| (a) Purpose. This section establishes guidelines for
financial assistance to eligible telecommunications providers (ETPs)
that serve the high cost rural areas of the state, other than study
areas of small and rural incumbent local exchange companies (ILECs),
so that basic local telecommunications service may be provided at
reasonable rates in a competitively neutral manner.
(b) Application. This section applies to telecommunications
providers that have been designated ETPs 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)).
(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 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.
(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) Service to be supported by the THCUSP. The THCUSP
must support basic local telecommunications services provided by an
ETP in high cost rural areas of the state. Local measured residential
service, if chosen by the customer and offered by the ETP, must also
be supported.
(1) Initial determination of the definition of basic
local telecommunications service. Basic local telecommunications service
must consist of the following:
(A) flat rate, single party residential and business
local exchange telephone service, including primary directory listings;
(B) tone dialing service;
(C) access to operator services;
(D) access to directory assistance services;
(E) access to 911 service where provided by a local
authority;
(F) telecommunications relay service;
(G) the ability to report service problems seven days
a week;
(H) availability of an annual local directory;
(I) access to toll services; and
(J) lifeline service.
(2) Subsequent determinations.
(A) Initiation of subsequent determinations.
(i) The definition of the services to be supported
by the THCUSP must be reviewed by the commission every three years
from September 1, 1999.
(ii) The commission may initiate a review of the definition
of the services to be supported on its own motion at any time.
(B) Criteria to be considered in subsequent determinations.
In evaluating whether services should be added to or deleted from
the list of supported services, the commission may consider the following
criteria:
(i) the service is essential for participation in society;
(ii) a substantial majority, 75% of residential customers,
subscribe to the service;
(iii) the benefits of adding the service outweigh the
costs; and
(iv) the availability of the service, or subscription
levels, would not increase without universal service support.
(e) Criteria for determining amount of support under
THCUSP. The commission will determine the amount of per-line support
to be made available to ETPs in each eligible wire center in accordance
with this section. The amount of support available to each ETP must
be calculated using the base support amount as of the effective date
of this section and applying the annual reductions as described in
this subsection. As used in this subsection, "basic local telecommunications
service" refers to services available to residential customers only,
and "exchange" or "wire center" refer to regulated exchanges or wire
centers only.
(1) Determining base support amount available to ILEC
ETPs. The initial annual base support amount for an ILEC ETP must
be the annualized monthly THCUSP support amount for the month preceding
the effective date of this section, less the 2011 amount of support
disbursed to the ILEC ETP from the federal universal service fund
for High Cost Loop, High Cost Model, Safety Net Additive, and Safety
Valve components of the frozen high-cost support as determined by
the Universal Service Administration Company in accordance with 47
C.F.R. §54.312(a). The initial per-line monthly support amount
for a wire center must be the per-line support amount for the wire
center for the month preceding the effective date of this section,
less each wire center's pro rata share of one-twelfth of the 2011
amount of support disbursed to the ILEC ETP from the federal universal
service fund for High Cost Loop, High Cost Model, Safety Net Additive,
and Safety Valve components of the frozen high-cost support determined
by the Universal Service Administration Company in accordance with
47 C.F.R §54.312(a). The initial annual base support amount must
be reduced annually as described in paragraph (3) of this subsection.
(2) Determination of the reasonable rate. The reasonable
rate for basic local telecommunications service will be determined
by the commission in a contested case proceeding. To the extent that
an ILEC ETP's existing rate for basic local telecommunications service
in any wire center is less than the reasonable rate, the ILEC ETP
may, over time, increase its rates for basic local telecommunications
service to an amount not to exceed the reasonable rate. The increase
to the existing rate must not in any one year exceed an amount to
be determined by the commission in the contested case proceeding.
An ILEC ETP may, in its sole discretion, accelerate its THCUSP reduction
in any year by as much as 10% and offset such reduction with a corresponding
local rate increase in order to produce rounded rates. In no event
will any such Cont'd... |
