Telecommunications: universal service: Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

(1) Existing law, the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, establishes a program of cooperative federalism for the regulation of telecommunications to attain the goal of local competition, while implementing specific, predictable, and sufficient federal and state mechanisms to preserve and advance universal service, consistent with certain universal service principles. Existing law authorizes the Public Utilities Commission to supervise and regulate every public utility in the state, including telephone corporations. Existing law establishes 6 funds in the State Treasury through which the state's universal service programs are funded. Under existing law, moneys in the funds may only be expended for specified purposes and upon appropriation in the annual Budget Act or upon supplemental appropriation. This bill would require the commission to require interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers to collect and remit surcharges on their California intrastate revenues in support of the universal service funds. (2) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.