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State of Florida
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Public Service Commission Capital Circle Office Center ● 2540 Shumard
Oak Boulevard -M-E-M-O-R-A-N-D-U-M- |
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DATE: |
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TO: |
Office of Commission Clerk (Stauffer) |
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FROM: |
Office of Telecommunications (Curry, Bates, Long) Office of the General Counsel (Cuello, Murphy) |
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RE: |
Docket No. 20170127-TP – 2018 State certification under 47 C.F.R. §54.313 and §54.314 for BellSouth Telecommunications, LLC d/b/a AT&T Florida d/b/a AT&T Southeast. Docket No. 20170128-TP – 2018 State certification under 47 C.F.R. §54.313 and §54.314 for Embarq Florida, Inc. d/b/a CenturyLink. Docket No. 20170129-TP – 2018 State certification under 47 C.F.R. §54.313 and §54.314 for Frontier Florida LLC. Docket No. 20170130-TP – 2018 State certification under 47 C.F.R. §54.313 and §54.314 for Frontier Communications of the South, LLC. Docket No. 20170131-TP – 2018 State certification under 47 C.F.R. §54.313 and §54.314 for GTC, Inc. d/b/a FairPoint Communications. Docket No. 20170132-TP – 2018 State certification under 47 C.F.R. §54.313 and §54.314 for ITS Telecommunications Systems, Inc. Docket No. 20170133-TP – 2018 State certification under 47 C.F.R. §54.313 and §54.314 for Knology of Florida, Inc. d/b/a WOW! Internet, Cable and Phone. Docket No. 20170134-TP – 2018 State certification under 47 C.F.R. §54.313 and §54.314 for Northeast Florida Telephone Company d/b/a NEFCOM. Docket No. 20170135-TP – 2018 State certification under 47 C.F.R. §54.313 and §54.314 for Quincy Telephone Company d/b/a TDS Telecom. Docket No. 20170136-TP – 2018 State certification under 47 C.F.R. §54.313 and §54.314 for Smart City Telecommunications LLC d/b/a Smart City Telecom. Docket No. 20170137-TP – 2018 State certification under 47 C.F.R. §54.313 and §54.314 for Windstream Florida, LLC. |
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AGENDA: |
08/03/17 – Regular Agenda – Interested Persons May Participate |
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COMMISSIONERS ASSIGNED: |
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PREHEARING OFFICER: |
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SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS: |
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Section 254(e) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, provides in part, that a carrier that receives universal service support “shall use that support only for the provision, maintenance, and upgrading of facilities and services for which the support is intended.” States seeking federal high-cost support for carriers within their jurisdiction are required to file a certification annually with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and with the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). The federal universal service high-cost program is designed to ensure that consumers in rural, insular, and high-cost areas have access to modern communications networks capable of providing voice and broadband service, both fixed and mobile, at rates that are reasonably comparable to those in urban areas. The program fulfills this universal service goal by allowing eligible carriers who serve these areas to recover some of their costs from the federal Universal Service Fund.
The carrier annual reporting data collection form, known as Form 481, is an FCC form that all eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) in the high-cost and Lifeline programs file annually with the FCC and state commissions. For carriers in the high-cost Program, the form collects:
· Detailed information on any outages.
· The number of unfulfilled requests for service.
· The number of complaints per 1,000 connections.
· Certification of service quality compliance.
· Certification of emergency operation capability.
· The company's price offerings.
· Branding information of the holding company and its affiliates.
· Documentation demonstrating whether the carrier is engaged with Tribal governments.
· Certification that all frozen (at December 2011 levels) high-cost support the company received in 2016 was used to build and operate broadband-capable networks used to offer the provider's own retail broadband service in areas substantially unserved by an unsubsidized competitor.
· Certification that high-cost support designated for the use of offsetting reductions in access charges was used in the prior calendar year to build and operate broadband-capable networks used to offer provider’s own retail service in areas substantially unserved by an unsubsidized competitor.[1]
Incumbent carriers receiving high-cost support with rates below the FCC’s benchmark must report rates and lines on the Rate Floor Data Collection Report and Certification. For carriers in the Lifeline Program, the form collects branding information of the holding company and its affiliates and terms and conditions on service plans offered to subscribers.
Each Florida ETC filed its Form 481 concurrently with the Florida Public Service Commission (Commission) and the FCC. Staff reviewed each company’s Form 481 filing to verify that all of the required information for high-cost certification was provided. Staff’s recommendation for certification affirms that the federal high-cost funds flowing to carriers in the state, or to any competitive eligible telecommunications carriers seeking support for serving customers within a carrier’s service area, will be used in a manner that comports with Section 254(e) of the 1996 Telecommunications Act. Certification is defined by 47 C.F.R. §54.314(a) as follows:
Certification
of support for eligible telecommunications carriers
(a) Certification. States that desire eligible telecommunications carriers to receive support pursuant to the high-cost program must file an annual certification with the Administrator and the Commission stating that all federal high-cost support provided to such carriers within that State was used in the preceding calendar year and will be used in the coming calendar year only for the provision, maintenance, and upgrading of facilities and services for which the support is intended. High-cost support shall only be provided to the extent that the State has filed the requisite certification pursuant to this section.
In order for a carrier to be eligible for high-cost universal service support for all of calendar year 2018, certification must be submitted by the Commission by October 1, 2017.[2] The certification may be filed with the FCC and USAC in the form of a letter from the Commission.[3] Based on prior support received by carriers in Florida, staff estimates that the amount of funding carriers will receive for 2018 will likely be approximately $57 million in high-cost support.[4]
USAC has developed a letter template for use with annual high-cost certifications of state ETCs. Attachment A is a draft letter, to be signed by the Chairman, using the USAC template to certify high-cost for Florida ETCs. In addition, USAC has also developed an online certification process whereby a state commission representative can sign-in to select and submit the ETCs from their states that have been certified for the upcoming year. Staff suggests filing both the letter and using USAC’s online process this year.
