Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 76 - Taxation of public utilities and insurers.
76.80 - Definitions.

76.80 Definitions. In this subchapter:
(1) “Department" means the department of revenue.
(2) “Qualified broadband service property” means tangible personal property that meets any of the following standards:
(a) The property is installed in a rural area prior to January 1, 2020, and is used to provide Internet access service to the rural area at actual speeds that are at least a download speed of 25 megabits per second and an upload speed of 3 megabits per second.
(b) The property is installed in a rural or underserved area after December 31, 2019, and is used to provide Internet access service to the rural or underserved area at actual speeds that meet or exceed the higher of the following thresholds:
1. A download speed of 25 megabits per second and an upload speed of 3 megabits per second.
2. The download and upload speed benchmarks for fixed services as designated by the federal communications commission in its inquiries regarding advanced telecommunications capability under 47 USC 1302 (b).
(2m) “Rural area” means an area in this state that is located outside a federal metropolitan statistical area or is located in a city, village, or town with a population of not more than 14,000 and a population density of not more than 2,500 per square mile. For purposes of sub. (2) (a), the determination of whether an area meets the criteria of this subsection shall be made on the basis of the 2010 federal decennial census, except that the determination of population density shall be made using the 2017 population density per square mile by municipality estimates available from the department of administration.
(3) “Telecommunications services" means the transmission of voice, video, facsimile or data messages, including telegraph messages, except that “telecommunications services" does not include video service, as defined in s. 66.0420 (2) (y), radio, one-way radio paging or transmitting messages incidental to transient occupancy in hotels, as defined in s. 97.01 (7).
(4) “Telephone company" means any person that provides to another person telecommunications services, including the resale of services provided by another telephone company. “Telephone company" does not include a person who operates a private shared telecommunications system, as defined in s. 196.201 (1), and who is not otherwise a telephone company.
(5) “Underserved area" means an area in this state in which Internet access service at the highest speed threshold described in sub. (2) (b) is not available from at least 2 wired providers.
History: 1995 a. 351 ss. 17, 18, 32; 2007 a. 42; 2009 a. 276; 2015 a. 55; 2019 a. 128; 2021 a. 240 s. 30.

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