Terms Used In Montana Code > Title 69 > Chapter 3 > Part 8 - Montana Telecommunications Act

• Affidavit: means a sworn written declaration made before an officer authorized to administer oaths or an unsworn written declaration made under penalty of perjury as provided in 1-6-105. See Montana Code 1-1-203
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• carrier: means any provider of telecommunications services. See Montana Code 69-3-803
• Commercial mobile radio service: means commercial mobile radio service as defined in 47 C. See Montana Code 69-3-803
• Commission: means the public service commission. See Montana Code 69-3-803
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Eligible telecommunications carrier: means a telecommunications provider designated by the commission under 69-3-840. See Montana Code 69-3-803
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Forbearance: A means of handling a delinquent loan. A
• Fund: means the universal service fund established in 69-3-842. See Montana Code 69-3-803
• Incumbent local exchange carrier: means , with respect to an area, the local exchange carrier that:

  (a)on February 8, 1996, provided telephone exchange service in the area; and

  (b)on February 8, 1996, was considered to be a member of the exchange carrier association pursuant to 47 C. See Montana Code 69-3-803

• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Local telecommunications: means :

  (a)telecommunications originating in a wireline local calling area, including extended area service areas, and terminating in the same wireline local calling area or extended area service area; or

  (b)commercial mobile radio service that originates from or terminates to a commercial mobile radio service provider within the same major trading area as defined in 47 C. See Montana Code 69-3-803

• Nonlocal telecommunications: means :

  (a)wireline telecommunications traffic carried by either an interlocal access transport area carrier or an intralocal access transport area toll provider that originates in one wireline local calling area and terminates in another wireline local calling area; or

  (b)commercial mobile radio service that originates in a major trading area and terminates in a different major trading area as defined in 47 C. See Montana Code 69-3-803

• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Originating carrier: means a telecommunications carrier from whose network a customer originates telecommunications traffic. See Montana Code 69-3-803
• Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• person or entity: includes a corporation and all of its affiliates and subsidiaries if the corporation, affiliates, and subsidiaries have a common ownership or control of 80% of the outstanding voting shares. See Montana Code 69-3-803
• Private telecommunications service: means a system, including the construction, maintenance, or operation of the system, for the provision of telecommunications service or any portion of the service, by a person or entity for the sole and exclusive use of that person or entity and not for resale, directly or indirectly. See Montana Code 69-3-803
• Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Montana Code 1-1-202
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Regulated telecommunications service: means two-way switched, voice-grade access and transport of communications originating and terminating in this state and nonvoice-grade access and transport if intended to be converted to or from voice-grade access and transport. See Montana Code 69-3-803
• Retail revenue: means the gross Montana revenue from telecommunications services that originate or terminate in Montana and are billed for a service address in Montana, excluding revenue from the resale of telecommunications services to another telecommunications services provider that uses the telecommunications services to provide telecommunications services to the ultimate retail consumer who originates or terminates the transmission. See Montana Code 69-3-803
• Rural telephone company: means a local exchange carrier operating entity to the extent that the entity:

  (a)provides common carrier service to any local exchange carrier study area that does not include either:

  (i)all or any part of an incorporated place of 10,000 inhabitants or more based on the most recently available population statistics of the United States bureau of the census; or

  (ii)any territory, incorporated or unincorporated, included in an urbanized area, as defined by the United States bureau of the census as of August 10, 1993;

  (b)provides telephone exchange service, including exchange access, to fewer than 50,000 access lines;

  (c)provides telephone exchange service to any local exchange carrier study area with fewer than 100,000 access lines; or

  (d)has less than 15% of its access lines in communities of more than 50,000 on February 8, 1996. See Montana Code 69-3-803

• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Telecommunications: means the transmission, between or among points specified by the user, of information of the user's choosing without a change in the form or content of the information upon receipt. See Montana Code 69-3-803
• Terminating carrier: means a telecommunications carrier upon whose network telecommunications traffic terminates. See Montana Code 69-3-803
• Transit traffic: means telecommunications traffic that an originating carrier delivers to a transiting carrier or carriers for delivery to a terminating carrier. See Montana Code 69-3-803
• Transiting carrier: means a telecommunications carrier or carriers that transport transit traffic from an originating carrier to a terminating carrier and that do not originate or terminate telecommunications traffic. See Montana Code 69-3-803
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Usage: means a reasonable and lawful public custom concerning transactions of the same nature as those which are to be affected thereby, existing at the place where the obligation is to be performed, and either known to the parties or so well established, general, and uniform that the parties must be presumed to have acted with reference thereto. See Montana Code 1-1-206