Section 41-23-212 Definitions.

For the purposes of this article, the following words have the following meanings: (1) ADECA. The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. (2) END USER. A residential, business, institutional, or government entity that uses broadband services for its own purposes and does not resell the broadband services to other entities. An Internet service provider (ISP) and mobile wireless service provider are not an end user for the purposes of Sections 41-23-212, 41-23-213, and 41-23-214. (3) MIDDLE MILE PROJECT. A broadband infrastructure project that does not provide broadband service to end users or to end-user devices. (4) MINIMUM SERVICE THRESHOLD. A connection to the Internet that provides capacity for transmission at an average speed per customer of at least 100 megabits (100 Mbps) per second downstream and at least 20 megabits (20 Mbps) per second upstream. (5) RURAL AREA. Any area within this state not included within the boundaries of any incorporated city or town having a population in excess of 25,000 inhabitants, according to the last federal census. (6) UNSERVED AREA. Any rural area in which there is not at least one provider of terrestrial broadband service that is either: (1) offering a connection to the Internet meeting the minimum service threshold; or (2) required under the terms of another state or federal grant to provide a connection to the Internet at speeds meeting the minimum service threshold within the same or similar timeframe of projects of similar complexity or scale awarded during each grant cycle.