Montana § 69-3-850 - Internet Protocol-Enabled Service Not Regulated

§ 69-3-850. Internet Protocol-Enabled Service Not Regulated

Internet protocol-enabled service not regulated. (1) An internet protocol-enabled service is not subject to regulation under this title. (2) Except as provided in subsections (3) and (4), an agency, commission, or political subdivision may not enact, adopt, or enforce a law, rule, regulation, ordinance, standard, order, or other provision that regulates the entry, rates, terms, or conditions of any internet protocol-enabled service or otherwise treats providers of internet protocol-enabled service as carriers. (3) This section does not: (a) restrict authority delegated to the commission or to a state agency under federal statute, rule, or order; (b) restrict the application of a law related to consumer protection and fair competition of general applicability to an internet protocol-enabled service or provider; (c) modify or affect the rights or obligations of a carrier under 47 U.S.C. 251 or 47 U.S.C. 252; (d) modify or affect commission authority over wholesale telecommunications services, rates, agreements, interconnection, or tariffs; (e) modify or affect the rights or obligations of any entity for the use of public streets, roads, highways, and rights-of-way, including under an ordinance or agreement managing or providing access to the public right-of-way; (f) modify or affect the assessment of nondiscriminatory fees associated with enhanced 911 service, universal service, or telecommunications relay service with respect to services described in subsections (4)(b) and (4)(c); (g) restrict the authority of a state agency to specify requirements for the purchase of an internet protocol-enabled service; or (h) restrict a commission requirement that a company provider of telecommunications services register as a service provider. (4) For the purposes of this section, "internet protocol-enabled service" means: (a) broadband internet service as defined in 90-1-602 (1)(a); (b) interconnected voice-over internet protocol service that enables real-time, two-way voice communications originating or terminating from a user's location using internet protocol or a successor protocol, that allows users to receive calls originating on the public switched telephone network and to terminate calls to the public switched telephone network, and that requires internet protocol-compatible customer premises equipment; (c) non-interconnected voice-over internet protocol service that enables real-time voice communications over internet protocol or any successor protocol and that requires internet protocol-compatible customer premises equipment but does not otherwise fit the description of interconnected voice-over internet protocol service; or (d) any other service, capability, function, or application that uses existing internet protocol or any successor internet protocol and enables an end user to send or receive a communication in existing internet protocol format or any successor internet protocol format, regardless of whether the communication is voice, data, or video.