As used in this article:
(1) "Telecommunications service" means the provision, transmission, conveyance, or routing for a consideration of voice, data, video, or any other information or signals of the purchaser's choosing to a point, or between or among points, specified by the purchaser, by or through any electronic, radio, or similar medium or method now in existence or hereafter devised. The term "telecommunications service" includes, but is not limited to, local telephone services, toll telephone services, telegraph services, teletypewriter services, teleconferencing services, private line services, channel services, Internet protocol telephony, and mobile telecommunications services and to the extent not already provided herein, those services described in North American Industry Classification System Manual (NAICS) 5171, 5172, 5173, 5174, and 5179, except satellite services exempted by law.
(2) "Retail telecommunications service" includes telecommunications services as defined in item (1) of this section but shall not include:
(a) telecommunications services which are used as a component part of a telecommunications service, are integrated into a telecommunications service, or are otherwise resold by another provider to the ultimate retail purchaser who originates or terminates the end-to-end communication including, but not limited to, the following:
(i) carrier access charges;
(ii) right of access charges;
(iii) interconnection charges paid by the providers of mobile telecommunications services or other telecommunications services;
(iv) charges paid by cable service providers for the transmission by another telecommunications provider of video or other programming;
(v) charges for the sale of unbundled network elements;
(vi) charges for the use of intercompany facilities; and
(vii) charges for services provided by shared, not-for-profit public safety radio systems approved by the FCC;
(b) information and data services including the storage of data or information for subsequent retrieval, the retrieval of data or information, or the processing, or reception and processing, of data or information intended to change its form or content;
(c) cable or video services that are subject to franchise fees;
(d) satellite television broadcast services.
(3) "Telecommunications company" means a provider of one or more telecommunications services.
(4) "Cable service" includes, but is not limited to, the provision of video programming or other programming service to purchasers, and the purchaser interaction, if any, required for the selection or use of the video programming or other programming service, regardless of whether the programming is transmitted over facilities owned or operated by the cable service provider or over facilities owned or operated by one or more other telecommunications service providers.
(5) "Mobile telecommunications service" includes, but is not limited to, any one-way or two-way radio communication service carried on between mobile stations or receivers and land stations and by mobile stations communicating among themselves, through cellular telecommunications services, personal communications services, paging services, specialized mobile radio services, and any other form of mobile one-way or two-way communications service.
(6) "Service address" means the location of the telecommunications equipment from which telecommunications services are originated or at which telecommunications services are received by a retail customer. If this location is not a defined location, as in the case of mobile phones, paging systems, maritime systems, and the like, "service address" means the location of the retail customer's primary use of the telecommunications equipment or the billing address the customer gives to the service provider, provided that the billing address is within the licensed service area of the service provider. A sale of postpaid calling services is sourced to the origination point of the telecommunications signal as first identified by either (i) the seller's telecommunications system; or (ii) information received by the seller from its service provider, if the system used to transport such signals is not that of the seller.
(7) "Bad debt" means any portion of a debt that is related to a sale of telecommunications services and which has become worthless or uncollectible, as determined under applicable federal income tax standards.
(8) "Postpaid calling service" means the telecommunications service obtained by making a payment on a call-by-call basis either through the use of a credit card or payment mechanism such as a bank card, travel card, credit card, or debit card, or by charge made to a telephone number that is not associated with the origination or termination of the telecommunications service.
HISTORY: 1999 Act No. 112, Section 1, eff June 30, 1999; 2003 Act No. 69, Section 3.TT, eff January 1, 2005; 2005 Act No. 8, Section 1, eff January 13, 2005; 2005 Act No. 8, Section 2, eff January 13, 2005; 2007 Act No. 8, Section 3, eff March 30, 2007.
Editor's Note
The preamble to 1999 Act No. 112, effective June 30, 1999, provides as follows:
"Whereas, Congress enacted the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to open local telephone markets to competition, and the telecommunications industry is in a state of transition; and
"Whereas, in addition to new competitors in traditional local exchange telecommunications markets, a number of new technologies has developed and is developing at a rapid pace, expanding the array of telecommunications providers and services available to consumers; and
"Whereas, since the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, competition in telecommunications services and the number of competitors in the telecommunications industry in South Carolina has grown and continues to grow, as evidenced by the hundreds of new entrants into the industry. In South Carolina, over four hundred companies have been authorized to provide long distance service and over seventy companies have been authorized to provide local telephone service. South Carolina now has over one thousand authorized pay phone service providers and numerous digital and analog wireless and paging providers. Telephony may also now be provided over Internet protocol and cable modems; and
"Whereas, the citizens of municipalities in South Carolina have long enjoyed the public benefit of dependable local exchange and long distance telecommunications service provided to them by telecommunications carriers that have constructed, operated, and maintained telecommunications facilities to serve those citizens, and that currently occupy the municipal rights-of-way in the State; and
"Whereas, Congress has stated that nothing in Section 253 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 affects the authority of the state or local government to manage the public rights-of-way or to require fair and reasonable compensation from telecommunications providers, on a competitively neutral and nondiscriminatory basis, for use of public rights-of-way on a nondiscriminatory basis, if the compensation required is disclosed by such government. The General Assembly finds that shifting of current taxation and fees from a franchise fee basis to the basis outlined in the attached article is necessary and appropriate due to the transition of the telecommunications industry and is fair and reasonable, and taxes and fees exceeding such amount, except upon extraordinary circumstances, would be unreasonable. Now, therefore,"