The Commission does not discriminate on the basis of disability in the provision of programs, services, or employment. Any person with a disability who needs accommodations to participate in this proceeding or who needs to get this document in a different format should contact Anita Sprenger, as indicated in the previous paragraph, as soon as possible.
Analysis Prepared by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin
Statute interpreted: 196.218, Stats.
Objective of the Rule
The objective of this rulemaking is to revise the existing ch.
PSC 160, Universal Service Support Funding and Programs. These rules were originally created in 1996, then revised in 2000. Minor changes are also made to Wis. Admin. Code chs.
161,
165, and
171. In the proposed rule, the Commission revises existing Universal Service programs that provide access to telecommunications service to all Wisconsin customers regardless of geographic location, income or disability, and to assist in the deployment of advanced services in all areas of the state. In this same chapter, are revisions to the mechanism for funding those programs and for administering the Universal Service Fund (USF).
The Commission is proposing the following revisions to its universal service rules to reflect its experience with administering and operating the programs included in this proposed rule. The revisions also reflect the evolution of the telecommunications market and telecommunications technology in Wisconsin, and also ensure that state universal service programs do not conflict with new federal programs and rules.
In preparation of these proposed rules, Commission staff worked closely with the Universal Service Fund Council (USFC). The USFC submitted its recommendations on rule changes to the Commission in January 2002. Since then, staff continued revising various sections of the rule. Many of the changes were minor and editorial, but some were substantive. On August 30, 2004, the USFC approved a revised draft of the rules that incorporated all of the changes staff had proposed to that point. Only a few changes to the proposed rule have been made since the USFC approved the draft in August 2004. Those sections are noted in the analysis below.
Statutory Authority to Promulgate the Proposed Rule
Section
196.218, Stats., defines and authorizes the USF. Specifically, s.
196.218 (5m), Stats., requires the Commission to periodically review and revise, as appropriate, the universal service rules.
Section-by-Section Analysis of the Proposed Revisions
A number of non-substantive changes have been made to update language to current drafting style. For example, uses of “shall not" have been changed to “may not."
PSC 160.01 Scope and Purpose
The only change is to the reference regarding services to programs since this chapter focuses on universal service programs.
PSC 160.02 Definitions
The modifications reflect updates in statutes and rules. The definition of “institutions" is removed since the institutions program no longer exists. A definition for “pay-per-call service" has been added as defined in statute. Cognitive impairment has been added to the definition of disability to address the needs of those individuals with cognitive impairments that need specialized telecommunications equipment to have access to essential telecommunications services. SeniorCare under s.
49.688, Stats., has been added as a program that enables a household to be defined as low-income. This will enable many of the senior citizens that currently qualify under the Wisconsin Homestead Tax Credit eligibility criteria to now qualify under SeniorCare. The verification process for SeniorCare is simpler and more efficient than the verification process for Homestead Tax Credit. The definition of “two-line hearing carryover" has been added.
PSC 160.03 Essential Telecommunications Services
Single party revertive calling is deleted from the list of essential telecommunication services with regard to the USF because it is already included as a basic utility obligation under Wis. Admin. Code s.
PSC 165.081 (6). The description of toll blocking is changed so that rather than repeating the requirement here, it refers to the section of the rule relating to toll blocking.
The USFC recommended deleting the directory listing and annual directory distribution requirements from the list of essential services because at the time this was decided, another rulemaking would have made these sections redundant. That rule is not through the promulgation process, so the recommended changes to this rule have not been included in this rulemaking. They can be included in the next review of these rules.
PSC 160.035 Advanced Service Capabilities
This authorizes the Commission to use universal service support to enable a provider to use other sources, such as small diameter satellite dish system companies, to provide an equivalent to an advanced service when it is not reasonable to require a provider to offer a given advanced service capability.
PSC 160.04 Toll Blocking
The proposed revisions for this section include blocking of all pay-for-service calls, rather than specifying 900 and 976 calls as the current rule does. Clarification concerning the blocking of collect and certain other calls is added.
PSC 160.05 Universal Service Fund Programs
Reference to the “assistance to institutions" program is eliminated since this program no longer exists. Intralata toll provider of last resort is removed from the program list since the section it refers to is being deleted. Two-line voice carryover was expanded to also include two-line hearing carryover.
PSC 160.06 Eligibility for Low-Income Programs
This section is updated to expand eligibility to those who qualify for federal USF support as residents of tribal lands.
PSC 160.061 (1)
Changes to this section allow residences with more than one telephone line to qualify for LinkUp for one of the lines. (Currently residences with more than one line are not eligible for any LinkUp assistance.) This modification allows more flexibility for participants in the program, particularly in situations where a separate telephone line is needed by a low-income resident of a household where multiple families or unrelated roommates share an address. With this change, the rule would be consistent with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rule which now allows Lifeline to cover one line in residences with more than one line.
PSC 160.061 (5)
Language is added to clarify when a customer becomes eligible for LinkUp benefits, if eligibility cannot be verified at the time the service order is issued. Specifically, a provision is added relating to customers who are eligible for federal universal service fund support as residents of tribal lands.
PSC 160.061 (6)
This change corrects an anomaly that could result in certain eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) receiving less USF support for LinkUp than non-ETCs with the same charges. This is due to the interplay between state and federal USF support for ETCs. This rule revision ensures that ETCs and non-ETCs receive the same total amount of USF support for LinkUp.
PSC 160.061 (7)
This section is added so that local service providers file timely requests for reimbursements and so charges to the universal fund cannot be accumulated over several years.
PSC 160.062 (1), (2) and (3)
The first change in this section clarifies the intent to have providers offer a lifeline discount on any rate or package the customer chooses. This change would enable customers to select the local rate or service package that will best meet the needs of their household and have the lifeline discount package applied to that rate or package.
The second change in this section enables residences with more than one line to potentially qualify for Lifeline for one of the lines. This allows more flexibility for the program particularly in situations where a separate telephone line is needed by a low-income resident of a household where multiple families or unrelated roommates share an address. This is consistent with the FCC rule, which now allows Lifeline to cover one line in residences with more than one line.
PSC 160.062 (4) (Changes in this section were made after the Council approved the draft rules)
The changes to this section clarify how to determine what the lifeline discount will be under several scenarios. This section is added because of the changing telecommunications market where many customers purchase local service as part of a larger telecommunications service package and it can be unclear as to how to determine what level lifeline discount to apply.
This section also addresses when and how a commercial mobile radio (wireless) service provider establishes its lifeline base rate, from which the monthly lifeline rate adjustment is calculated.
PSC 160.062 (5) (Changes in this section were made after the Council approved the draft rules)
This section includes changes in how the reimbursement level for providers is determined in certain situations, so that changes at the federal level can be accommodated without Commission action. Generally, state USF dollars are not affected, and this change will allow the federal contribution to the lifeline adjustment to be provided to customers automatically. The current rules require an exception from the Commission before providers can increase Lifeline credits in order to match FCC ordered increases in the federal Subscriber Line Charge – even when the FCC increases its reimbursements to cover those increases. Finally, this section changes the calculation of lifeline adjustments.
PSC 160.062 (6)
This section adds provisions related to customers who are eligible for federal USF support as residents of tribal lands.
PSC 160.062 (9) (Changes in this section were made after the Council approved the draft rules)
This section adds provisions that require customer notification before ending lifeline assistance. This gives customers who no longer qualify as low-income under one criteria, but who still qualify under a different criteria, time to show that they qualify under that different criteria. These changes are based on changes adopted by the FCC.
PSC 160.062 (11)
This section is added so that local service providers file timely requests for reimbursements and so charges to the universal fund are not able to accumulate over several years.
PSC 160.063
In this section, the program is changed from a Request for Proposal (RFP) process to a biennial grant program. Offering the grant program will be determined by availability of funding. The grant program will be managed similarly to the other two grant programs in PSC 160, except that this program would be offered biennially. This will simplify the process for this program and will enable organizations that are focused on serving low-income customers to more easily apply for funding.
PSC 163.07
The requirement for a written medical description of special needs has been changed to allow such descriptions to be prepared by medical professionals rather than just by doctors. This change makes the language consistent with similar provisions elsewhere in the rules.
PSC 160.071
Service and Equipment Pricing for Individuals with Special Needs
Some minor editing changes and minor rule changes are made to improve program operation such as requiring eligible equipment lists and identifying processes to modify that list and to handle objections to the equipment lists and eligibility determinations. Specific program changes are discussed below.
PSC 160.071 (1) (b)
The voucher amount for the hard of hearing category is reduced from $200 to $125. This change reflects a determination made by the Commission on September 23, 2004, to reduce the hard of hearing voucher to $125 because the Telecommunications Equipment Purchase Program (TEPP) exceeded its budget in FY04 and FY05.
The Commission based its decision to reduce the voucher maximum for the hard of hearing category on program data from the previous two fiscal years. If program changes were not made and the rate at which the program was growing continued at the pace it was in September 2004, the projected program expenditure was over $4 million while the program budget was $2.3 million. The hard of hearing disability category had experienced the most growth seeing more than a doubling of applications over two years (from 4,110 applications in FY 2003 to 8,274 in FY 2004).
PSC 160.071 (1) (c)
This section is amended to enable low-income speech, mobility or motion impaired voucher recipients to be exempt from the $100 co-payment if they are able to certify that they meet the income requirements of the telecommunications assistance program (TAP), which provides the co-payment for low-income hard of hearing or deaf voucher recipients. In the past, low-income disabled voucher recipients that are speech, motion, or mobility impaired had no program for assistance in paying the $100 co-payment that is required under the TEPP. This has been a barrier for some disabled individuals in obtaining the equipment needed to use the telecommunication system. The number of low-income disabled individuals that would qualify for waiving the $100 co-pay requirement is expected to be small and not expected to significantly affect the TEPP budget.
PSC 160.071 (1) (i)
The addition will the give the Commission the ability to impose consequences on vendors that abuse these programs.
PSC 160.071 (1) (k) 2. and 3.
These additions explicitly allow the purchase of a personal computer under the TEPP to serve as telecommunications equipment for individuals that have a medical statement indicating that such equipment is necessary for that individual to access telecommunications services.
PSC 160.071 (2)
This section deals with leasing specialized customer premises equipment for persons with disabilities. The only change is to make the program optional. While this is a very rarely used option, retaining the concept in the rule will provide flexibility to both providers and customers.
PSC 160.071 (3)
This section is significantly changed to reflect profound changes in the long distance sector of the telecommunications industry. The existing rule requires long distance companies to provide a discount to eligible disabled customers based on the formerly prevalent time-of-day rate discount schedules. These discounts are now outdated because options for long distance providers services and rates have changed with the advent of competition in long distance markets. The draft rule includes language changes to the required discount program so that it is optional for providers to provide the discount and provides the opportunity for providers to be reimbursed for the discount if certain conditions are met. The basis for providing TTY users with a discount is that for the same “conversation," a TTY user's telephone call lasts many times longer than a non-TTY user's telephone call. This discount helps bring TTY users' long distance costs closer to those of non-TTY users. For providers to be reimbursed, they must offer a discount program that results in a minimum of a 35 percent discount. Three options are included in the rule for how providers are able to offer discounts to TTY users. This allows flexibility for providers to choose how they can best offer a discount program to these customers within the constraints of their established billing systems.
PSC 160.071 (4)
This section of the rule relates to discounted wireless service and is similar in intent to the section above. Offering the discount to special needs customers is also optional. The only difference is that in this subsection the discount is applied to the total wireless bill.
PSC 160.071 (7) (b)
The section has two changes. First, this section enables speech impaired customers to receive, without charge, two-line hearing carryover services. This includes intrastate nonrecurring charges or the monthly rate for the second line. Second, a requirement for timely filing of reimbursement requests is added.
PSC 160.073 Public interest pay telephone
The section under par. (3) is added to ensure that when a provider has approval for installation of a new public interest pay telephone, that the telephone is installed in a reasonable timeframe.
The sections under (4) (d) through (g) and (5) (g) are added to further define where public interest pay telephones may or may not be located and places requirements on the operation of those telephones. The section under (6) was amended to clarify the level of detail required in financial records that public interest pay telephone providers must keep. The section under (7) was changed to allow more flexibility in reporting and the section under (8) (d) was added so that public interest pay telephones are labeled as such.
The section under (9) is added to explicitly provide that the Commission may suspend or reduce payment to providers if there are problems with the operation of the public interest pay telephone.
PSC 160.09 High rate assistance credits
The revised rule clarifies how often the high rate assistance credits need to be calculated and defines how the average price of a one-minute intrastate toll call can be determined. It also eliminates the reference to Wisconsin Department of Workforce as the source for median household income since it does not publish such a number. Instead the revised rule references the figure published by the U. S. Census Bureau or as determined by the Commission. If the Commission determines this figure, there will be an opportunity for public comment.
This section also addresses when and how a commercial mobile radio (wireless) service provider's method of calculating high rate assistance credits will be established. Further, it adds certain FCC authorized charges to the pool of charges that are considered when determining whether a credit is owed.
A requirement for timely filing for reimbursement requests is also added.
PSC 160.092 Alternative universal service protection plans (Changes in this section were made after the Council approved the draft rules)
This section is amended to add plans to ensure interlata and intralata toll service, and other measures approved by the Commission to protect universal service, to the list of alternative plans that may be implemented. The existing “intralata toll provider of last resort" section is being deleted from the rule. This amendment allows the Commission to establish a similar (but experimental and limited) program should it become necessary in the future. Such a plan can only be implemented after notice and opportunity for hearing.
PSC 160.10 Rate shock mitigation
A requirement for timely filing for reimbursement requests is added to this section.
PSC 160.11 Assistance to institutions
The section of the rule for the institutional discount program is eliminated. This program was replaced by TEACH, now know as the Educational Telecommunications Access Program. The existing rule allowed continued funding until October 29, 2002, for institutions already in the program. However, as of the beginning of FY2002, no institutions remained in the program.
PSC 160.115
Medical telecommunications equipment program. The term “medical clinic" is clarified to include clinics and hospitals.
