Arizona Administrative Code › Title 14 - PUBLIC SERVICE CORPORATIONS; CORPORATIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS; SECURITIES REGULATION › Chapter 2 - CORPORATION COMMISSION - FIXED UTILITIES › Article 12 - ARIZONA UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND › Part A - HIGH COST FUND › Section R14-2-A1202 - Calculation of AUSF Support

Current through Register Vol. 30, No. 28, July 12, 2024
A. The
				  amount of AUSF support to which a provider of basic local exchange telephone
				  service is eligible for a given AUSF support area shall be based upon the
				  difference between the benchmark rates for basic local exchange telephone
				  service provided by the carrier, and the appropriate cost to provide basic
				  local exchange telephone service as determined by the Commission, net of any
				  universal service support from federal sources.
B. For a small local exchange carrier, the
				  AUSF support area shall include all exchanges served by the local exchange
				  carrier in Arizona. The appropriate cost of providing basic local exchange
				  telephone service for purposes of determining AUSF support for a small local
				  exchange carrier shall be the embedded cost of the incumbent provider. For any
				  request for AUSF support by a small local exchange carrier filed more than
				  three years after the effective date of this Article, the AUSF support area
				  shall be the geographic areas as determined by the Commission.
C. For an intermediate local exchange
				  carrier, the AUSF support area shall be either all exchanges in Arizona served
				  by that carrier, or such other support area as may be approved by the
				  Commission. The appropriate cost of providing basic local exchange telephone
				  service for purposes of determining AUSF support for an intermediate local
				  exchange carrier shall be the embedded cost of the incumbent provider. For any
				  request for AUSF support by an intermediate local exchange carrier filed more
				  than three years after the effective date of this Article, the AUSF support
				  area shall be geographic areas as determined by the Commission, and the
				  appropriate cost of providing basic local exchange telephone service for
				  purposes of determining AUSF support shall be the Total Service Long Run
				  Incremental Cost of the incumbent provider. In the event that the FCC adopts a
				  somewhat different forward-looking costing methodology and/or a different
				  geographic study/support area for the Federal universal service fund program, a
				  local exchange carrier may request a waiver from this rule in order to utilize
				  the same cost study methodology and/or geographic study areas in both
				  jurisdictions.
D. For a large local
				  exchange carrier, the AUSF support area shall be U.S. census block groups, and
				  the appropriate cost of providing basic local exchange telephone service for
				  purposes of determining AUSF support shall be the Total Service Long Run
				  Incremental Cost. In the event that the FCC adopts a somewhat different
				  forward-looking costing methodology and/or a different geographic study/support
				  area for the Federal universal service fund program, a local exchange carrier
				  may request a waiver from this rule in order to utilize the same cost study
				  methodology and/or geographic study areas in both jurisdictions. Any request
				  for AUSF support by a large local exchange carrier shall include a Total
				  Service Long Run Incremental Cost study, or cost study based on FCC adopted
				  methodology, of basic local exchange service. The cost study shall be developed
				  and presented in a manner that identifies the cost for the individual support
				  areas for which AUSF funding is being requested.