§8.1. Transparency. — Inbound Citations

(a) For purposes of the Affordable Connectivity Program Transparency Data Collection:

Actual Speed. The term “actual speed” means the typical upload and download speeds period for a particular speed tier, either based on Measuring Broadband America (MBA) methodology, or other relevant testing data.

Advertised Speed. The term “advertised speed” means the maximum advertised upload and download speeds for fixed broadband plans, and the minimum advertised upload and download speeds for mobile broadband plans.

Base monthly price. The term “base monthly price” means the monthly price for a broadband internet service offering that would be paid by a household enrolled in the Affordable Connectivity Program, absent the affordable connectivity benefit. The base monthly price does not include the price of any recurring monthly fees (such as fees providers impose at their discretion, or equipment rental fees), government taxes or fees, or one-time charges (such as installation charges, equipment purchase fee, etc.).

Bundle. The term “bundle” means a combination of broadband internet access service with any non-broadband internet access service offerings, including but not limited to video, voice, and text.

Data Cap. The term “data cap” means data usage restrictions on both pre-paid and post-paid plans, including “soft caps” where a user's internet traffic is throttled or deprioritized, and “hard caps” where a user's access to the internet is discontinued.

Latency. The term “latency” means the length of time for a signal to be sent between two defined end points and the time it takes for an acknowledgement of the receipt of the signal to be received.

Legacy plan. The term “legacy plan” means an internet service offering in which an ACP subscriber is enrolled that a participating provider is not accepting new enrollment.

Personally identifiable information. The term “personally identifiable information” means information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual's identity, either alone or when combined with other information that is linked or linkable to a specific individual.

Plan. The term “plan” means “internet service offering” as defined in § 54.1800(n).

Unique identifier. The term “unique identifier” means a machine-readable string of characters uniquely identifying a broadband plan, not containing any special characters. Where a broadband plan is associated with a broadband label under 47 CFR 8.1(a), the unique identifier must be the same as that in the broadband label. Unique identifiers cannot be reused or refer to multiple plans. A provider must develop a new plan identifier, when a plan's components change.

(b) Broadband internet access service is a mass-market retail service by wire or radio that provides the capability to transmit data to and receive data from all or substantially all internet endpoints, including any capabilities that are incidental to and enable the operation of the communications service, but excluding dial-up internet access service. This term also encompasses any service that the Commission finds to be providing a functional equivalent of the service described in the previous sentence or that is used to evade the protections set forth in this part. For purposes of paragraphs (a)(1) through (6) of this section, “mass-market” services exclude service offerings customized for the customer through individually negotiated agreements even when the services are supported by federal universal service support.

(b) Broadband internet access service is a mass-market retail service by wire or radio that provides the capability to transmit data to and receive data from all or substantially all internet endpoints, including any capabilities that are incidental to and enable the operation of the communications service, but excluding dial-up internet access service. This term also encompasses any service that the Commission finds to be providing a functional equivalent of the service described in the previous sentence or that is used to evade the protections set forth in this part. For purposes of paragraphs (a)(1) through (6) of this section, “mass-market” services exclude service offerings customized for the customer through individually negotiated agreements even when the services are supported by federal universal service support.

(b) Broadband internet access service is a mass-market retail service by wire or radio that provides the capability to transmit data to and receive data from all or substantially all internet endpoints, including any capabilities that are incidental to and enable the operation of the communications service, but excluding dial-up internet access service. This term also encompasses any service that the Commission finds to be providing a functional equivalent of the service described in the previous sentence or that is used to evade the protections set forth in this part. For purposes of paragraphs (a)(1) through (6) of this section, “mass-market” services exclude service offerings customized for the customer through individually negotiated agreements even when the services are supported by federal universal service support.

(7) Compliance with paragraphs (a)(1), (2), and (4) through (6) of this section for providers with 100,000 or fewer subscriber lines is required as of October 10, 2024, and for all other providers is required as of April 10, 2024, except that compliance with the requirement in paragraph (a)(2) of this section to make labels accessible in online account portals will not be required for all providers until October 10, 2024. Compliance with paragraph (a)(3) of this section is required for all providers as of October 10, 2024.

(7) Compliance with paragraphs (a)(1), (2), and (4) through (6) of this section for providers with 100,000 or fewer subscriber lines is required as of October 10, 2024, and for all other providers is required as of April 10, 2024, except that compliance with the requirement in paragraph (a)(2) of this section to make labels accessible in online account portals will not be required for all providers until October 10, 2024. Compliance with paragraph (a)(3) of this section is required for all providers as of October 10, 2024.

(7) Compliance with paragraphs (a)(1), (2), and (4) through (6) of this section for providers with 100,000 or fewer subscriber lines is required as of October 10, 2024, and for all other providers is required as of April 10, 2024, except that compliance with the requirement in paragraph (a)(2) of this section to make labels accessible in online account portals will not be required for all providers until October 10, 2024. Compliance with paragraph (a)(3) of this section is required for all providers as of October 10, 2024.

(6) Has the meaning given the term in § 8.1(b) of this chapter.

Broadband internet access service is defined by § 8.1(b) of this subchapter.

(a) The term “broadband internet access service” has the meaning given such term in 47 CFR 8.1(b), or any successor regulation.

(c) The term “broadband internet access service” has the meaning given such term in 47 CFR 8.1(b) or any successor regulation.

(2) Has an estimated median annual household income (based on U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey data) of not more than 250 percent of the poverty line, as that term is defined in section 673(2) of the Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)). NTIA will use data from the most recent time period for which both household income and poverty line data are available.

Certain Tribal Colleges or Universities means, with respect to a Tribal College or University that is located on land held in trust by the United States, the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, may establish a different maximum distance for the purposes of designating an anchor community if the Assistant Secretary is able to ensure that, in establishing that different maximum distance, each anchor community that is established as a result of that action is statistically comparable to other anchor communities described in the definition of Anchor Community in this section. After consultation with the Secretary of the Interior and review of the relevant statistical data, the Assistant Secretary has determined that, for TCUs located on land held in trust by the United States that are also located within a reservation, the boundary of the reservation on which the TCU falls will be substituted for the 15-mile buffer to create an Area of Interest (AOI) for each institution. These AOIs will be used to define the institution's anchor community boundary.

Assistant Secretary means the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information, and Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

Broadband internet access service has the meaning given the term in 47 CFR 8.1(b), or any successor regulation.

Commission means the Federal Communications Commission.

Connected device means a laptop computer, tablet computer, or similar device that can connect to broadband internet access service.

Director means the Director of the Office.

Eligible equipment means—