including street centerlines, ortho photography, and oblique imaging.

(13)      Interconnected VoIP service. – Defined in 47 C.F.R. § 9.3.

(14)      Local exchange carrier. – An entity that is authorized to provide telephone exchange service or exchange access in North Carolina.

(15)      Prepaid wireless telephone service. – A right that meets all of the following requirements:

a.         Authorizes the purchase of CMRS, either exclusively or in conjunction with other services.

b.         Must be paid for in advance.

c.         Is sold in units or dollars whose number or dollar value declines with use and is known on a continuous basis.

(16)      Primary PSAP. – The first point of reception of a 911 call by a public safety answering point.

(17)      Proprietary information. – Subscriber lists, technology descriptions, technical information, or trade secrets that are developed, produced, or received internally by a voice communications service provider or by a voice communications service provider's employees, directors, officers, or agents.

(18)      Public safety answering point (PSAP). – The public safety agency that receives an incoming 911 call and dispatches appropriate public safety agencies to respond to the call.

(19)      Service supplier. – An entity that provides exchange telephone service to a telephone subscriber.

(20)      Subscriber. – A person who purchases a voice communications service and is able to receive it or use it periodically over time.

(21)      Voice communications service. – Any of the following:

a.         The transmission, conveyance, or routing of real‑time, two‑way voice communications to a point or between or among points by or through any electronic, radio, satellite, cable, optical, microwave, wireline, wireless, or other medium or method, regardless of the protocol used.

b.         The ability to receive and terminate voice calls to and from the public switched telephone network.

c.         Interconnected VoIP service.

(22)      Voice communications service connection. – Each telephone number assigned to a residential or commercial subscriber by a voice communications service provider, without regard to technology deployed.

(23)      Voice communications service provider. – An entity that provides voice communications service to a subscriber.

(24)      VoIP provider. – An entity that provides interconnected VoIP service. (2007‑383, s. 1(a).)