NOTICES

Recalculation of the Pennsylvania Telecommunications Relay Service Surcharge; M-00900239 F0009

[35 Pa.B. 3386]

Public Meeting held
May 19, 2005

Commissioners Present: Wendell F. Holland, Chairperson; Robert K. Bloom, Vice Chairperson; Kim Pizzingrilli

Order

By the Commission:

   In accordance with our May 29, 1990 Order at Docket No. M-00900239, which established Telephone Relay Service (TRS) in Pennsylvania, and Act 34 of 1995, 35 P. S. §§ 6701.1, et seq.,¹ which codified the provision of TRS and established the Telephone Device Distribution Program (TDDP), we have completed the recalculation of the Pennsylvania TRS surcharge as it applies to residence and business access lines for July 1, 2005, through June 30, 2006.

   As part of their continuing obligations under the surcharge recalculation process, the local exchange carriers² have submitted their wireline access line counts. The total number of access lines, adjusted for Centrex lines, is 7,881,264, which includes 5,274,584 residence access lines and 2,606,680 business access lines. The TRS Provider, AT&T Communications of Pennsylvania, LLC, has submitted the estimated minutes of use and charges for July 1, 2005, through June 30, 2006. Wachovia Bank, N.A.,³ the Fund Administrator, has provided a statement of the financial status of the Fund,⁴ as well as its expected fees for next year. The executive director of the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) in the Department of Labor and Industry has submitted its 2005-2006 TDDP budget. Additionally, the surcharge will fund the final three months of the 2003-2005 TRS consumer education outreach program.⁵

   Based upon the number of access lines, the cost of the consumer education outreach campaign, the estimated 2005-2006 expenses of the TRS and the TDDP,⁶ and the financial status of the TRS Fund, we shall set the residential and business monthly access line surcharge at $0.07 (unchanged from 2004-2005) and $0.10 (decreased from 2004-2005), respectively. Effective July 1, 2005, the monthly surcharge shall be allocated as follows⁷ :

	2005-2006 Monthly Surcharge
	Residence	Business
TRS	$0.06	$0.09
TDDP	$0.01	$0.01
Total Surcharge	$0.07	$0.10

   All surcharge revenues shall continue to be remitted to the Fund Administrator.⁸

   We shall continue our active oversight of the operations of the Pennsylvania TRS and continue to collaborate with OVR and its TDDP administrator to ensure distribution of TDDP equipment to low-income households in accordance with 35 P. S. §§ 6791.1, et seq.

   Additionally, it should be noted that, consistent with our May 29, 2003 Order at M-00900239F0003, the Commission has completed an audit of the TDDP for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2004. The scope of the audit concentrated on examining the underlying costs associated with TDDP during the audit period. Also reviewed was the certification of the eligibility of individuals applying for TDDP participation and the distribution of TDDP equipment and devices to TDDP participants. Based on this audit, the Commission is generally satisfied that ratepayer funds were appropriately used for the TDDP during the audit period.

   While the Bureau of Audits has been charged with auditing AT&T's budgeted costs and actual expenditures of providing TRS, AT&T has undergone significant corporate changes since the Commission directed the audit. For example, AT&T has closed various call centers, exited the consumer telephone market, and petitioned to merge with SBC Communications Inc., See Application of SBC Communications, Inc. and AT&T Corporation and its Certified Pennsylvania Subsidiaries, AT&T Communications of Pennsylvania, LLC, TCG Pittsburgh, Inc. and TCG Delaware Valley, Inc. at Docket nos. A-311163F0006, A-310213F0008, A-310258F0005. While these changes have had an impact, auditing the TRS's underlying program budgets and expenditures is important and necessary to ensure fiscal responsibility regarding the funds ratepayers are required to pay for these programs; Therefore,

It Is Ordered That:

1.  For the period of July 1, 2005, through June 30, 2006, the residence surcharge per access line per month shall be $0.07 and the business surcharge per access line per month shall be $0.10, unless we take further action to revise the surcharge prior to June 30, 2006.

2.  All incumbent local exchange carriers and competitive local exchange carriers are directed to use the following form to remit the monthly TRS surcharge collections to Wachovia Bank, N. A.

3.  All incumbent local exchange carriers and competitive local exchange carriers are directed to file revised tariff supplements to become effective July 1, 2005, on at least one day's notice, which reflect the residence and business surcharges in accordance with Ordering Paragraph No. 1.

4.  The TRS Provider, AT&T Communications LLC, is directed to work with the Bureau of Audits in conjunction with on-going audit activities.

5.  A copy of this Order be served upon all incumbent local exchange carriers and competitive local exchange carriers, AT&T Communications Company of Pennsylvania, LLC, the Wachovia Bank, N. A., the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation in the Department of Labor and Industry, the Office of Consumer Advocate, the Office of Small Business Advocate and the Pennsylvania Telephone Association.

6.  A copy of this order be published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.

7.  A copy of this Order be posted to the Commission's web site.

JAMES J. MCNULTY,   
Secretary

REMITTANCE FORM FOR MONTHLY TRS SURCHARGE COLLECTIONS 2005-2006

Effective July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2006

   All local service providers are required to collect and remit the TRS surcharge revenue monthly, by the 20th of each month, to the Wachovia Bank, N. A., ATTN: Sue Massey, 123 S. Broad St.-PA 4942, Philadelphia, PA 19109. Please make your remittance checks payable to the Pennsylvania Relay Service Fund., using the following format for the monthly remittance. Please direct any questions regarding the TRS Surcharge remittance to Eric Jeschke at (717) 783-3850.
 

Pennsylvania Relay Service
For the Month Ending:
Number of Residential access lines:
(TRS) × $0.06 per line
Number of Residential access lines
(TDDP) × $0.01 per line
Number of Business access lines
(TRS) × $0.09 per line
Number of Business access lines
(TDDP) × $0.01 per line
Total Remittance:
Make check payable to:	Pennsylvania Relay Service Fund
Send Report and payment to:	Wachovia Bank, N. A.
	Sue Massey PA-4942 Institutional Trust Services 123 So. Broad Street Philadelphia, PA 19109
Remittance for: Company name(s)
Address
Company Contact: Name
Phone number
Authorized Signature:
Date:

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 05-1160. Filed for public inspection June 10, 2005, 9:00 a.m.]

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¹  The statutory provisions were subsequently amended by Act 181 of 2002 and Act 174 of 2004 to expand TRS coverage and to create the Print Media Access System (PMAS), a reading service for persons with certain vision and physical disabilities. The law is now called the Universal Telecommunications and Print Media Access Act.

²  Including both incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) and competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs). This total is further adjusted under a Centrex equivalency formula.

³  Hamilton Bank changed its name to CoreStates Bank N. A. in 1995, as the result of a merger; to First Union National Bank in 1999; and to Wachovia Bank, N. A. in 2002.

⁴  Separate accounts are maintained for the portion of the surcharge allocated to TRS and the portion allocated to TDDP.

⁵  On June 3, 2003, AT&T was directed to submit an Implementation Plan of its proposal for consumer education outreach. On September 29, 2003, the Commission accepted the Implementation Plan. W. J. Green & Associates, Inc. started the outreach campaign in October, 2003. The two-year campaign, at a cost of $500,000 per year, runs through September 30, 2005. At that time, the results of the campaign will be evaluated, and a determination will be made whether to continue with an outreach campaign.

⁶  The estimated annual expense is based on the estimated minutes of TRS use, estimated charges submitted by AT&T, estimated Relay Advisory Board expenses, estimated compensation to the Fund Administrator, and the estimated budget for the TDDP submitted by OVR. No surcharged-funded expenses are anticipated for PMAS for 2005-2006.

⁷  The TRS surcharge appears as a single line item on customers' bills but actually has two components.

⁸  LECS shall remit surcharge revenues to Wachovia Bank, N. A., Attn: Sue Massey, 123 S. Broad St., PA4942 Institutional Trust Services, Philadelphia, PA 19109, payable to the ''PA Relay Service Fund.''

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