Tennessee § 65-5-202 - Part definitions — Treatment of telecommunications services to avoid federal law prohibited — Jurisdiction of regulatory commission maintained — Regulation of cable television not affected.

§ 65-5-202. Part definitions — Treatment of telecommunications services to avoid federal law prohibited — Jurisdiction of regulatory commission maintained — Regulation of cable television not affected.

As used in this part, “broadband services” means any service that consists of or includes a high-speed access capability to transmit at a rate that is not less than two hundred kilobits per second (200 Kbps), either in the upstream or downstream direction and either: Is used to provide access to the Internet; or Provides computer processing, information storage, information content or protocol conversion, including any service applications or information service provided over the high-speed access service. “Broadband services” does not include intrastate service that was tariffed with the Tennessee public utility commission and in effect as of May 15, 2006; furthermore, the intrastate service shall not be reclassified, bundled, detariffed, declared obsolete or otherwise recharacterized to avoid the imposition of inspection fees by the Tennessee public utility commission. Nothing in this part shall permit any carrier to treat services that constitute telecommunications services under federal law as nontelecommunications services for any purpose under state law. Nothing in this part shall alter or affect the jurisdiction of the Tennessee public utility commission to arbitrate or hear complaints related to anticompetitive pricing of regulated services or interconnection agreements between carriers pursuant to §§ 251 and 252 of the federal Telecommunications Act (47 U.S.C. §§ 251 and 252). Nothing in this part shall alter or affect any jurisdiction or authority of the Tennessee public utility commission to act in accordance with federal laws or regulations of the federal communications commission, including, but not limited to, jurisdiction granted to set rates, terms, and conditions for access to unbundled network elements and to arbitrate and enforce interconnection agreements. Nothing in this part shall alter or affect in any manner the regulation of cable television as established elsewhere in state law. Acts 2006, ch. 681, § 3; 2017, ch. 94, § 52. Amendments. The 2017 amendment substituted “Tennessee public utility commission” for “Tennessee regulatory authority” throughout the section. Effective Dates. Acts 2017, ch. 94, § 83. April 4, 2017.