For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:

(1) "Appropriate communication device" means the communication device which most efficiently allows access to an ordinary telecommunications system by a person with a telecommunications usage disability.

(2) "Committee" means the committee on telecommunications access services, formerly known as the committee on telecommunications access services for the handicapped, established in 2-15-2212, MCA.

(3) "Deaf" means having a full or partial decrease in the ability to detect or understand sounds or discriminate speech.

(4) "Deaf-blind" means:

(a) being deaf, severely hearing disabled or hard of hearing; and

(b) being blind or visually disabled; and

(c) requiring the use of specialized telecommunications equipment to communicate effectively using an ordinary telecommunications system.

(5) "Director" means the person employed by the committee on telecommunications services to administer the Montana Telecommunications Access Program (MTAP).

(6) "End user connection" means a customer's connection to a service provider's network.

(7) "Family" means the person with a telecommunications usage disability and the relatives with whom the person resides as specified in (7)(a) through (7)(d), except that if the person with a telecommunications usage disability is a foster child, "family" means the foster child only and does not include the persons with whom the foster child resides, whether related or unrelated to the child. Relatives of the person with a telecommunications usage disability included in the household when the person is not a foster child are:

(a) the spouse;

(b) the mother and/or father, if the person with a telecommunications usage disability is a minor child. This includes biological parents and parents by adoption and, at the option of the person with a telephone usage disability, may include stepparents;

(c) minor children. This includes biological children and children by adoption and, at the option of the person with a telecommunications usage disability, may include stepchildren; and

(d) minor siblings, but only if the person with a telecommunications usage disability is a minor. This includes half-siblings and, at the option of the person with a telecommunications usage disability, may include stepsiblings.

(8) "Family income" means the combined income of all members of the family of the person with the telecommunications usage disability.

(9) "Hard of hearing" means having a hearing loss to the extent that the person requires specialized telecommunications equipment to communicate effectively using an ordinary telecommunications system.

(10) "Income" means income as defined in ARM 37.2.702.

(11) "MTAP" means the Montana Telecommunications Access Program.

(12) "Mobility disabled" means having reduced function of the arms and hands, making activities related to moving, turning or pressing objects difficult or impossible. The term includes difficulty in using a wide range of telecommunications equipment.

(13) "Person with a telecommunications usage disability" means an individual who is deaf, deaf-blind, hard-of-hearing, speech disabled, or mobility disabled and is in need of specialized telecommunications equipment.

(14) "Program" means the Montana Telecommunications Access Program.

(15) "Service provider" means an entity that offers services to subscribers in Montana to allow two or more persons in different locations to communicate orally, without regard to the technology or medium the entity uses to provide the telecommunications service and access to the telecommunications relay service. The term includes providers of telecommunications service including but not limited to providers of internet protocol-enabled voice communications service.

(16) "Specialized telecommunications equipment" means any telecommunications device which enables or assists a person with a telecommunications usage disability to communicate with others by means of the public switched telephone network or internet protocol-enabled voice communications service. The term includes but is not limited to telecommunications devices, puff-blow devices, electronic artificial larynx devices, amplified handsets, telebraille, and equipment for the mobility disabled.

(17) "Speech disabled" means having a speech impediment which renders speech on an ordinary telecommunications system unclear and susceptible to misunderstanding.

(18) "Subscriber" means an end user who receives telecommunications network access from a service provider. 

(19) "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.