{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-17-17-139.106","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 17, § 17-139.106","heading":"Oklahoma Universal Service Fund","body":"A. There is hereby created within the Corporation Commission\n\nthe \"Oklahoma Universal Service Fund\" (OUSF). Not later than\n\nJanuary 31, 1998, the Corporation Commission shall promulgate rules\n\nimplementing the OUSF so that, consistent with the provisions of\n\nthis section, funds can be made available to eligible local exchange\n\ntelecommunications service providers and, consistent with Section 6\n\nof this act, funds can be made available to eligible providers.\n\nB. The OUSF shall be funded and administered to promote and\n\nensure the availability of primary universal services, at rates that\n\nare reasonable and affordable and Special Universal Services, and to\n\nprovide for reasonably comparable services at affordable rates in\n\nrural areas as in urban areas. The OUSF shall provide funding to\n\nlocal exchange telecommunications service providers that meet the\n\neligibility criteria established in this section and to eligible\n\nproviders that meet the eligibility criteria established in Section\n\n6 of this act for the provision of Special Universal Services.\n\nC. The OUSF shall be funded by a charge paid by all\n\ncontributing providers as provided for in Section 139.107 of this\n\ntitle, at a level sufficient to maintain universal service.\n\nD. 1. The procedure for eligible local exchange\n\ntelecommunications service providers and eligible providers to seek\n\nand obtain OUSF and Oklahoma Lifeline Fund (OLF) funding shall be as\n\nset forth in this subsection.\n\n2. Within ninety (90) days after receipt of a request for funds\n\nfrom an eligible local exchange telecommunications service provider\n\nor an eligible provider, the Administrator as defined pursuant to\n\nSection 139.102 of this title shall independently review and\n\ndetermine the accuracy of the request and advise the eligible local\n\nexchange telecommunications service provider or eligible provider\n\nrequesting the funds of the determination of eligibility made by the\n\nAdministrator. The determination shall detail the amount of funding\n\nrecoverable from the OUSF and OLF. Failure by the Administrator to\n\nissue a determination within the ninety-day period means the request\n\nfor OUSF or OLF reimbursement is deemed approved on a permanent\n\nbasis, and funding shall be paid within forty-five (45) days without\n\nan order of the Commission. If a request for reconsideration of the\n\ndetermination of the Administrator is not filed as provided for in\n\nparagraph 5 of this subsection, the determination shall be deemed\n\nfinal on the sixteenth day following the date of the determination.\n\nThe OUSF funding as provided in the determination of the\n\nAdministrator shall be paid to the eligible local exchange\n\ntelecommunications service provider or eligible provider within\n\nforty-five (45) days without an order of the Commission.\n\n3. For requests seeking OUSF funds pursuant to Section 6 of\n\nthis act, provided that an OUSF approval funding letter has been\n\nissued as otherwise provided for in the Oklahoma Telecommunications\n\nAct of 1997, the eligible provider shall, within sixty (60) days of\n\nthe start of service, submit to the Administrator a request for\n\nreimbursement from the OUSF. The Administrator shall have sixty\nsion.\n\n3. For requests seeking OUSF funds pursuant to Section 6 of\n\nthis act, provided that an OUSF approval funding letter has been\n\nissued as otherwise provided for in the Oklahoma Telecommunications\n\nAct of 1997, the eligible provider shall, within sixty (60) days of\n\nthe start of service, submit to the Administrator a request for\n\nreimbursement from the OUSF. The Administrator shall have sixty\n\n(60) days to issue a determination to the Oklahoma Universal Service\n\nFund Beneficiary and eligible provider detailing the amount of\n\nfunding recoverable from the OUSF. Failure by the Administrator to\n\nissue a determination within the sixty-day period means the request\n\nfor OUSF reimbursement is approved as submitted. The determination\n\nshall detail the amount of funding recoverable from the OUSF.\n\nFailure by the Administrator to issue a determination shall mean the\n\nrequest for OUSF reimbursement is deemed approved on a permanent\n\nbasis, and funding shall be paid within forty-five (45) days without\n\nan order of the Commission. If a request for reconsideration of the\n\ndetermination of the Administrator is not filed as provided for in\n\nparagraph 5 of this subsection, the determination shall be deemed\n\nfinal on the sixteenth day following the date of the determination.\n\nThe OUSF funding as provided in the determination of the\n\nAdministrator shall be paid to the eligible provider within forty-\n\nfive (45) days without an order of the Commission.\n\n4. A request for reimbursement as provided for in paragraph 3\n\nof this subsection shall be in the form as determined by the\n\nAdministrator. The form shall be posted by the Administrator no\n\nlater than one hundred twenty (120) days prior to the start of the\n\nfunding year to become effective July 1 for reimbursement requests\n\nsubmitted for eligible services provided during the funding year.\n\nAny party may file an objection to a posted form with the Commission\n\nwithin fifteen (15) days of the posting. The Commission shall have\n\nthirty (30) days to issue a final order on the objection to the\n\nform. If the Commission does not issue a final order on the\n\nobjection within thirty (30) days, the objection shall be deemed\n\napproved.\n\n5. Any affected party, meaning the eligible local exchange\n\ntelecommunications service provider, the eligible provider, any\n\nservice provider that pays into the OUSF, the Oklahoma Universal\n\nService Fund Beneficiary or the Attorney General, shall have fifteen\n\n(15) days to file a request for reconsideration by the Commission of\n\nthe determination made by the Administrator. If the Commission does\n\nnot issue a final order within thirty (30) days from the date the\n\nrequest for reconsideration is filed, the request shall be deemed\n\napproved on an interim basis subject to refund with interest. The\n\ninterest rate on a refund shall be at a rate of not more than the\n\ninterest rate established by the Commission on customer deposits and\n\nshall accrue for a period not to exceed ninety (90) days from the\n\ndate the funds were received by the requesting eligible local\n\nexchange telecommunications service provider or eligible provider.\n\nIf the Commission does not issue a final order within one hundred\n\ntwenty (120) days of the filing of the request for reconsideration,\n\nthen the request for OUSF or OLF funding as filed shall be deemed\n\napproved on a permanent basis without order of the Commission, and\n\nthe OUSF and OLF funding shall be paid without an order of the\n\nCommission within forty-five (45) days.\n\n6. The term \"final order\" as used in this subsection shall mean\n\nan order which resolves all issues associated with the request for\n\nOUSF or OLF funding.\n\nE. Contributing providers may, at their option, recover from\n\ntheir retail customers the OUSF charges paid by the contributing\n\nprovider. The OUSF charges shall not be subject to state or local\ntatutes - Title 17. Corporation Commission Page 65\n\n6. The term \"final order\" as used in this subsection shall mean\n\nan order which resolves all issues associated with the request for\n\nOUSF or OLF funding.\n\nE. Contributing providers may, at their option, recover from\n\ntheir retail customers the OUSF charges paid by the contributing\n\nprovider. The OUSF charges shall not be subject to state or local\n\ntaxes or franchise fees.\n\nF. The Commission shall not, prior to implementation and the\n\navailability of funds from the OUSF, require local exchange\n\ntelecommunications service providers to reduce rates for intrastate\n\naccess services.\n\nG. Any eligible local exchange telecommunications service\n\nprovider may request funding from the OUSF as necessary to maintain\n\nrates for primary universal services that are reasonable and\n\naffordable. OUSF funding shall be provided to eligible local\n\nexchange telecommunications service providers for the following:\n\n1. To reimburse eligible local exchange telecommunications\n\nservice providers for the reasonable investments and expenses not\n\nrecovered from the federal universal service fund or any other state\n\nor federal government fund incurred in providing universal services;\n\n2. Infrastructure expenditures or costs incurred in response to\n\nfacility or service requirements established by a legislative,\n\nregulatory, or judicial authority or other governmental entity\n\nmandate;\n\n3. For reimbursement of the Lifeline Service Program credits as\n\nset forth in Section 139.105 of this title;\n\n4. To reimburse eligible local exchange telecommunications\n\nservice providers for providing the Special Universal Services as\n\nset forth in Section 6 of this act;\n\n5. To defray the costs of administering the OUSF, including the\n\ncosts of administration, processing, and an annual independent\n\naudit. The annual audit shall not be performed by the Commission\n\nstaff; and\n\n6. For other purposes deemed necessary by the Commission to\n\npreserve and advance universal service.\n\nH. In identifying and measuring the costs of providing primary\n\nuniversal services, exclusively for the purpose of determining OUSF\n\nfunding levels under this section, the eligible local exchange\n\ntelecommunications service provider serving less than seventy-five\n\nthousand access lines shall, at its option:\n\n1. Calculate such costs by including all embedded investments\n\nand expenses incurred by the eligible local exchange\n\ntelecommunications service provider in the provision of primary\n\nuniversal service, and may identify high-cost areas within the local\n\nexchange area it serves and perform a fully distributed allocation\n\nof embedded costs and identification of associated primary universal\n\nservice revenue. Such calculation may be made using fully\n\ndistributed Federal Communications Commission parts 32, 36 and 64\n\ncosts, if such parts are applicable. The high-cost area shall be no\n\nsmaller than a single exchange, wire center, or census block group,\n\nchosen at the option of the eligible local exchange\n\ntelecommunications service provider;\n\n2. Adopt the cost studies approved by the Commission for a\n\nlocal exchange telecommunications service provider that serves\n\nseventy-five thousand or more access lines; or\n\n3. Adopt such other costing or measurement methodology as may\n\nbe established for such purpose by the Federal Communications\n\nCommission pursuant to Section 254 of the federal Telecommunications\n\nAct of 1996.\n\nI. In identifying and measuring the cost of providing primary\n\nuniversal services, and exclusively for the purpose of determining\n\nOUSF funding levels pursuant to this section, each ILEC which serves\n\nseventy-five thousand or more access lines and each CLEC shall\n\nidentify high-cost areas within the local exchange and perform a\n\ncost study using a Commission-approved methodology from those\n\nidentified in subsection H of this section. The high-cost area\nimary\n\nuniversal services, and exclusively for the purpose of determining\n\nOUSF funding levels pursuant to this section, each ILEC which serves\n\nseventy-five thousand or more access lines and each CLEC shall\n\nidentify high-cost areas within the local exchange and perform a\n\ncost study using a Commission-approved methodology from those\n\nidentified in subsection H of this section. The high-cost area\n\nshall be no smaller than a single exchange, wire center or census\n\nblock group chosen at the option of the eligible ILEC or CLEC. If\n\nthe Commission fails to approve the selected methodology within one\n\nhundred twenty (120) days of the filing of the selection, the\n\nselected methodology shall be deemed approved.\n\nJ. The Commission may by rule expand primary universal services\n\nto be supported by the OUSF, after notice and hearing. The\n\nAdministrator, upon approval of the Commission, shall determine the\n\nlevel of additional OUSF funding to be made available to an eligible\n\nlocal exchange telecommunications service provider which is required\n\nto recover the cost of any expansion of universal services.\n\nK. 1. Each request for OUSF funding by an eligible ILEC\n\nserving less than seventy-five thousand access lines shall be\n\npremised upon the occurrence of one or more of the following:\n\na. in the event of a Federal Communications Commission\n\norder, rule or policy, the effect of which is to\n\ndecrease the federal universal service fund revenues\n\nof an eligible local exchange telecommunications\n\nservice provider, the eligible local exchange\n\ntelecommunications service provider shall recover the\n\ndecreases in revenues from the OUSF,\n\nb. if, as a result of changes required by existing or\n\nfuture federal or state regulatory rules, orders, or\n\npolicies or by federal or state law, an eligible local\n\nexchange telecommunications service provider\n\nexperiences a reduction in revenues or an increase in\n\ncosts, it shall recover the revenue reductions or cost\n\nincreases from the OUSF, the recovered amounts being\n\nlimited to the net reduction in revenues or cost\n\nincreases, or\n\nc. if, as a result of changes made as required by\n\nexisting or future federal or state regulatory rules,\n\norders, or policies or by federal or state law, an\n\neligible local exchange telecommunications service\n\nprovider experiences a reduction in costs, upon\n\napproval by the Commission, the provider shall reduce\n\nthe level of OUSF funding it receives to a level\n\nsufficient to account for the reduction in costs.\n\n2. The receipt of OUSF funds for any of the changes referred to\n\nin this subsection shall not be conditioned upon any rate case or\n\nearnings investigation by the Commission. The Commission shall,\n\npursuant to subsection D of this section, approve the request for\n\npayment or adjustment of payment from the OUSF based on a comparison\n\nof the total annual revenues received from the sources affected by\n\nthe changes described in paragraph 1 of this subsection by the\n\nrequesting eligible local exchange telecommunications service\n\nprovider during the most recent twelve (12) months preceding the\n\nrequest, and the reasonable calculation of total annual revenues or\n\ncost increases which will be experienced after the changes are\n\nimplemented by the requesting eligible local exchange\n\ntelecommunications service provider.\n\nL. Upon request for OUSF funding by an ILEC serving seventy-\n\nfive thousand or more access lines or a CLEC, the Commission shall\n\nafter notice and hearing make a determination of the level of OUSF\n\nfunds, if any, that the provider is eligible to receive for the\n\npurposes contained in subsection K of this section. If the\n\nCommission fails to make a determination within one hundred twenty\nprovider.\n\nL. Upon request for OUSF funding by an ILEC serving seventy-\n\nfive thousand or more access lines or a CLEC, the Commission shall\n\nafter notice and hearing make a determination of the level of OUSF\n\nfunds, if any, that the provider is eligible to receive for the\n\npurposes contained in subsection K of this section. If the\n\nCommission fails to make a determination within one hundred twenty\n\n(120) days of the filing of the request, the request for funding\n\nshall be deemed approved.\n\nM. The incumbent local exchange telecommunications service\n\nprovider, its successors and assigns, which owned, maintained and\n\nprovided facilities for universal service within a local exchange\n\narea on January 1, 1996, shall be the local exchange\n\ntelecommunications service provider eligible for OUSF funding within\n\nthe local exchange area, except as otherwise provided for in this\n\nact.\n\nN. 1. Where the incumbent local exchange telecommunications\n\nservice provider receives or is eligible to receive monies from the\n\nOUSF, except as otherwise provided in this section, the Commission,\n\nafter notice and hearing, may designate other local exchange\n\ntelecommunications service providers to be eligible for the funding,\n\nprovided:\n\na. the other local exchange telecommunications service\n\nprovider is certificated by the Commission to provide\n\nand offers the primary universal services supported by\n\nthe OUSF to all customers in the universal service\n\narea designated by the Commission, using its own\n\nfacilities, or a combination of its own facilities and\n\nthe resale of the services or facilities of another.\n\nUniversal service support under this subsection shall\n\nnot begin until the other local exchange\n\ntelecommunications service provider has facilities in\n\nplace,\n\nb. the other local exchange telecommunications service\n\nprovider may only receive funding for the portion of\n\nthe facilities that it owns, maintains, and uses for\n\nregulated services,\n\nc. the other local exchange telecommunications service\n\nprovider shall not receive OUSF funding at a level\n\nhigher than the level of funding the incumbent local\n\nexchange telecommunications service provider is\n\neligible to receive for the same area if the incumbent\n\nlocal exchange telecommunications service provider is\n\nalso providing service in the same area; provided, the\n\ncost of any cost studies required to be performed\n\nshall be borne by the party requesting such studies,\n\nunless the party performing the study utilizes the\n\nstudy for its own benefit,\n\nd. the other local exchange telecommunications service\n\nprovider advertises the availability and charges for\n\nservices it provides through a medium of general\n\ndistribution, and\n\ne. it is determined by the Commission that the\n\ndesignation is in the public interest and the other\n\nlocal exchange telecommunications service provider is\n\nin compliance with all Commission rules for which a\n\nwaiver has not been granted.\n\n2. Notwithstanding the criteria set forth in this section for\n\ndesignation as an eligible local exchange telecommunications service\n\nprovider, a commercial mobile radio service provider may, after\n\nnotice and hearing, seek reimbursement from the OUSF for the\n\nprovision of services supported by the OUSF, and any\n\ntelecommunications carrier may seek reimbursement from the OUSF for\n\nthe provision of Lifeline Service consistent with Section 139.105 of\n\nthis title and for the provision of Special Universal Services\n\nconsistent with Section 6 of this act.\n\nO. In exchanges or wire centers where the Commission has\n\ndesignated more than one local exchange telecommunications service\n\nprovider as eligible for OUSF funding, the Commission shall permit\n\none or more of the local exchange telecommunications service\n\nproviders in the area to relinquish the designation as a local\n\nexchange telecommunications service provider eligible for OUSF\n\nmmission has\n\ndesignated more than one local exchange telecommunications service\n\nprovider as eligible for OUSF funding, the Commission shall permit\n\none or more of the local exchange telecommunications service\n\nproviders in the area to relinquish the designation as a local\n\nexchange telecommunications service provider eligible for OUSF\n\nfunding in a manner consistent with Section 214(e)(4) of the federal\n\nTelecommunications Act of 1996, upon a finding that at least one\n\neligible local exchange telecommunications service provider shall\n\ncontinue to assume the carrier-of-last-resort obligations throughout\n\nthe area.\n\nP. For any area served by an incumbent local exchange\n\ntelecommunications service provider which serves less than seventy-\n\nfive thousand access lines within the state, only the incumbent\n\nlocal exchange telecommunications service provider shall be eligible\n\nfor OUSF funding except:\n\n1. Other eligible telecommunications carriers which provide\n\nSpecial Universal Services or Lifeline Service shall be eligible to\n\nrequest and receive OUSF funds in the same manner as the incumbent\n\nlocal exchange telecommunications service provider in the same area\n\npursuant to the Oklahoma Telecommunications Act of 1997;\n\n2. The incumbent local exchange telecommunications service\n\nprovider may elect to waive the right to be the only eligible local\n\nexchange telecommunications service provider within the local\n\nexchange area by filing notice with the Commission; or\n\n3. When the Commission, after notice and hearing, makes a\n\ndetermination that it is in the public interest that another local\n\nexchange telecommunications service provider should also be deemed a\n\ncarrier of last resort and be eligible to receive OUSF funding in\n\naddition to the incumbent local exchange telecommunications service\n\nprovider. It shall not be in the public interest to designate\n\nanother local exchange telecommunications service provider as being\n\na carrier of last resort and eligible to receive OUSF funding if\n\nsuch designation would cause a significant adverse economic impact\n\non users of telecommunications services generally or if the other\n\ncarrier refuses to seek and accept carrier-of-last-resort\n\nobligations throughout the universal service area as designated by\n\nthe Commission. The other local exchange telecommunications service\n\nprovider shall not receive OUSF funding at a level higher than the\n\nlevel of funding the incumbent local exchange telecommunications\n\nservice provider is eligible to receive for the same area if the\n\nincumbent local exchange telecommunications service provider is also\n\nproviding service in the same area and the other local exchange\n\ntelecommunications service provider meets the requirements of\n\nsubparagraphs a, b, d and e of paragraph 1 of subsection N of this\n\nsection.","path":["OK Code","Title 17"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os17.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"927d311c041da10b7f87b1f636531d5ee08dbd1230b86346ef68cd84a968b164","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-17-17-139.105","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-17-17-139.107"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}