basic exchange access line service rates would otherwise be increased to levels that would threaten universal service. As stated in D.1412084, “[u]niversal, reliable, affordable, service is critical to public safety and benefits the state as a whole.” The CHCFA currently supports eligible small ILECS in helping rural residents stay connected to essential services to maintain public health and safety. The CHCFA program is funded by a surcharge assessed on revenues collected from end users of intrastate telecommunications services subject to surcharge. The Commission periodically reviews the program fund levels and adjusts the surcharge rate to ensure the program is sufficiently funded. All telecommunications carriers and interconnected Voiceover Internet Protocol service providers are required to assess the CHCFA surcharge rate of 0.35%. In administering the CHCFA program, the Commission must “ensure that rates charged to customers of small independent telephone corporations are reasonably comparable to rates charged to customers of urban telephone corporations.” Historically, “comparable” has meant that target rates for residential customers are no more than 150% of basic service rates for California’s urban telephone customers. The “150% formula” was originally established in D.9109042, and the formula has been used in part to evaluate the reasonableness of rates charged to customers. In D.1002016, the Commission modified the 150% formula so that small ILECs were no longer required to charge up to 150% of the urban basic rate to qualify for CHCFA support, instead fixing the basic service rate at $20.25 per month. This requirement remained in effect until the Commission adopted D.1412084 in its CHCFA rulemaking proceeding Rulemaking (R.) 1111007, which set the allinclusive reasonable rate range of $30.00 to $37.00, inclusive of federal and state fees and surcharges.
basic exchange access line service rates would otherwise be increased to levels that would threaten universal service. As stated in D.1412084, “[u]niversal, reliable, affordable, service is critical to public safety and benefits the state as a whole.” The CHCFA currently supports eligible small ILECS in helping rural residents stay connected to essential services to maintain public health and safety. The CHCFA program is funded by a surcharge assessed on revenues collected from end users of intrastate telecommunications services subject to surcharge. The Commission periodically reviews the program fund levels and adjusts the surcharge rate to ensure the program is sufficiently funded. All telecommunications carriers and interconnected Voiceover Internet Protocol service providers are required to assess the CHCFA surcharge rate of 0.35%. In administering the CHCFA program, the Commission must “ensure that rates charged to customers of small independent telephone corporations are reasonably comparable to rates charged to customers of urban telephone corporations.” Historically, “comparable” has meant that target rates for residential customers are no more than 150% of basic service rates for California’s urban telephone customers. The “150% formula” was originally established in D.9109042, and the formula has been used in part to evaluate the reasonableness of rates charged to customers. In D.1002016, the Commission modified the 150% formula so that small ILECs were no longer required to charge up to 150% of the urban basic rate to qualify for CHCFA support, instead fixing the basic service rate at $20.25 per month. This requirement remained in effect until the Commission adopted D.1412084 in its CHCFA rulemaking proceeding Rulemaking (R.) 1111007, which set the allinclusive reasonable rate range of $30.00 to $37.00, inclusive of federal and state fees and surcharges.
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