§ 37-15-501 — Universal service fund created; contributions; administration

(a) There is hereby established the universal service fund
to be administered in accordance with this section. The fund
shall be administered by the commission. All telecommunications
companies shall contribute to the universal service fund. The
dates for contributions to the fund and disbursements from the
fund shall be set by the commission, after notice and
opportunity for hearing, as necessary to accomplish the
objectives of the fund as specified in subsections (c) and (d)
of this section. The costs of administering the fund may be
included in determining required contributions.
(b) The commission shall after notice and opportunity for
hearing, designate the method by which the contributions shall
be calculated, collected and distributed. The commission shall
authorize a monthly charge to customers, in the amount specified
by the commission, to recover each contributor's required
payment to the universal service fund. Any charge related to
mobile telecommunications service shall only apply if the
customer's place of primary use is in this state as provided by
the Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing Act, 4 U.S.C. §§ 116 to
126. The provisions of the Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing
Act shall apply to this subsection.
(c) The commission shall administer the monies in the
universal service fund to assist only those customers of
telecommunications companies located in areas of this state with
relatively high rates for noncompetitive local exchange
services. Services deemed competitive under W.S. 37-15-202(a),
(c) or (d) shall not be eligible for universal service fund
support under this article. The commission, after notice and
opportunity for hearing, shall determine a reasonable amount and
a fair method of distributing monies. The commission may
authorize a credit to customer bills, in the amount specified by
the commission, to reflect distributions received by the local
exchange company from the universal service fund, provided that
the credit is given only to one (1) line for each customer or
household. The commission shall ensure that the method shall
promote the emergence of competition in providing local exchange
service.
(d) In accordance with the method of distribution
determined by the commission, a telecommunications company
shall, unless it elects to receive Wyoming universal service
funds pursuant to the method set forth in subsection (g) of this
section, receive funds under this section to the extent that its
noncompetitive local exchange service prices, after
consideration of any contributions from the federal universal
service fund, exceed the price benchmark established in
subsection (h) of this section.
(e) The following limitations shall be applied to
operation of the universal service fund:
(i) The operation of the universal service fund may
be suspended by the commission, based upon a public interest
finding, after notice and an opportunity for a hearing, that the
fund is not then serving its intended purpose;
(ii) In the event that distributions made pursuant to
subsection (g) of this section cause total distributions from
the universal service fund in any fiscal year to exceed one
hundred twenty-five percent (125%) of the amount distributed in
fiscal year 2013-2014, the commission shall reduce payments
among those electing distributions under subsection (g) of this
section, pro rata, so as to reduce the total distribution to one
hundred twenty-five (125%) of the fiscal year 2013-2014
distribution amount.
(f) The commission's decisions under this section shall be
subject to the provisions of the Wyoming Administrative
Procedure Act.
(g) A telecommunications company that undertakes the
requirements set forth in this subsection may make a one-time,
irrevocable before July 1, 2023, election in writing to the
commission to receive Wyoming universal service funds pursuant
to this subsection rather than pursuant to subsection (d) of
this section. In order to receive funds pursuant to this
subsection, the company shall provide noncompetitive local
exchange service, or its functional equivalent, upon reasonable
request throughout the local exchange area of a rural incumbent
local exchange carrier, as defined by the federal communications
commission on January 1, 2015, at a price not exceeding the
price benchmark established in subsection (h) of this section. A
telecommunications company which elects to receive Wyoming
universal service funds pursuant to this subsection shall
receive funds to the extent that its loop costs, as reflected in
the company's most recent annual filing of unseparated loop
costs filed with the Universal Service Administration Company,
exceed the company's most recent annual federal universal
service funds receipts and annual local revenues. In
calculating annual local revenues the commission shall utilize
the imputed price benchmark established in subsection (h) of
this section. If an otherwise qualified company elects to
receive Wyoming universal service funds pursuant to this
subsection, but does not file an annual unseparated loop cost
report with the Universal Service Administration Company, it
shall file the equivalent information with the commission.
(h) The price benchmark shall be thirty-five dollars
($35.00) unless otherwise adjusted by the commission pursuant to
this subsection. The commission shall review the price
benchmark one (1) time every four (4) years and, after review,
shall adjust the benchmark as necessary to assure that it
approximates one hundred thirty percent (130%) of the weighted
statewide average local exchange service price. The commission
may change the price benchmark at any time if, after notice and
opportunity for a hearing, the commission determines that the
price benchmark does not approximate one hundred thirty percent
(130%) of the weighted statewide average local exchange service
price and that the price benchmark should be adjusted by ten
percent (10%) or more.