(3) Ensure that rates charged to customers of small independent telephone corporations are just and reasonable and are reasonably comparable to rates charged to customers of urban telephone corporations. Provides revenues and earnings sufficient to allow the telephone corporation to deliver safe, reliable, high-quality voice communication service and fulfill its obligations as a carrier of last resort in its service territory, and to afford the telephone corporation a fair opportunity to earn a reasonable return on its investments, attract capital for investment on reasonable terms, and ensure the financial integrity of the telephone corporation. (2) Employ rate-of-return regulation to determine a small independent telephone corporation’s revenue requirement in a manner that (1) Continue to set rates to be charged by the small independent telephone corporations in accordance with Sections 451, 454, 455, and 728. (c) In administering the CHCF-A program the commission shall do all of the following:
(6) “Small independent telephone corporations” are rural incumbent local exchange carriers subject to commission regulation. (5) “Revenue requirement” means the amount that is necessary for a telephone corporation to recover its reasonable expenses and tax liabilities and earn a reasonable rate of return on its rate base. (4) “Rate-of-return regulation” means a regulatory structure whereby the commission establishes a telephone corporation’s revenue requirements, and then fashions a rate design to provide the company a fair opportunity to meet the revenue
(3) “Rate design” means the mix of end user rates, high-cost support, and other revenue sources that are targeted to provide a fair opportunity to meet the revenue requirement of the telephone corporation. (2) “Rate base” means the value of a telephone corporation’s plant and equipment that is reasonably necessary to provide regulated voice services and access to advanced services, and upon which the telephone corporation is entitled to a fair opportunity to earn a reasonable rate of return. That is required to fulfill all reasonable requests for service within its service territory. (1) “Carrier of last resort” means a telephone corporation (b) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings: The commission shall require that the telecommunications carrier that provides the service has the obligation to serve the community.(a) The commission shall exercise its regulatory authority to maintain the California High-Cost Fund-A Administrative Committee Fund program (CHCF-A program) to provide universal service rate support to small independent telephone corporations in amounts sufficient to meet the revenue requirements established by the commission through rate-of-return regulation in furtherance of the state’s universal service commitment to the continued affordability and widespread availability of safe, reliable, high-quality communications services in rural areas of the state.
Qualifying communities shall have a median household income no greater than the income level used in the Universal Lifeline Telephone Service index for a family of four. The criteria shall include a requirement that a local agency, as defined by Section 50001 of the Government Code, or a town, as defined by Section 21 of the Government Code, shall act as the community-based group’s fiscal agent for the receipt and distribution of funds. On or before June 30, 2002, the commission, shall establish eligibility criteria for community-based groups to qualify to apply for telecommunications infrastructure grants. A community-based group representing a qualifying community may alternatively apply for and receive a grant to subsidize the cost of the telecommunications service itself, if the group determines that this would be more cost-effective than subsidizing the building of an original telecommunications infrastructure. (b) On or after July 1, 2002, any community-based group representing a qualifying community may apply for and receive grants to build an original telecommunications infrastructure that can provide basic telecommunications service that will serve an area that meets the grant program’s population criteria with consideration given to communities with schools, hospitals, and health clinics, as set forth in Decision 96-10-066, and that currently lacks basic telecommunications services, as described in Decision 96-10-066 of the commission.
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