| (a) Purpose. This section establishes criteria to demonstrate
financial need for continued support for the provision of basic local
telecommunications service under the Texas High Cost Universal Service
Plan (THCUSP) and the Small and Rural Incumbent Local Exchange Company
Universal Service Plan (SRILEC USP). This section also establishes
the process by which the commission will evaluate petitions to show
financial need and will set new monthly per-line support amounts.
(b) Application. This section applies to an incumbent
local exchange company (ILEC) that is subject to §26.403(f) of
this title (relating to the Texas High Cost Universal Service Plan
(THCUSP)) or §26.404(g) of this title (relating to the Small
and Rural Incumbent Local Exchange Company (ILEC) Universal Service
Plan).
(c) Definitions. The following words and terms when
used in this section have the following meaning unless the context
clearly indicates otherwise:
(1) Business line--The telecommunications facilities
providing the communications channel that serves a single-line business
customer's service address. For the purpose of this definition, a
single-line business line is one to which multi-line hunting, trunking,
or other special capabilities do not apply. For a line served by an
ILEC, a business line is a line served in accordance with the ILEC's
business service tariff or a package that includes such a tariffed
service. For a line served by an ILEC in accordance with a customer
specific contract or that is otherwise not served in accordance with
a tariff, to qualify as a business line, the service must be provided
in accordance with a customer application, subscriber agreement, or
contract entered into by a public or private organization of any character,
or a representative or agent of such entity, irrespective of the person
or entity in actual possession of the telephone device. For a line
that is served by an ETP other than an ILEC, to qualify as a business
line, the service must be provided in accordance with a customer application,
subscriber agreement, or contract entered into by a public or private
organization of any character, or a representative or agent of such
entity, irrespective of the person or entity in actual possession
of the telephone device.
(2) Eligible line--A residential line or a single-line
business line over which an ETP provides the service supported by
the THCUSP or SRILEC USP through its own facilities, purchase of unbundled
network elements (UNEs), or a combination of its own facilities and
purchase of UNEs. An eligible line may be a business line or a residential
line but cannot be both.
(3) Eligible telecommunications provider (ETP)--A telecommunications
provider designated by the commission in accordance with §26.417
of this title (relating to Designation as Eligible Telecommunications
Providers to Receive Texas Universal Service Funds (TUSF)).
(4) Physical 911 address--For the purposes of this
section, a physical 911 address is an address transmitted to the applicable
emergency service providers by an ETP with respect to a line that
is not stated in GPS coordinates.
(5) Residential line--The telecommunications facilities
providing the communications channel that serves a residential customer's
service address. For the purpose of this definition, a residential
line is one to which multi-line hunting, trunking, or other special
capabilities do not apply. A line that qualifies as a business line
does not qualify as a residential line.
(6) Service Address--For the purposes of this section,
a business or residential customer's service address is defined using
the following criteria:
(A) A service address is the unique physical street
address, including any suite or unit number, where a line is provided
to a customer, except as provided in clauses (i)-(ii) and subparagraph
(B) of this paragraph.
(i) If no unique physical street address is available,
a physical 911 address must be used.
(ii) If no unique physical street address and no physical
911 address are available, the business or residential customer's
service address must be an area of land under common operation or
use as defined by a deed, state permit, lease name, or licensed or
registered field of operation, which must be described by an ETP using
GPS coordinates. Multiple buildings within a single area of land under
common operation or use must not qualify as separate service addresses,
even if the GPS coordinates for each building are different.
(B) For eligible lines served using commercial mobile
radio service, a service address for such a line may be the customer's
billing address for the purposes of this definition.
(d) Determination of financial need.
(1) Criteria to determine financial need. For each
exchange that is served by an ILEC ETP filing a petition in accordance
with subsection (f)(1) of this section, the commission will determine
whether an ILEC ETP has a financial need for continued support. An
ILEC ETP has a financial need for continued support within an exchange
if the exchange does not contain an unsubsidized wireline voice provider
competitor as set forth in paragraph (2) of this subsection.
(2) Establishing the existence of an unsubsidized wireline
voice provider competitor. For the purposes of this section, an exchange
contains an unsubsidized wireline voice provider competitor if the
percentage of square miles served by an unsubsidized wireline voice
provider competitor exceeds 75% of the square miles within the exchange.
The commission will determine whether an exchange contains an unsubsidized
wireline voice provider competitor using the following criteria.
(A) For the purposes of this section, an entity is
an unsubsidized wireline voice provider competitor within an exchange
if it:
(i) does not receive THCUSP support, SRILEC USP support,
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Connect America Fund (CAF)
support or successor federal programs, or FCC Legacy High Cost support
for service provided within that exchange; and
(ii) offers basic local service or broadband service
of 3 megabits per second down and 768 kilobits per second up using
wireline-based technology using either its own facilities or a combination
of its own facilities and purchased unbundled network elements (UNEs).
(B) Using the current version of the National Broadband
Map in effect for at least 90 days, the commission will determine
the census blocks served by an unsubsidized wireline voice provider
competitor within a specific exchange and the total number of square
miles represented by those census blocks using the following criteria.
(i) The number of square miles served by an unsubsidized
wireline voice provider competitor within an exchange must be equal
to the total square mileage covered by census blocks in the exchange
in which an unsubsidized wireline voice provider competitor offers
service to any customer or customers.
(ii) The commission will determine the percentage of
square miles served by an unsubsidized wireline voice provider competitor
within an exchange by dividing the number of square miles served by
an unsubsidized wireline voice provider competitor within the exchange
by the number of square miles within the exchange.
(C) The data provided by the FCC's Broadband Data Collection
creates a rebuttable presumption regarding the presence of an unsubsidized
wireline voice provider competitor within a specific census block.
However, nothing in this rule is intended to preclude a party from
providing evidence as to the accuracy of individual census block data
within the FCC's Broadband Data Collection with regard to whether
an unsubsidized wireline voice provider competitor offers service
within a particular census block.
(3) Periodic review of criteria to demonstrate financial
need for continued support. Beginning September 1, 2024, and every
four years thereafter, the commission will review and may adjust the
standards and criteria to demonstrate financial need for continued
support under this subsection.
(e) Criteria for determining amount of continued support.
In a proceeding conducted in accordance with subsection (f) of this
section, the commission will set new monthly per-line support amounts
for each exchange served by a petitioning ILEC ETP. The new monthly
per-line support amounts must be effective beginning with the first
disbursement following a commission order entered in accordance with
subsection (f)(2) of this section, except that the new amounts must
not be effective earlier than January 1, 2024 for an exchange with
service supported by the THCUSP or earlier than January 1, 2025 for
an exchange with service supported by the SRILEC USP.
(1) Exchanges in which the ILEC ETP does not have a
financial need for continued support.
(A) For each exchange that is served by an ILEC ETP
that has filed a petition in accordance with subsection (f)(1) of
this section and for which the commission has not determined that
the ILEC ETP has a financial need for continued support, the commission
will reduce the monthly per-line support amount to zero.
Cont'd... |
