14. California Advanced Services Fund
Section 281 requires the Commission to, among other things, "develop, implement, and administer the California Advanced Services Fund to encourage deployment of high-quality advanced communications services to all Californians that will promote economic growth, job creation, and substantial social benefits of advanced information and communications technologies...."127 This program is referred to as the California Advanced Services Fund. Section 281 also delegates to the Commission the responsibility to develop a funding mechanism for this program. The pertinent statutory language provides as follows: "[a]ll moneys collected by the surcharge authorized by the commission pursuant to Decision 07-12-054, whether collected before or after January 1, 2009, shall be transmitted to the commission pursuant to a schedule established by the commission."128
In D.07-12-054, the Commission implemented a funding mechanism for the California Advanced Services Fund and found that "All telecommunications carriers are required to charge all end users, the California Advanced Services Fund surcharge, as set by the Commission, except for ULTS billings, coin-sent paid calling, debit card messages, one-way radio paging, usage charges to coinless customer-owned pay telephones (COPTs), customers receiving services under existing contracts, and directory advertising."129 Because this surcharge applies to all end users of all telecommunications carriers and TracFone is a telecommunications carrier, the surcharge applies to TracFone's end users.
TracFone argues that it is not responsible for the payment of the California Advanced Services Fund surcharge for the same reasons that it is not responsible for the universal lifeline surcharge. TracFone's central argument is that the debit card exemption, discussed above, serves to exempt its prepaid wireless services from the California Advanced Services Fund surcharge. TracFone makes other more minor arguments as well. These arguments are all addressed above. We disagree with TracFone's reasoning.
We find that TracFone is ultimately responsible for payment of the surcharge to fund the California Advanced Services Fund surcharge set forth in § 281. The relevant statutory framework for the universal lifeline surcharge and the California Advanced Services Fund surcharge are the same. As a result, our decision finding TracFone's service subject to the California Advanced Services Fund surcharge and finding TracFone responsible for payment of this surcharge is based on the same reasoning set forth above regarding the universal lifeline surcharge. We further find TracFone acted unlawfully by failing to pay this surcharge.
127 § 281(a).
128 § 281(b)(1).
129 D.07-12-054 at Ordering Paragraph 3(a).
