12 2 STA T . 1 960PUBLIC LA W 110 – 2 4 6 —J U NE 1 8, 2008 ‘ ‘ (c)RATE.—Therat e of a l oa nu n d er th is section shall b e e q ualtothea v era g eta x- exe mp t municipal bond rate of similar maturities. ’ ’. SEC.6109 . BONDI N GR E QU IRE M EN T S. Title I II of the Rural E lectrification A ct of 1936 is amended b y inserting after section 31 7 (as added by section 61 08 ) the fol- lo w ing
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‘SEC. 3 1 8 . BONDING REQUIREMENTS. ‘‘The S ecretary shall review the bonding requirements for all programs administered by the Rural U tilities Service under this Act to ensure that bonds are not required if— ‘‘(1) the interests of the Secretary are adequately protected by product warranties
or ‘‘( 2 ) the costs or conditions associated with a bond exceed the benefit of the bond.’’. SEC. 6110. A CCESS TO BROADBAND TE L ECOMMUNICATIONS SER V ICES IN RURAL AREAS. (a) I NG ENE R A L .—Section 601 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S. C .9 5 0bb) is amended to read as follows: ‘‘SEC. 601. ACCESS TO BROADBAND TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES IN RURAL AREAS. ‘‘(a) PU R POS E.—The purpose of this section is to provide loans and loan guarantees to provide funds for the costs of the construc- tion , improvement, and acquisition of facilities and equipment for broadband service in rural areas. ‘‘(b) D E FI NITIONS.—In this section: ‘‘(1) B ROA DB AND SER V I C E.—The term ‘broadband service’ means any technology identified by the Secretary as having the capacity to transmit data to enable a subscriber to the service to originate and receive high-quality voice, data, graphics, and video. ‘‘(2) INCU M BENT SERVICE PROVIDER.—The term ‘incumbent service provider’, with respect to an application submitted under this section, means an entity that, as of the date of submission of the application, is providing broadband service to not less than 5 percent of the households in the service territory pro- posed in the application. ‘‘(3) RURAL AREA.— ‘‘(A) IN G ENERAL.—The term ‘rural area’ means any area other than— ‘‘(i) an area described in clause (i) or (ii) of section 3 4 3(a)(13)(A) of the Consolidated F arm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1991(a)(13)(A)); and ‘‘(ii) a city, town, or incorporated area that has a population of greater than 20,000 inhabitants. ‘‘(B) URBAN AREA GRO W T H .—The Secretary may, by regulation only, consider an area described in section 343(a)(13)(F)(i)(I) of that Act to not be a rural area for purposes of this section. ‘‘(c) L OANS AND LOAN GUARANTEES.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ma k e or guarantee loans to eligible entities described in subsection (d) to provide Loans.Revi e w . 7USC940h .
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