2013 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 58 - Public Utilities, Services and Carriers
CHAPTER 9 - TELEPHONE, TELEGRAPH AND EXPRESS COMPANIES
SECTION 58-9-2670. Exemptions for government-owned communications service providers receiving funding for Comprehensive Community Infrastructure project.

(A) For any government-owned communications service provider that, on or before the effective date of this act, was awarded funding for a Comprehensive Community Infrastructure middle-mile project pursuant to the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program administered by the United States Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration:

(1) the provisions of Section 58-9-2630 do not apply;

(2) the provisions of Sections 58-9-2620, 58-9-2650, and 58-9-2660 do not apply to the provision of communications services by a government-owned communications service provider to the government entity that owns the communications facility, operation, or system; and

(3) the provisions of Sections 58-9-2620, 58-9-2650, and 58-9-2660 do not apply to the extent that the middle-mile services it offers are used to actually provide communications services to end users in unserved areas. The provider may use any reasonable methodology to comply with this provision. On an annual basis, the provider must file with the commission and provide to the Office of Regulatory Staff a detailed explanation of the methodology it uses to comply with this section, along with supporting documentation, and the explanation and documentation must be made available for public inspection and copying.

(B) The provisions of Sections 58-9-2620, 58-9-2630, 58-9-2650, and 58-9-2660 do not apply to any government-owned communications service provider, that, on or before the effective date of this act, was awarded a grant for a last-mile project pursuant to the Broadband Initiatives Program administered by the United States Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service, to the extent that the government-owned communications service provider provides communications services to addresses that are within the area set forth in its application for the grant, referenced above or to addresses that satisfy each of the following five criteria: (i) are within the border of the grant recipient's county; (ii) are six miles or further from the center point of any incorporated area that, as of December 31, 2011, had a population in excess of ten thousand as determined by the 2010 Census; (iii) are outside any area that, as of December 31, 2011, was served by a rural telephone company, as defined in 47 U.S.C. Section 153(37), that provided service to less than fifteen thousand access lines within its local exchange study area in the State; (iv) are outside the boundaries of any industrial or business park owned in whole or in part by the grant recipient's county and occupied by one or more persons or entities as of the effective date of this act; and (v) are one mile or further from the center of any incorporated area or unincorporated community with a population of no more than one thousand five hundred as long as the address is, as of December 31, 2011, within an exchange of a rural telephone company as defined in 47 U.S.C. Section 153(37). The provisions of Sections 58-9-2620, 58-9-2630, 58-9-2650, and 58-9-2660 apply to the extent that the government-owned communications service provider provides communications service to any other addresses. In order not to impede efficient network design, nothing in this subsection prohibits the incidental placement of the government-owned communications service provider's facilities outside the borders of the grant recipient's county as long as such facilities are not used to provide any communications services to any addresses outside the grant recipient's county.

(C) The provisions of Sections 58-9-2620, 58-9-2630, 58-9-2650, and 58-9-2660 do not apply to any municipality that is a government-owned communications service provider and that: (i) applied, on or before December 31, 2011, for a grant for a last-mile project pursuant to the Broadband Initiatives Program administered by the United States Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service; (ii) expended funds in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars to complete business plans or feasibility studies in support of such application; and (iii) is awarded federal funds to support the project identified in the application referenced in item (i) of this subsection. The exemption provided in this subsection applies only to the extent that the municipality that is a government-owned communications service provider provides communications services to addresses that are within both the county in which the municipality is located and the area described in its grant application referenced in item (i) of this subsection or to addresses that are within the limits of the municipality that meets the requirements of this subsection, it being the specific intent that this subsection (C) shall apply to the entire geographic area described in any grant application that meets the requirements of this subsection as well as the entire area within the limits of any municipality that meets the requirement of this subsection.

(D) For any government-owned communications service provider that, on or before the effective date of this act, also was a charter member institution of the South Carolina LightRail Consortium, the provisions of Sections 58-9-2620, 58-9-2630, and 58-9-2650 do not apply to the institution or any of its affiliated organizations in the provision of connection to national research and educational networks described in 59-151-110(A), provided that: (i) the institution and its affiliated organizations use such connection solely for research and education-related activities; (ii) under no circumstances will the institution or any of its affiliated organizations provide service that connects commercial sites or that carries commercial traffic, commercial Internet traffic or K-12 traffic originated in South Carolina; and (iii) neither such charter member institution of the South Carolina LightRail Consortium nor any affiliated organization is authorized to otherwise compete with the commercial communications or information offerings of private sector participants. As used in this subsection, "affiliated organization" means an entity formed for the purpose of owning, leasing, providing or operating the facilities used to provide service to the charter member institution and to related entities that support the mission of the charter member institution. For purposes of this subsection, occasional and incidental use of the connection by persons appropriately granted such access to the connection for purposes that are not directly related to the missions of the charter member institutions is not considered as competing with the commercial communications or information offerings of private sector participants.

(E) Nothing in this act is intended nor may be construed to prohibit MUSC or MUSC Authority from using the South Carolina LightRail, in furtherance of a documented research project, to transmit medical imaging between MUSC and the MUSC Authority and other hospital or health care facilities taking part in the project.

(F) The provisions of Sections 58-9-2620, 58-9-2630, 58-9-2650, and 58-9-2660 do not apply to the provision of wireless fidelity (wi-fi) service by a county or a municipality as long as the county or municipality does not impose a charge or fee of any kind for the service.

HISTORY: 2012 Act No. 284, Section 9, eff June 29, 2012.