Communications: California High-Cost Fund-B Administrative Committee Fund program.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Existing law requires the commission to develop, implement, and maintain a suitable, competitively neutral, and broad-based program to establish a fair and equitable local rate support structure aided by universal service rate support to telephone corporations serving areas where the cost of providing services exceeds rates charged by providers, which is known as the California High-Cost Fund-B Administrative Committee Fund program. Under existing law, the purpose of the program is to promote the goals of universal telephone service and to reduce any disparity in the rates charged by those companies. Existing law requires revenues collected through surcharges authorized by the commission to fund the program to be deposited in the California High-Cost Fund-B Administrative Committee Fund. This bill would revise the program to instead ensure universal service rate support to providers serving high-cost areas, and would revise the program's purpose to instead promote affordability and widespread availability of safe and reliable voice communications services and advanced services, including broadband internet access service. The bill would specify that the changes made by the bill do not authorize the levy of a charge or an increase in the amount collected pursuant to any existing charge, and do not authorize the expansion of the applicability of an existing charge to other ratepayers.