1762216 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking - In the Matter of the Development of Universal Service Standards and a Universal Service Trust Fund for the District of Columbia

PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

 

 

NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING

 

 

FORMAL CASE NO. 988, IN THE MATTER OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF UNIVERSAL SERVICE STANDARDS AND A UNIVERSAL SERVICE TRUST FUND FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

 

1.        The Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia (Commission), pursuant to its authority under D.C. Official Code § 34-802 (2010 Repl.) and D.C. Official Code § 34-2003 (2010 Repl. & 2011 Supp.), hereby gives notice of its intent to adopt the following amendments to chapter 28 of title 15 of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR).  The Commission gives notice of its intent to take final rulemaking action not less than thirty (30) days after publication of this notice in the D.C. Register. 

 

Chapter 28, Universal Service, of title 15, Public Utilities and Cable Television, of the DCMR is amended as follows:

 

Section 2803, District of Columbia Universal Service Trust Fund, is amended to read as follows:

 

2803                DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSAL SERVICE TRUST FUND

 

2803.1             Funds from the DC USTF will be used to support the enumerated services listed in § 2802.1.  The funds shall be used to reimburse eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) for the reasonable investments and expenses not recovered from the federal universal service low-income fund. 

 

2803.2             The amount to be reimbursed shall be calculated for each ETC to be the remainder of the ETC’s retail tariffed rate less funding from the Federal Universal Service Low Income Fund less the tariffed lifeline rate for each eligible customer subscribing to the ETC’s lifeline service, not to exceed six dollars and fifty cents ($6.50) for each eligible customer.  For ETCs that have a universal service program for low-income seniors, the amount to be reimbursed shall be similarly calculated, not to exceed eight dollars and fifty cents ($8.50).

 

2803.3             Notwithstanding § 2803.1, if the Administrator determines that ninety-five percent (95%) of the customers on the ETC’s customer list submitted for reimbursement are on the list of eligible customers maintained by the entity responsible for certifying Lifeline customers, then the Administrator may recommend reimbursement for all customers on the       ETC’s customer list.

 

Section 2804, Funding of the District of Columbia Universal Service Trust Fund,

subsection 2804.1 is amended as follows:

 

 

2804.1             The DC USTF shall be funded through monthly contributions paid by each LEC and each VoIP service provider in an amount proportionate to each LEC and each VoIP service provider’s share of revenue from local telecommunications or telecommunications services derived from end users in the District of Columbia determined annually by the DC USTF Administrator as described in this Chapter.

 

Section 2810, Resolution of Disputes Regarding Contributions, is amended in its entirety to read as follows:

 

2810                RESOLUTION OF DISPUTES REGARDING CONTRIBUTIONS

 

2810.1             Any local exchange carrier or VoIP service provider may dispute the amount of     contribution it is required to pay into the DC USTF.

 

2810.2             The local exchange carrier or VoIP service provider shall make a written request     to the Fund Administrator of the DC USTF, on or before the payment due date,     setting forth its dispute, and the Administrator shall attempt to resolve the dispute     within 30 days.  This time may be extended upon a showing of good cause.

 

2810.3             If the dispute is not resolved by the Fund Administrator, the local exchange           carrier or VoIP service provider may file an application with the Commission       requesting that the Commission resolve the dispute.

 

2810.4             During the consideration of the dispute, the disputing local exchange carrier or      VoIP service provider shall pay both the disputed and undisputed amounts to the      DC USTF.

 

2810.5             If a disputing contributor prevails in its protest of the required contribution,           the contributor will be entitled to a refund of any excess amount paid plus interest.

 

Section 2811, Resolution of Other Disputes, is amended to read as follows:

 

2811                RESOLUTION OF OTHER DISPUTES

 

2811.1             Any adversely impacted party may dispute the actions of a local exchange carrier or VoIP service provider related to the provisioning of Universal Services.  The adversely affected party may contact the Fund Administrator for resolution of the dispute.

 

2811.2             If resolution is not achieved, the local exchange carrier, VoIP service provider, other adversely affected party, or Fund Administrator may file an application requesting the Commission to resolve the dispute.

 

Section 2812, Reporting Requirements for Local Exchange Carriers, is amended and repealed with:

 

2812                REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR LOCAL EXCHANGE CARRIERS AND VOIP SERVICE PROVIDERS

 

2812.1             By July 31 of each year, each LEC and VoIP service provider shall submit to the Fund Administrator a report containing the total revenue for each local telecommunications service or telecommunications service derived from end users in the District of Columbia provided in the 12-month period beginning January 1 of the preceding year and ending on December 31 of the preceding year (for example, January 2XXX – December 2XXX).

 

Section 2813, Reporting Requirements for the DC USTF Administrator, is amended as

to read as follows:

 

2813                REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DC USTF ADMINISTRATOR

 

2813.1             On a quarterly basis, the Fund Administrator shall submit to the Commission a report including:

(a)        A statement of collections and distributions from the universal service fund for each local exchange carrier and VoIP service provider;

 

  (b)       A statement detailing the purpose for which the universal service funds were used (to support an enumerated service listed in § 2802.1 or for verification of lifeline eligibility); and

 

  (c)       A record of total cost of universal service fund administration.

 

2813.2             On September 30 every year after the establishment of the DC USTF, the Fund Administrator shall submit to the Commission a report that includes a proposed budget for the upcoming year.

 

Section 2814, Contributions to the DC USTF, is amended to read as follows:

 

2814                CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE DC USTF

 

2814.1             The amount of contribution required from each local exchange carrier and VoIP     service provider shall be based on the total revenues of the local exchange carrier         and VoIP service provider for local telecommunications service or telecommunications service derived from end users in the District of Columbia as       a percentage of all the local exchange carrier’s or VoIP service provider's total      retail revenues for local telecommunications or telecommunications services       derived from end users in the District of Columbia for the previous twelve (12)-    month period ending December 31.

2814.2             For VoIP providers, local telecommunications services revenue shall be based on actual local telecommunications services revenue based on a customer’s primary place of use, a traffic study used to allocate revenues by jurisdiction, or the inverse of the FCC’s Federal Universal Service Fund’s safe harbor mechanism used to determine interstate and intrastate revenue.  For nomadic VoIP providers, a customer’s registered E911 location may serve as a proxy for the customer’s primary place of use.  Each VoIP provider shall identify whether its reported revenue is based on actual local telecommunications services revenue, a traffic study, or the FCC safe harbor mechanism.

2814.3             The Fund Administrator shall, based on the amount to be contributed to the DC USTF, calculate the contribution required to be made to the Fund by each contributor, based on the fund level established by the Commission and the information provided pursuant to 15 DCMR § 2804.1.

 

2814.4             Each local exchange carrier and VoIP service provider shall pay its contribution directly to the Fund Administrator on a monthly basis.  The check or other negotiable instrument shall be payable to the "DC USTF."  The invoice or other request for DC USTF contributions shall be past due thirty (30) calendar days after the date on the invoice or other request for DC USTF contributions, unless otherwise ordered by the Commission.

 

2814.5             Upon request by a local exchange carrier or VoIP service provider, the Fund Administrator may approve an alternative payment arrangement.

 

2814.6             Interest shall be charged on any payment not received by the past due date at the rate of one and half percent (1.5 %) monthly.

 

2814.7             All contributions and interest payments made to the DC USTF shall be deposited into the DC USTF account by the Fund Administrator.

Section 2823, Definitions, subsection 2823.1 is amended by adding the term and definition, “Nomadic VoIP,” in alphabetical order to read as follows:

Nomadic VoIP - a VoIP service that may be used at multiple locations.

 

2.         All persons interested in commenting on the subject matter of this proposed rulemaking action may submit written comments and reply comments not later than thirty (30) and forty-five (45) days, respectively, after publication of this notice in the D.C. Register with Jesse P. Clay, Jr., Acting Commission Secretary, Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia, 1333 H Street, N.W., West Tower, Suite 200, Washington, DC  20005.  Copies of the proposed rules may be obtained by visiting the Commission’s website at www.dcpsc.org or at cost, by contacting the Commission Secretary at the above address.