Telecommunications: California Advanced Services Fund.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Existing law authorizes the commission to supervise and regulate every public utility and do all things necessary and convenient in the exercise of its power and jurisdiction. Existing law, until January 1, 2013, establishes the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) in the State Treasury, and requires a surcharge, which is imposed by the commission and collected through retail telecommunications customers' bills, to be deposited in that fund, for the purpose of encouraging the deployment of advanced communications services, as provided in a specified order of the commission. Pursuant to that order, which establishes a program providing matching funds to build broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas, eligible applicants for these funds are telephone corporations having a specified certificate from the commission and wireless carriers subject to registration with the commission. This bill would, for the sole purpose of providing matching funds pursuant to the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, make any entity eligible for funding pursuant to that act eligible to apply for participation in the matching funds program if that entity otherwise satisfies the eligibility requirements under the program. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.