Goto Section: 54.607 | 54.613 | Table of Contents
FCC 54.609
Revised as of October 2, 2015
Goto Year:2014 |
2016
§ 54.609 Calculating support.
(a) The amount of universal service support provided for an eligible service
to be funded from the Telecommunications Program shall be the difference, if
any, between the urban rate and the rural rate charged for the service, as
defined herein. In addition, all reasonable charges that are incurred by
taking such services, such as state and federal taxes shall be eligible for
universal service support. Charges for termination liability, penalty
surcharges, and other charges not included in the cost of taking such
service shall not be covered by the universal service support mechanisms.
Under the Telecommunications Program, rural health care providers may choose
one of the following two support options.
(1) Distance based support. The Administrator shall consider the base rates
for telecommunications services in rural areas to be reasonably comparable
to the base rates charged for functionally similar telecommunications
service in urban areas in that state, and, therefore, the Administrator
shall not include these charges in calculating the support. The
Administrator shall include, in the support calculation, all other charges
specified, and all actual distance-based charges as follows:
(i) If the requested service distance is less than or equal to the SUD for
the state, the distance-based charges for the rural health care provider are
reasonably comparable to those in urban areas, so the health care provider
will not receive distance-based support.
(ii) If the requested service distance is greater than the SUD for the
state, but less than the maximum allowable distance, the distance-based
charge actually incurred for that service can be no higher than the
distance-based charges for a functionally similar service in any city in
that state with a population of 50,000 or more over the SUD.
(iii) “Distance-based charges” are charges based on a unit of distance, such
as mileage-based charges.
(iv) A telecommunications carrier that provides telecommunications service
to a rural health care provider participating in an eligible health care
consortium, and the consortium must establish the actual distance-based
charges for the health care provider's portion of the shared
telecommunications services.
(2) Base rate support. If a telecommunications carrier, health care
provider, and/or consortium of health care providers reasonably determines
that the base rates for telecommunications services in rural areas are not
reasonably comparable to the base rates charged for functionally similar
telecommunications service in urban areas in that state, the
telecommunications carrier, health care provider, and/or consortium of
health care providers may request that the Administrator perform a more
comprehensive support calculation. The requester shall provide to the
Administrator the information to establish both the urban and rural rates
consistent with § 54.605 and § 54.607, and submit to the Administrator with
Form 466 all of the documentation necessary to substantiate the request.
(3) Base rate support-consortium. A telecommunications carrier that provides
telecommunications service to a rural health care provider participating in
an eligible health care consortium, and the consortium must establish the
applicable rural base rates for telecommunications service for the health
care provider's portion of the shared telecommunications services, as well
as the applicable urban base rates for the telecommunications service.
(b) Absent documentation justifying the amount of universal service support
requested for health care providers participating in a consortium, the
Administrator shall not allow telecommunications carriers to offset, or
receive reimbursement for, the amount eligible for universal service
support.
(c) The universal service support mechanisms shall provide support for
intrastate telecommunications services, as set forth in § 54.101(a), provided
to rural health care providers as well as interstate telecommunications
services.
(d) Satellite services. (1) Rural public and non-profit health care
providers may receive support for rural satellite services under the
Telecommunications Program, even when another functionally similar
terrestrial-based service is available in that rural area. Support for
satellite services shall be capped at the amount the rural health care
provider would have received if they purchased a functionally similar
terrestrial-based alternative.
(2) Rural health care providers seeking support from the Telecommunications
Program for satellite services shall provide to the Administrator with the
Form 466, documentation of the urban and rural rates for the
terrestrial-based alternatives.
(3) Where a rural health care provider seeks a more expensive
satellite-based service when a less expensive terrestrial-based alternative
is available, the rural health care provider shall be responsible for the
additional cost.
(e) Mobile rural health care providers— (1) Calculation of support. The
support amount allowed under the Telecommunications Program for satellite
services provided to mobile rural health care providers is calculated by
comparing the rate for the satellite service to the rate for an urban
wireline service with a similar bandwidth. Support for satellite services
shall not be capped at an amount of a functionally similar wireline
alternative. Where the mobile rural health care provider provides service in
more than one state, the calculation shall be based on the urban areas in
each state, proportional to the number of locations served in each state.
(2) Documentation of support. (i) Mobile rural health care providers shall
provide to the Administrator documentation of the price of bandwidth
equivalent wireline services in the urban area in the state or states where
the service is provided. Mobile rural health care providers shall provide to
the Administrator the number of sites the mobile health care provider will
serve during the funding year.
(ii) Where a mobile rural health care provider serves less than eight
different sites per year, the mobile rural health care provider shall
provide to the Administrator documentation of the price of bandwidth
equivalent wireline services. In such case, the Administrator shall
determine on a case-by-case basis whether the telecommunications service
selected by the mobile rural health care provider is the most cost-effective
option. Where a mobile rural health care provider seeks a more expensive
satellite-based service when a less expensive wireline alternative is most
cost-effective, the mobile rural health care provider shall be responsible
for the additional cost.
[ 68 FR 74502 , Dec. 24, 2003, as amended at 70 FR 6373 , Feb. 7, 2005; 78 FR 13983 , Mar. 1, 2013]
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Goto Section: 54.607 | 54.613
Goto Year: 2014 |
2016
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