GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1997

S	1 

SENATE BILL 361

Short Title:  Expand Information Highway Uses.	(Public)

─────────────────────────────────────── 
Sponsors: Senator Cooper.

─────────────────────────────────────── 
Referred to:  Commerce.

─────────────────────────────────────── 

March 11, 1997

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO EXPAND THE AUTHORIZED USERS AND USES OF THE NORTH CAROLINA INFORMATION HIGHWAY.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 143B-426.39(16) reads as rewritten:
"(16)	Establish switched broadband telecommunications services and permit in addition to State agencies, cities, counties, and other local government units, the following organizations and entities to share on a not-for-profit basis:
a.	Nonprofit educational institutions;
b.	The Microelectronics Center of North Carolina ('MCNC');
c.	Research affiliates of MCNC for use only in connection with research activities sponsored or funded, in whole or in part, by MCNC, if such research activities relate to health care or education in North Carolina;
d.	Agencies of the United States government operating in North Carolina for use only in connection with activities that relate to health care or education in North Carolina; 
e.	Hospitals, clinics, and other health care facilities for use only in connection with activities that relate to health care or education in North Carolina; or
f.	Private nonprofit corporations whose purpose is to establish public-access networks on a regional basis for North Carolina citizens or to assist the State and local government in carrying out its public purposes.
Provided, however, that sharing of the switched broadband telecommunications services by State agencies with entities or organizations in the categories set forth herein shall not cause the State, the Office of State Controller, or the MCNC to be classified as a public utility as that term is defined in G.S. 62-3(23)a.6. Nor shall the State, the Office of State Controller, or the MCNC engage in any activities that may cause those entities to be classified as a common carrier as that term is defined in the federal Communications Act of 1934, 47 U.S.C. § 153(h). "
Section 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.