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PUBLIC CHAPTER NO. 107
HOUSE BILL NO. 1136
By Representatives Boyd, Vital, Howell
Substituted for: Senate Bill No. 556
By Senator Reeves
AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 7 and Title 65, relative to
broadband enabled services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 65-5-202, is amended by deleting
subsections (a) and (b) and substituting:
(a) As used in this part:
(1) "Broadband internet access service":
(A) Has the same meaning as defined in 47 CFR 8.1, or a
successor federal rule; and
(8) Does not include intrastate service that was tariffed with the
public utility commission and in effect as of May 15, 2006; furthermore,
the intrastate service shall not be reclassified, bundled, de-tariffed,
declared obsolete, or otherwise recharacterized to avoid the imposition of
inspection fees by the public utility commission; and
(2) "Interconnected VoIP service" has the same meaning as provided in
47 U.S.C. § 153, or a successor federal law.
(b)
(1) Broadband internet access services are not telecommunications
services under the laws of this state.
(2) This part does not:
{A) Restrict any authority delegated to the public utility
commission or another state agency to administer a federal grant
program under federal statute, rule, or order;
(B) Restrict the application to broadband internet access service,
or providers thereof, of any law that applies generally to the conduct of
business in this state related to consumer protection and fair competition;
(C) Modify or affect the rights or obligations of any carrier under
the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. § 151, et seq.); or
(D) Restrict the assessment of nondiscriminatory fees against
interconnected VoIP service associated with enhanced 911 service,
telecommunications relay services, or universal service assessments
under § 65-5-107.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 65-5-203, is amended by deleting the
section and substituting:
Except as provided in § 65-5-202, a government entity within this state, including
the public utility commission and any agency or subdivision of this state, shall not enact,
HB1136
adopt, or enforce any law, rule, regulation, ordinance, standard, order, or other provision
with the force of law that has the effect of regulating the entry, rates, terms, or conditions
of any broadband internet access service or interconnected VoIP service, or otherwise
treating a provider of either broadband internet access service or interconnected VoIP
service as a carrier.
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 65-5-109(q), is amended by deleting
the subsection.
SECTION 4. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 65-4-101 (6), is amended by adding
the following as a new subdivision:
( ) "Public utility" does not include a provider, owner, operator, or manager of
broadband internet access services, as defined in § 65-5-202;
SECTION 5. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 65-4-101, is amended by deleting
subdivision (7) and substituting:
(7) "Telecommunications service provider":
(A) Means any incumbent local exchange telephone company or
certificated individual or entity, or individual or entity operating pursuant to the
approval by the former public service commission of a franchise within § 65-4-
207(b), authorized by law to provide, and offering or providing for hire, any
telecommunications service, telephone service, telegraph service, paging
service, or communications service similar to such services unless otherwise
exempted from this definition by state or federal law; and
(8) Does not include an individual or entity that constructs, owns,
operates, manages, offers, or maintains broadband internet access services, as
defined in § 65-5-202.
SECTION 6. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 65-25-102(13), is amended by
inserting "broadband internet access service, as defined in § 65-5-202, or" between "does not
include" and "the furnishing of telephone service".
SECTION 7. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.
2
HOUSE BILL NO. 1136
PASSED: March 10, 2025
CAMERON..S,!XTON,SPEAKER
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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RANDY MC~
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SPEAKER OF THE SENATE
ag Mc.uah APPROVED this
tl2.. day of 2025
BILL LEE, GOVERNOR 4c -Every fact on this page links to its source, starting with the official bill record.