As used in this chapter:

"Applicant" means any person applying to an eligible telecommunications carrier for new service or reconnection of discontinued service.

"Broadband service" means any service providing advanced telecommunications capability, including internet access and access to high quality voice, data, graphics or video. To be considered advanced telecommunications, broadband must be at, or above, a minimum download speed and a minimum upload speed. The commission will establish a minimum upload speed standard and a minimum download speed standard for broadband service to be considered advanced telecommunications. The commission will take federal and state standards into consideration when it sets the standard. Any broadband standards that are established in these rules or by commission order may be met by the communications provider or its affiliate or a combination of both. The affiliate cannot be receiving support from this program.

"Communications provider" or "provider" means a company providing communications service that assigns a working telephone number to a final consumer for intrastate wireline or wireless communications services or interconnected voice over internet protocol service, and includes local exchange carriers.

"Communications services" includes telecommunications services and information services and any combination of these services.

"Eligible telecommunications carrier" and "ETC" means a carrier designated by the commission as eligible to receive support from federal universal service mechanisms in exchange for providing services supported by federal universal service mechanisms.

"Facilities" means for the purpose of WAC 480-123-030 (1)(b) any physical components of the telecommunications network that are used in the transmission or routing of the services that are supported by federal universal service mechanisms.

".shp format" means the format used for creating and storing digital maps composed of shape files capable of being opened by the computer application ArcGIS™.

"Program" means the state universal communications services program created in RCW 80.36.650.

"Service area" means all of the designated exchanges served by a company in the state.

"Service outage" means a significant degradation in the ability of an end user to establish and maintain a channel of voice communications as a result of failure or degradation in the performance of a communications provider's network.

"Substantive" means sufficiently detailed and technically specific to permit the commission to evaluate whether federal universal service support has had, or will have, benefits for customers. For example, information about investments and expenses that will provide, increase, or maintain service quality, signal coverage, or network capacity, and information about the number of customers that benefit, and how they will benefit is sufficient to enable evaluation.

"Telecommunications" has the same meaning as defined in 47 U.S.C. Sec. 153(43).

"Unsworn statement" means a statement made under penalty of perjury, as set forth in RCW 5.50.050.