Glossary of Terms

A person or entity that consumes or makes use of the good or services provided.

A type of communications medium transmits data at high speeds using light waves over glass strands; a single cable may comprise hundreds of fiber strands, each with the capacity to transmit large amounts of data.

A type of communications service that uses radio signals or other wireless links to transmit data between two fixed points.

A serviceable location where there is no or extremely limited terrestrial broadband service. This includes locations with internet speeds equal to or below 4 Mbps (download) / 1 Mbps (upload).

The wireline and wireless equipment and facilities used to provide broadband service, including fiber, coaxial, and copper cable, as well as conduit, poles, towers, antennas, routers, and a network’s electronic equipment

Latency is the measurement of time it takes for information to travel from one point on a network to another. A low latency network is defined by the program as having 95 percent of its service connections at or below 100 milliseconds of latency (roundtrip), with no individual measurements being above 300 milliseconds.

 

A unit of measurement for data size, most often used in discussions of data transfer. Megabits are expressed as Mb or Mbit when talking about digital storage, or Mbps (megabits per second) in the context of data transfer rates and broadband speeds.
A network in which the infrastructure owner provides wholesale access to the network for lease on a non-discriminatory basis

A valid address in the state of Montana representing either a household, business, farm, or community anchor institution.

A serviceable location with internet speeds of less than 100 Mbps (download) / 20 Mbps (upload) but equal to or greater than speeds of 25 Mbps (download) / 10 Mbps (upload).

A serviceable location with internet speeds less than 25 Mbps (download) / 10 Mbps (upload) but greater than 4 Mbps (download) / 1 Mbps (upload).