The commission must allow a designated telecommunications provider to recover certain service costs from the state universal service fund, and it may not authorize services if required reimbursements would exceed the stated cap.
Sec. 56.209. RECOVERY OF COSTS. (a) If, after a hearing, the commission designates a telecommunications provider to serve the petitioning premises, the commission shall permit the designated provider to recover from the state universal service fund the provider's actual costs of providing service to the premises, including the provider's original cost of deployment and actual recurring costs. (b) The reimbursable original cost of deploying facilities to the petitioning premises is the original cost of the telecommunications provider's facilities installed in, or upgraded to permit the provision of service to, the petitioning premises as determined by the financial accounting standards applicable to the provider, including an amount for the recovery of all costs that are typically included as capital costs for accounting purposes, that are not recovered through an aid to construction charge assessed to the petitioners. The final order permitting or requiring the designated provider to provide service to the petitioning premises shall ensure that all the original cost of the provider shall be amortized and recovered from the state universal service fund, together with interest at the prevailing commercial lending rate: (1) not later than the third anniversary of the date of the order, for a deployment with an original cost of $1 million or less; (2) not later than the fifth anniversary of the date of the order, for a deployment with an original cost of more than $1 million, but not more than $2 million; and (3) not later than the seventh anniversary of the date of the order, for a deployment with an original cost of more than $2 million. (c) The designated provider shall recover the provider's actual recurring costs of service, including maintenance and the ongoing operational costs of providing service after deployment of the facilities to the petitioning premises and a reasonable operating margin, from: (1) the monthly rate charged the customer; and (2) a monthly per line state universal service fund payment in an amount equal to the unrecovered recurring costs incurred in providing service divided by the access lines served in the petitioning premises. (d) The monthly per line fee established under Subsection (c) is in addition to the universal service funds associated with the recovery of the original cost of deployment and interest authorized by Subsection (b) and in addition to the universal service funds the designated provider receives to provide service in other areas of this state. (e) The commission may not authorize or require any services to be provided to petitioning premises under this subchapter during a fiscal year if the total amount of required reimbursements of actual original cost of deployment to all approved petitioning premises under this section, together with interest, including obligations for reimbursements from preceding years, would equal an amount that exceeds 0.02 percent of the annual gross revenues reported to the state universal service fund during the preceding fiscal year. Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 651, Sec. 4, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.