The Florida Senate

¹202.11  Definitions.--As used in this chapter:

(1)  "Actual cost of operating a substitute communications system" includes, but is not limited to, depreciation, interest, maintenance, repair, and other expenses directly attributable to the operation of such system. For purposes of this chapter, the depreciation expense included in actual cost is the depreciation expense claimed for federal income tax purposes. The total amount of any payment required by a lease or rental contract or agreement must be included within the actual cost of operating the substitute communications system.

(2)  "Cable service" means the transmission of video, audio, or other programming service to purchasers, and the purchaser interaction, if any, required for the selection or use of any such 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 dealers of communications services. The term includes point-to-multipoint distribution services by which programming is transmitted or broadcast by microwave or other equipment directly to the purchaser's premises, but does not include direct-to-home satellite service. The term includes basic, extended, premium, pay-per-view, digital, and music services.

(3)  "Communications services" means the transmission, conveyance, or routing of voice, data, audio, video, or any other information or signals, including cable services, to a point, or between or among points, by or through any electronic, radio, satellite, cable, optical, microwave, or other medium or method now in existence or hereafter devised, regardless of the protocol used for such transmission or conveyance. The term does not include:

(a)  Information services.

(b)  Installation or maintenance of wiring or equipment on a customer's premises.

(c)  The sale or rental of tangible personal property.

(d)  The sale of advertising, including, but not limited to, directory advertising.

(e)  Bad check charges.

(f)  Late payment charges.

(g)  Billing and collection services.

(h)  Internet access service, electronic mail service, electronic bulletin board service, or similar on-line computer services.

(4)  "Dealer" means a person registered with the department as a provider of communications services in this state.

(5)  "Department" means the Department of Revenue.

(6)  "Direct-to-home satellite service" has the meaning ascribed in the Communications Act of 1934, 47 U.S.C. s. 303(v).

(7)  "Information service" means the offering of a capability for generating, acquiring, storing, transforming, processing, retrieving, using, or making available information via communications services, including, but not limited to, electronic publishing, web-hosting service, and end-user 900 number service. The term does not include any video, audio, or other programming service that uses point-to-multipoint distribution by which programming is delivered, transmitted, or broadcast by any means, including any interaction that may be necessary for selecting and using the service, regardless of whether the programming is delivered, transmitted, or broadcast over facilities owned or operated by the seller or another, or whether denominated as cable service or as basic, extended, premium, pay-per-view, digital, music, or two-way cable service.

(8)  "Mobile communications service" means any one-way or two-way radio communications service, whether identified by the dealer as local, toll, long distance, or otherwise, and which is carried between mobile stations or receivers and land stations, or by mobile stations communicating among themselves, and includes, but is not limited to, cellular communications services, personal communications services, paging services, specialized mobile radio services, and any other form of mobile one-way or two-way communications service.

(9)  "Person" has the meaning ascribed in s. 212.02.

(10)  "Prepaid calling arrangement" means the separately stated retail sale by advance payment of communications services that consist exclusively of telephone calls originated by using an access number, authorization code, or other means that may be manually, electronically, or otherwise entered, and that are sold in predetermined units or dollars of which the number declines with use in a known amount.

(11)  "Purchaser" means the person paying for or obligated to pay for communications services.

(12)  "Retail sale" means the sale of communications services for any purpose other than for resale or for use as a component part of or for integration into communications services to be resold in the ordinary course of business. However, any sale for resale must comply with s. 202.16(2) and the rules adopted thereunder.

(13)  "Sale" means the provision of communications services for a consideration.

(14)  "Sales price" means the total amount charged in money or other consideration by a dealer for the sale of communications services in this state, including any property or other services that are part of the sale.

(a)  The sales price of communications services shall also include, whether or not separately stated, charges for any of the following:

1.  Separately identified components of the charge or expenses of the dealer, including, but not limited to, sales taxes on goods or services purchased by the dealer, property taxes, taxes measured by net income, and federal universal-service fund fees.

2.  The connection, movement, change, or termination of communications services.

3.  The detailed billing of communications services.

4.  The sale of directory listings in connection with a communications service.

5.  Central office and custom calling features.

6.  Voice mail and other messaging service.

7.  Directory assistance.

(b)  The sales price of communications services does not include charges for any of the following:

1.  Any excise tax, sales tax, or similar tax levied by the United States or any state or local government on the purchase, sale, use, or consumption of any communications service, including, but not limited to, any tax imposed under this chapter or chapter 203 which is permitted or required to be added to the sales price of such service, if the tax is stated separately.

2.  Any fee or assessment levied by the United States or any state or local government, including, but not limited to, regulatory fees and emergency telephone surcharges, which is required to be added to the price of such service if the fee or assessment is separately stated.

3.  Local telephone service paid for by inserting coins into coin-operated communications devices available to the public.

4.  The sale or recharge of a prepaid calling arrangement.

5.  The provision of air-to-ground communications services, defined as a radio service provided to purchasers while on board an aircraft.

6.  A dealer's internal use of communications services in connection with its business of providing communications services.

7.  Charges for property or other services that are not part of the sale of communications services, if such charges are stated separately from the charges for communications services.

(15)  "Service address" means:

(a)  In the case of cable services and direct-to-home satellite services, the location where the customer receives the services in this state.

(b)  In the case of all other communications services, the location of the communications equipment from which communications services originate or at which communications services are received by the customer. If the location of such equipment cannot be determined as part of the billing process, as in the case of mobile communications services, paging systems, maritime systems, third-number and calling-card calls, and similar services, the term means the location determined by the dealer based on the customer's telephone number, the customer's mailing address to which bills are sent by the dealer, or another street address provided by the customer. However, such address must be within the licensed service area of the dealer. In the case of a communications service paid through a credit or payment mechanism that does not relate to a service address, such as a bank, travel, debit, or credit card, the service address is the address of the central office, as determined by the area code and the first three digits of the seven-digit originating telephone number.

(16)  "Substitute communications system" means any telephone system, or other system capable of providing communications services, which a person purchases, installs, rents, or leases for his or her own use to provide himself or herself with services used as a substitute for communications services provided by a dealer of communications services.

(17)  "Unbundled network element" means a network element, as defined in 47 U.S.C. s. 153(29), to which access is provided on an unbundled basis pursuant to 47 U.S.C. s. 251(c)(3).

History.--ss. 2, 58, ch. 2000-260.

¹Note.--Repealed June 30, 2001, by s. 58, ch. 2000-260.