Montana Code Annotated 2023

TITLE 53. SOCIAL SERVICES AND INSTITUTIONS

CHAPTER 19. PHYSICALLY DISABLED

Part 3. Telecommunications Services

Definitions

53-19-302. Definitions. As used in this part, unless the context requires otherwise, the following definitions apply:

(1) "Committee" means the committee on telecommunications access services for persons with disabilities established in 2-15-2212.

(2) "Department" means the department of revenue.

(3) "End user connection" means a customer's connection to a service provider's network.

(4) "Mobility-disabled" means the condition of a person with reduced function of the arms, legs, or hands making activities related to moving, turning, or pressing objects difficult or impossible. The term includes difficulty in using a wide range of telecommunications equipment.

(5) "Net amount billed for the fee" means the gross amount billed for fees imposed by 53-19-311, less adjustments for uncollectible accounts, refunds, incorrect billings, and other appropriate adjustments.

(6) "Person with a disability" means the condition of a person who is deaf and blind, deaf, hard-of-hearing, speech-disabled, or mobility-disabled.

(7) "Program" means the program established in 53-19-306.

(8) "Service provider" means an entity that offers services to subscribers in Montana to allow two or more persons in different locations to communicate orally, without regard to the technology or medium the entity uses to provide the telecommunications service, and access to telecommunications relay service. The term includes providers of telecommunications service, including but not limited to providers of internet protocol-enabled voice communications service.

(9) "Specialized telecommunications equipment" means any telecommunications device that enables or assists a person with a disability to communicate with others by means of the public switched telephone network or internet protocol-enabled voice communications service. The term includes but is not limited to text telephones (TTY), amplifiers, signaling devices, puff-blow devices, electronic artificial larynx devices, telebraille, and equipment for the mobility-disabled.

(10) "Subscriber" means an end user who receives telecommunications network access from a service provider.

(11) "Telecommunications" means the transmission, between or among points specified by the user, of information of the user's choosing without a change in the form or content of the information upon receipt.

(12) "Telecommunications relay service" means a service that permits full and simultaneous communication between those using specialized telecommunications equipment and those using conventional telephone equipment or any other technology or equipment, including but not limited to personal computers and videophones.

History: En. Sec. 2, Ch. 669, L. 1989; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 396, L. 1997; amd. Sec. 63, Ch. 472, L. 1997; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 297, L. 2001; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 417, L. 2003; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 325, L. 2007.