Amends TCA Title 4; Title 6; Title 7; Title 10; Title 11; Title 65; Title 67 and Title 68.

This bill authorizes municipal electric plants, electric cooperatives, and telephone cooperatives to provides broadband internet service on their own or by joint venture in geographical areas outside their service areas if the areas are located in a distressed county. Additionally, this bill requires that broadband internet service be provided in state parks located in distressed counties, as discussed below.<br /> <br /> For the purposes of this bill, broadband internet service means wireline access to internet speeds of 25 megabits per second for download transmission and upload transmission or the current definition of broadband according to the federal communications commission if the definition establishes faster minimum transmission speeds. A distressed county is a county that qualifies as an "eligible county" pursuant to present law sales tax revenue allocation provisions. An "eligible county" means a distressed rural county identified using a consistent methodology based on broadly available measures of economic well-being, including county unemployment rate, rate of job growth, or personal income per capita, as determined by the commissioner of finance and administration, commissioner of economic and community development, and the commissioner of revenue. <br /> <br /> This bill requires the department of environment and conservation to make broadband internet service available to visitors at all state parks located in distressed counties. If providing broadband internet services throughout the entire area of a park is not technologically feasible, then the department may designate areas of the state park within which broadband internet service will be available to visitors. <br />