As used in this part:

1. (1) “Access line” means exchange line cable and wire facilities Subcategories 1.1 through 1.3, 47 C.F.R. § 36.154(a), or its functional equivalent;
2. (2) “Administrator” means the administrator of the Arkansas High Cost Fund;
3. (3) “AHCF” or “fund” means the Arkansas High Cost Fund;

4. (4)

   1. (A) Categories of Eligible Telecommunications Carriers (ETCs) include:

      1. (i)

         1. (a) (a) Category I Company.
         2. (b) (b) All ETCs with a total customer access base or total customer base of five hundred thousand (500,000) or more access lines as to wireline ETCs and customers as to nonwireline ETCs;

      2. (ii)

         1. (a) (a) Category II Company.
         2. (b) (b) All ETCs with a total customer access base or total customer base of one hundred fifty thousand (150,000) or more access lines as to wireline ETCs and customers as to nonwireline ETCs, and less than five hundred thousand (500,000) access lines as to wireline ETCs and customers as to nonwireline ETCs;

      3. (iii)

         1. (a) (a) Category III Company.
         2. (b) (b) All ETCs with a total customer access base or total customer base of fifteen thousand (15,000) or more access lines as to wireline ETCs and customers as to nonwireline ETCs, and less than one hundred fifty thousand (150,000) access lines as to wireline ETCs and customers as to nonwireline ETCs;

      4. (iv)

         1. (a) (a) Category IV Company.
         2. (b) (b) All ETCs with a total customer access base or total customer base of less than fifteen thousand (15,000) access lines as to wireline ETCs and customers as to nonwireline ETCs;

   2. (B)

      1. (i) Access lines will be the primary determinant of a carrier’s categorization.
      2. (ii) Any carrier desiring to use its customer count as an alternative basis of classification must include in its submission a report by an independent third party auditor attesting to the accuracy of the customer count as of December 31 of the prior year;

5. (5)

   1. (A) “Central office” means a switching unit in a telephone system which provides service to the general public, having the necessary equipment and operations arrangements for terminating and interconnecting subscriber lines and trunks or trunks only.
   2. (B) There may be more than one (1) central office in a building;
6. (6) “Commercial mobile service” means cellular personal communications systems and any service regulated pursuant to Part 20 of the rules and regulations of the Federal Communications Commission, 47 C.F.R. pt. 20, or any successor provisions;
7. (7) “Commission” means the Arkansas Public Service Commission;

8. (8) “Customer” means any person, firm, partnership, cooperative corporation, corporation, or lawful entity that:

   1. (A) Has ordered and is receiving retail telecommunications services supplied by any telecommunications provider; and
   2. (B) Is receiving a bill from the provider for services associated with one (1) or more retail access lines;
9. (9) “Federal act” means the Communications Act of 1934, as amended;
10. (10) “FCC” means the Federal Communications Commission;
11. (11) “Incumbent local exchange carrier” means, with respect to a local exchange area, a local exchange carrier, including successors and assigns, that is certified by the Arkansas Public Service Commission and was providing basic local exchange service on February 8, 1996;

12. (12)

    1. (A) “Intrastate retail telecommunications service revenues” means, consistent with the definition adopted by the Federal Communications Commission in CC Docket No. 96-45 released on May 8, 1997, revenues derived from end users for telecommunications and telecommunications services.
    2. (B) This includes revenues derived from other carriers when such carriers utilize telecommunications services for their own internal uses;

13. (13)

    1. (A) “Local exchange area” means the geographic area, approved by the Arkansas Public Service Commission, encompassing the area within which a local exchange carrier is authorized to provide basic local exchange services and switched access services.
    2. (B) It may consist of one (1) or more central offices together with associated plant used in furnishing telecommunications service in that area;

14. (14)

    1. (A) “Local exchange carrier” or “LEC” means a telecommunications provider of basic local exchange service and switched access service.
    2. (B) Such term does not include commercial mobile service providers;
15. (15) “Rural telephone company” means a local exchange carrier defined as a rural telephone company in the Communications Act of 1934 as of the effective date of the Telecommunications Regulatory Reform Act of 1997, Acts 1997, No. 77;
16. (16) “Telecommunications provider” means any person, firm, partnership, corporation, association, or other entity that offers telecommunications services to the public for compensation;
17. (17) “Telecommunications provider rules” or “TPRs” mean those rules applicable to certain telecommunications providers that have been adopted by the Arkansas Public Service Commission;

18. (18)

    1. (A) “Telecommunications services” means the offering to the public for compensation the transmission of voice, data, or other electronic information at any frequency over any part of the electromagnetic spectrum, notwithstanding any other use of the associated facilities.
    2. (B) Such term does not include radio and television broadcast or distribution services or the provision or publishing of yellow pages, regardless of the entity providing such services, or services to the extent that such services are used in connection with the operation of an electric utility system owned by a government entity;
19. (19) “Total access lines” means the number of access lines reported by the carrier to the National Exchange Carrier Association, Inc. and/or its successor in the annual Universal Service Fund Data Collection or the equivalent for carriers not filing annual Universal Service Fund data; and
20. (20) “Universal services” means those telecommunications services that are defined and listed pursuant to Section 3(5) of the Telecommunications Regulatory Reform Act of 1997, Acts 1997, No. 77.

Codification Notes: This section was promulgated as Definitions of the Arkansas High Cost Fund Rules prior to codification in the Code of Arkansas Rules. The Federal Communications Commission CC Docket No. 96-45 is published at 12 FCC Rcd 8776 (FCC May 7, 1997). The Communications Act of 1934 was enacted as Pub. L. No. 73-416. 23CAR § 452-102. Jurisdiction. The Arkansas Public Service Commission has the authority and responsibility pursuant to Acts 1997, No. 77, and Acts 2007, No. 385, to assess a universal service fee upon all providers of telecommunications services, as defined by the rules of the Arkansas Public Service Commission to support state universal service objectives.