§  54.201   Definition of eligible telecommunications carriers, generally.

   (a) Carriers eligible to receive support. (1) Beginning January 1,
   1998, only eligible telecommunications carriers designated under
   paragraphs (b) through (d) of this section shall receive universal
   service support distributed pursuant to part 36 and part 69 of this
   chapter, and subparts D and E of this part.

   (2) [Reserved]

   (3) This paragraph does not apply to offset or reimbursement support
   distributed pursuant to subpart G of this part.

   (4) This paragraph does not apply to support distributed pursuant to
   subpart F of this part.

   (b) A state commission shall upon its own motion or upon request
   designate a common carrier that meets the requirements of paragraph (d)
   of this section as an eligible telecommunications carrier for a service
   area designated by the state commission.

   (c) Upon request and consistent with the public interest, convenience,
   and necessity, the state commission may, in the case of an area served
   by a rural telephone company, and shall, in the case of all other
   areas, designate more than one common carrier as an eligible
   telecommunications carrier for a service area designated by the state
   commission, so long as each additional requesting carrier meets the
   requirements of paragraph (d) of this section. Before designating an
   additional eligible telecommunications carrier for an area served by a
   rural telephone company, the state commission shall find that the
   designation is in the public interest.

   (d) A common carrier designated as an eligible telecommunications
   carrier under this section shall be eligible to receive universal
   service support in accordance with section 254 of the Act and shall,
   throughout the service area for which the designation is received:

   (1) Offer the services that are supported by federal universal service
   support mechanisms under subpart B of this part and section 254(c) of
   the Act, either using its own facilities or a combination of its own
   facilities and resale of another carrier's services (including the
   services offered by another eligible telecommunications carrier); and

   (2) Advertise the availability of such services and the charges
   therefore using media of general distribution.

   (e) For the purposes of this section, the term facilities means any
   physical components of the telecommunications network that are used in
   the transmission or routing of the services that are designated for
   support pursuant to subpart B of this part.

   (f) For the purposes of this section, the term “own facilities”
   includes, but is not limited to, facilities obtained as unbundled
   network elements pursuant to part 51 of this chapter, provided that
   such facilities meet the definition of the term “facilities” under this
   subpart.

   (g) A state commission shall not require a common carrier, in order to
   satisfy the requirements of paragraph (d)(1) of this section, to use
   facilities that are located within the relevant service area, as long
   as the carrier uses facilities to provide the services designated for
   support pursuant to subpart B of this part within the service area.

   (h) A state commission shall designate a common carrier that meets the
   requirements of this section as an eligible telecommunications carrier
   irrespective of the technology used by such carrier.

   (i) A state commission shall not designate as an eligible
   telecommunications carrier a telecommunications carrier that offers the
   services supported by federal universal service support mechanisms
   exclusively through the resale of another carrier's services.

   [ 62 FR 32948 , June 17, 1997, as amended at  63 FR 2125 , Jan. 13, 1998;
    64 FR 62123 , Nov. 16, 1999;  71 FR 65750 , Nov. 9, 2006]