87R10925 JAM-F
By: Perry S.B. No. 1246
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to universal service fund assistance to high cost rural
areas and the uniform charge that funds the universal service fund;
authorizing a fee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 51.002(10), Utilities Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(10) "Telecommunications provider":
(A) means:
(i) a certificated telecommunications
utility;
(ii) a shared tenant service provider;
(iii) a nondominant carrier of
telecommunications services;
(iv) a provider of commercial mobile
service as defined by Section 332(d), Communications Act of 1934
(47 U.S.C. Section 151 et seq.), Federal Communications Commission
rules, and the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (Public
Law 103-66), except that the term does not include these entities
for the purposes of Chapter 17, 55, or 64;
(v) a telecommunications entity that
provides central office based PBX-type sharing or resale
arrangements;
(vi) an interexchange telecommunications
carrier;
(vii) a specialized common carrier;
(viii) a reseller of communications;
(ix) a provider of operator services;
(x) a provider of customer-owned pay
telephone service; [or]
(xi) a provider of Voice over Internet
Protocol service; or
(xii) a person or entity determined by the
commission to provide telecommunications services to customers in
this state; and
(B) does not mean:
(i) a provider of enhanced or information
services, or another user of telecommunications services, who does
not also provide telecommunications services; or
(ii) a state agency or state institution of
higher education, or a service provided by a state agency or state
institution of higher education.
SECTION 2. Section 56.001, Utilities Code, is amended by
adding Subdivision (3) to read as follows:
(3) "High cost rural area" means an area:
(A) served by a small provider as defined by
Section 56.032; or
(B) served by a local exchange company that
receives support under the Texas High Cost Universal Service Plan
(16 T.A.C. Section 26.403) or the Small and Rural Incumbent Local
Exchange Company Universal Service Plan (16 T.A.C. Section 26.404)
and in which:
(i) the population has not since increased
by more than 100 percent since the year 2000; and
(ii) there are less than 30 customers per
route mile of plant in service.
SECTION 3. Section 56.022(c), Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) The uniform charge is on services and at rates the
commission determines and may be in the form of a fee or an
assessment on revenues. In establishing the charge and the
services to which the charge will apply, the commission may not:
(1) grant an unreasonable preference or advantage to a
telecommunications provider;
(2) assess the charge on pay telephone service; [or]
(3) subject a telecommunications provider to
unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage; or
(4) assess the charge in a manner that is not
technology neutral or grants an unreasonable preference based on
technology.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2021.