Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 51:2370.8

  • Broadband service: means deployed internet access service with a minimum of one hundred megabits per second (Mbps) download and at least twenty megabits per second upload transmission speeds. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 51:2370.2
  • Eligible project: means a discrete and specific project located in an unserved area of an eligible parish seeking to provide broadband service to homes, households, businesses, educational facilities, healthcare facilities, and community anchor points not currently served. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 51:2370.2
  • Local government: means a parish, municipality, or school board, or any instrumentality thereof. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 51:2370.2
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Office: means the office of broadband development and connectivity within the division of administration. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 51:2370.2
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.

            A. Grant recipients are required to provide matching funds in accordance with rules promulgated by the office. A grant recipient shall contribute from its own funds a minimum of twenty percent of the total estimated cost of the project.

            B.(1) A local government may contribute funding or in-kind contributions for use on an eligible project under the provisions of this Subpart. The contribution of funding by local government for an eligible project under the provisions of this Part shall not be considered a partnership for providing a covered service under the Local Government Fair Competition Act.

            (2) A local government shall not make or grant any undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to itself or to any provider of broadband service.

            (3) A local government shall apply without discrimination as to itself and to any provider the local government’s ordinances, rules, and policies, including those relating to obligation to serve, access to public right of way, permitting, performance bonding, reporting, and quality of service.

            Acts 2021, No. 477, §1, eff. July 1, 2021; Acts 2023, No. 383, §3A.