261—411.2 (83GA,SF376) Definitions. In addition to the definitions in 261—Chapter 410, the following definitions shall apply to the Iowa broadband deployment program:
“Affordable rates” means the current price for high-speed broadband services being charged for similar services in areas with two or more broadband providers, as demonstrated by published or advertised unbundled prices. If there are no existing high-speed broadband services in the proposed funded service area or if there is only one existing provider of high-speed broadband services in the proposed funded service area, projects will be evaluated on the ability of applicants to demonstrate that their proposed pricing is affordable for the service area.
“Areas capable of timely implementation of high-speed broadband access” means those areas in Iowa where broadband infrastructure projects can be deployed or completed consistent with requirements established for federal funding.
“Community anchor institutions” means schools, libraries, medical and healthcare providers, public safety entities, community colleges and other institutions of higher education, and other community support organizations and agencies that provide outreach, access, equipment, and support services to facilitate greater use of broadband service by vulnerable populations, including low-income, unemployed, and the aged.
“Critical community facilities” means public facilities that provide community services essential for supporting the safety, health, and well-being of residents, including, but not limited to, emergency response and other public safety activities, hospitals and clinics, libraries and schools.
“Economically sustainable” means that a broadband project funded by the board will require no further government assistance beyond the funding period to remain viable into the future. A broadband project shall not be deemed “economically sustainable” if the broadband project will only continue beyond the funding period with the assistance of additional government grants. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this definition, “government assistance” shall not include: (1) fees or other revenues paid from government users in exchange for the ordinary use of broadband services, or (2) ongoing government funding provided by the federal Universal Service Fund. For purposes of this definition, “government” refers to any branch or level of government, including the federal government, any state government, or any political subdivision.
“Federal funds” means funding available for broadband infrastructure initiatives under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Public Law 111-5 (Feb. 17, 2009) that will be awarded by either the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service through the Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) or the U.S. Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration through the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP).
“Federal requirements” means requirements established for the receipt of federal funds for broadband infrastructure initiatives pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
“Grant agreement” means the agreement between the grantee and the ITTC, on behalf of the board for grants awarded under the program, including any amendments thereto.
“Grantee” means the recipient of a grant under the program.
“Grant funds” means state funds provided pursuant to a grant made under the program.
“High-speed broadband service”  or “broadband”  means providing two-way data transmission with advertised speeds that exceed 768 kilobits per second (kbps) downstream and at least 200 kbps upstream to end users, or providing sufficient capacity in a middle mile project to support the provision of broadband service to end users.
“Last mile project” means any infrastructure project the predominant purpose of which is to provide broadband service to end users or end-user devices (including households, businesses, community anchor institutions, public safety entities, and critical community facilities).
“Middle mile project” means a broadband infrastructure project that does not predominantly provide broadband service to end users or to end-user devices, and may include interoffice transport, backhaul, Internet connectivity, or special access.
“Program” means the Iowa broadband deployment program administered by the governance board to award funds available for broadband deployment pursuant to the competitive grant process established in these rules and to oversee the establishment and implementation of a statewide high-speed broadband deployment plan.
“Qualified private providers” means nongovernmental local exchange carriers, cable television companies, commercial mobile radio service companies, or other entities that offer or are capable of offering broadband services in Iowa and that make minimum broadband capacity available to all business, government, educational, and residential locations within the project area.
“State broadband mapping project” means the statewide broadband data collection, mapping, and planning project conducted by the state’s designated eligible entity in cooperation with the Iowa utilities board under the Broadband Data Improvement Act of 2008 (BDIA), Title I of Public Law 110-385, 122 Stat. 4096 (Oct. 10, 2008) and as funded by the State Broadband Data and Development Grant Program.
“Synchronous data transmission” means broadband transmission services where the upstream and downstream speeds are equal.
“Underserved areas of the state” means, for last mile projects, a proposed funded service area composed of one or more contiguous census blocks where (1) no more than 50 percent of the households have access to facilities-based, terrestrial broadband service at speeds that exceed the minimum broadband transmission speeds set forth in the definition of “broadband” above; (2) no fixed or mobile broadband service provider advertises broadband transmission speeds of at least three megabits per second downstream; or (3) the rate of broadband subscribership is 40 percent of households or less. A proposed funded service area may qualify as underserved for middle mile projects if one interconnection point terminates in a proposed funded service area that qualifies as unserved or underserved for last mile projects.
“Unserved areas of the state” means a proposed funded service area composed of one or more contiguous census blocks where at least 90 percent of households in the proposed funded service area lack access to facilities-based, terrestrial broadband service, either fixed or mobile, at speeds that exceed the minimum broadband transmission speeds set forth in the definition of “broadband” above. A household has access to broadband service if the household can readily subscribe to that service upon request.
[ARC 8218B, IAB 10/7/09, effective 9/17/09]