3 AAC 51.040 - Funding of telecommunications relay service

(a) The commission will establish a TRS surcharge by order and will consider the following criteria:

(1) the monthly revenue requirement of the TRS provider;

(2) the estimated number of voice lines of providers of local wireline and wireless telecommunications service;

(3) any amounts held by the TRS provider in the surplus revenue account.

(b) The commission will modify the surcharge whenever necessary to avoid insufficient or excessive money in the surplus revenue account.

(c) After the commission determines the surcharge, each local exchange carrier shall submit to the commission a compliance tariff filing that includes the surcharge using the procedures set out in 3 AAC 48.220 and 3 AAC 48.270.

(d) repealed 5/16/2020.

(e) Each telecommunications carrier shall list the surcharge as a separate line item on bills for service and entitle it "Universal Access Surcharge."

(f) Each telecommunications carrier shall collect the surcharge for each voice line from subscribers of telecommunications service.

(g) The TRS provider shall retain as compensation for services an amount equal to its authorized monthly revenue requirement.

(h) If the TRS provider collects an amount in excess of its monthly revenue requirement, the TRS provider shall hold that excess amount in a low-risk interest bearing account and entitle it the "surplus revenue account".

(i) The TRS provider may draw from the surplus revenue account in any month in which an underrecovery of surcharge revenue occurs. An underrecovery means that the total surcharge collections from local exchange carriers for a given month is less than the TRS provider's revenue requirement for that month. The amount drawn from the surplus revenue account may not exceed the amount of the underrecovery. The amount of the underrecovery is calculated as follows:

UNDERRECOVERY = MONTHLY REVENUE REQUIREMENT - MONTHLY

SURCHARGE COLLECTION

(j) If sufficient money is not available in the surplus revenue account to cover the underrecovery in a given month, the TRS provider may assess an interest charge on the unrecovered amount. The interest charge is assessable at the rate of 0.0287 percent per day and collectible by the TRS provider in the next month in which sufficient money is available.

(k) Each telecommunications carrier shall disburse surcharge collections on a monthly basis to the TRS provider in the following manner:

(1) by the 10th calendar day of each month, or the next working day if the 10th falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or bank holiday, each telecommunication carrier shall pay to the TRS provider surcharge revenues collected from telephone subscribers; each telecommunication carrier shall send a report, with the payment, showing the number of wireless and wireline voice lines to which a surcharge was assessed; the report must also include the number of uncollectible surcharges and the amount collected from previous months' uncollectible surcharges, separated by each month;

(2) payment is delinquent if it is not made by the 10th calendar day of each month or the next working day if the 10th falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or bank holiday; payment must be made by wire transfer or electronic funds transfer directly to the TRS provider's bank account;

(3) if electronic funds transfer is not technically feasible, payment must be made by check with immediately available money and mailed before the due date;

(4) if payment is not received in immediately available money on or before the due date, the TRS provider may assess a finance charge; the tariffed interest rate may not exceed the rate set by AS 45.45.010(a); a single late charge may be imposed when the account first becomes past due; charges for late payment must be deposited directly to the surplus revenue account unless sufficient money to cover the TRS provider's monthly revenue requirement is not available.

(l) An amount remaining in the surplus revenue account at the termination of a TRS provider's contract must be transferred within 30 days to the succeeding TRS provider.

Notes

3 AAC 51.040

Eff. 12/2/92, Register 124; am 2/23/2001, Register 157; am 11/6/2016, Register 220, January 2017; am 10/27/2017, Register 224, January 2018; am 5/16/2020, Register 234, July 2020

Authority:AS 42.05.141

AS 42.05.151

AS 42.05.296

AS 42.05.311

AS 42.05.321