Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia › Department 515 - RULES OF GEORGIA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION › Chapter 515-12 - TELEPHONE SERVICE › Subject 515-12-1 - TELEPHONE SERVICE › Rule 515-12-1-.39 - Universal Access Fund

Current through Rules and Regulations filed through June 27, 2024
(1)
Quarterly Contributions.
All
				telecommunications companies holding a certificate of authority issued by the
				Commission to provide services within Georgia shall contribute quarterly to the
				Universal Access Fund. The contribution is calculated by multiplying a
				company's gross intrastate revenues from the provision of telecommunications
				services to end users by a factor set by order of the Commission.
(2)
Universal Access Fund
				Surcharge.
A telecommunications company holding a certificate of
				authority issued by the Commission may add a surcharge to customer bills after
				filing a letter providing notice to the Commission of its intent to do so.
				Customers shall be given at least 30 days' notice prior to implementation of
				the surcharge. The surcharge shall appear on customer bills as "Georgia
				Universal Access Fund Surcharge." If the number of characters in "Georgia
				Universal Access Fund Surcharge" exceeds the number of characters allowed in
				the company's billing software or if the full text will not fit on one line,
				"Georgia UAF Surcharge" or "GA UAF Surcharge" may be used instead.
(3)
Quarterly Reports and Remission of
				Funds.
Each telecommunications company that is required to contribute to
				the Universal Access Fund shall submit quarterly via email a report to the
				Commission Staff calculating the required contribution for each quarter. The
				report shall be submitted to the Staff and the contribution shall be remitted
				to the fund designated for the Universal Access Fund no later than the
				thirtieth calendar day following the close of each quarter.
(4)
Applications for Distributions from
				the Universal Access Fund.
The Commission shall determine any such
				distributions upon application, demonstration, and good cause shown that the
				reasonable actual costs to provide basic local exchange services exceed the
				maximum fixed price permitted for such basic local exchange services. Costs
				shall be determined based on the most recent commission-approved rate of return
				and the statutory state and federal income tax rates in effect for the
				application period. Applications for distributions from the Universal Access
				Fund shall be limited to local exchange carriers subject to rate of return
				regulation.
(a)
Filing Deadline.
Applications shall be filed no later than December 15 of each year.
(b)
General Filing Requirements.
Applications shall be made based on losses incurred from July 1 of the prior
				year through June 30 of the filing year, excluding non-regulated costs, and
				shall include the following:
1.
				Publicly-disclosed earnings report (Tab 1) in fully-functional Excel
				format
2. Publicly-disclosed Form M
				(Tab 2) in word-searchable format
3. Separations-based cost study (Tab
				3)
4. Cost study workpapers (Tab
				4)
5. Subjective support for
				regulated and non-regulated costs (Tab 5)
6. Information related to affiliated
				transactions (Tab 6)
(c)
Enhanced Filing Requirements.
1.
				Trial Balance reports for June 30 of the preceding year, December 31 of the
				preceding year and June 30 of the filing year (these trial balances may be
				redacted as needed to remove names and CPNI information).
2. The most recent un-redacted audited
				financial reports with accompanying notes for each company and its parent
				company (if applicable).
3.
				Identification of the depreciation rates applicable to each plant account
				during the fiscal year.
4. A copy
				of the company's current Cost Allocation Manual or equivalent documentation
				that identifies the company's organizational structure and procedures for
				segregating costs between regulated and nonregulated operations.
5. Documents demonstrating that basic
				residential local rates are set at the top of the limits allowed by the GPSC or
				that foregone revenues are imputed.
6. All information necessary to demonstrate
				that grant funded assets and related expenses are excluded from the UAF
				request.
(d)
Executive Compensation and Corporate Operations Expense.
Allowable
				costs for executive compensation and/or corporate operations expense shall be
				constrained based upon the greater disallowance calculated based upon the
				following limits:
1. Executive Costs (USOA
				Account 6711 or 6710 as indicated by company accounting practice) shall be
				limited to the lesser of actual cost or $200,000 plus $78 times the number of
				access lines reported on Form 5322 as of December 31 of the preceding
				year.
2. The overall corporate
				operations expenses (USOA accounts 6711 through 6728 or 6710 and 6720 as
				indicated by company accounting practice) shall be equal to the lesser of the
				average monthly per loop corporate operations expense cap provisions of
				Sections 36.621(a)(4)(i) and 36.621(a)(4)(ii) of the FCC's rules and
				regulations (USF Corporate Operations Expense capping mechanism as of December
				31, 2010) times the number of access lines reported on Federal USF cost
				reporting (Data Line 070, total loops) as of December 31 of the preceding year
				and annualized.
(e)
Reactive Engagements.
Each application for reimbursement from the
				Universal Access Fund will undergo a reactive engagement conducted by a
				contractor chosen by the Commission. The procedures employed by the contractor
				will be determined by the Commission. The cost of the reactive engagement will
				be borne by the party that filed the application. At the conclusion of the
				reactive engagement, the Staff will file a report containing the findings, if
				any, of the contractor.
(f)
Hearing Requests.
Any interested party may file a request for a
				hearing on any individual application within 14 calendar days of the date of
				filing of the Reactive Engagement report.