§ 62-157. Telecommunications relay service.
§ 62‑157. Telecommunications relay service.
(a) Finding. TheGeneral Assembly finds and declares that it is in the public interest toprovide access to public telecommunications services for hearing impaired orspeech impaired persons, including those who also have vision impairment, andthat a statewide telecommunications relay service for telephone service shouldbe established.
(a1) Definitions. Forpurposes of this section:
(1) "CMRS" isas defined in G.S. 62A‑40.
(2) "CMRSconnection" is as defined in G.S. 62A‑40.
(3) "CMRSprovider" is as defined in G.S. 62A‑40.
(4) "Exchangeaccess facility" means the access from a particular telephone subscriber'spremises to the telephone system of a local exchange telephone company, andincludes local exchange company‑provided access lines, private branchexchange trunks, and centrex network access registers, all as defined bytariffs of telephone companies as approved by the Commission.
(5) "Local serviceprovider" means a local exchange company, competing local provider, ortelephone membership corporation.
(b) Authority toRequire Surcharge. The Commission shall require local service providers toimpose a monthly surcharge on all residential and business local exchangeaccess facilities to fund a statewide telecommunications relay service by whichhearing impaired or speech impaired persons, including those who also havevision impairment, may communicate with others by telephone. This surcharge,however, may not be imposed on participants in the Subscriber Line ChargeWaiver Program or the Link‑up Carolina Program established by theCommission. This surcharge, and long distance revenues collected undersubsection (f) of this section, are not includable in gross receipts subject tothe franchise tax levied under G.S. 105‑120 or the sales tax levied underG.S. 105‑164.4.
(c) Specification ofSurcharge. The Department of Health and Human Services shall initiate atelecommunications relay service by filing a petition with the Commissionrequesting the service and detailing initial projected required funding. TheCommission shall, after giving notice and an opportunity to be heard to otherinterested parties, set the initial monthly surcharge based upon the amount offunding necessary to implement and operate the service, including a reasonablemargin for a reserve. The surcharge shall be identified on customer bills as aspecial surcharge for provision of a telecommunications relay service forhearing impaired and speech impaired persons. The Commission may, upon petitionof any interested party, and after giving notice and an opportunity to be heardto other interested parties, revise the surcharge from time to time if thefunding requirements change. In no event shall the surcharge exceed twenty‑fivecents (25¢) per month for each exchange access facility.
(d) Funds to BeDeposited in Special Account. The local service providers shall collect thesurcharge from their customers and deposit the moneys collected with the StateTreasurer, who shall maintain the funds in an interest‑bearing,nonreverting account. After consulting with the State Treasurer, the Commissionshall direct how and when the local service providers shall deposit thesemoneys. Revenues from this fund shall be available only to the Department ofHealth and Human Services to administer the statewide telecommunications relayservice program, including its establishment, operation, and promotion. TheCommission may allow the Department of Health and Human Services to use up tofour cents (4¢) per access line per month of the surcharge for the purpose ofproviding telecommunications devices for hearing impaired or speech impairedpersons, including those who also have vision impairment, through adistribution program. The Commission shall prepare such guidelines for thedistribution program as it deems appropriate and in the public interest. Boththe Commission and the Public Staff may audit all aspects of thetelecommunications relay service program, including the distribution programs,as they do with any public utility subject to the provisions of this Chapter.Equipment paid for with surcharge revenues, as allowed by the Commission, maybe distributed only by the Department of Health and Human Services.
(d1) The Department ofHealth and Human Services shall utilize revenues from the wireless surchargecollected under subsection (i) of this section to fund the Regional ResourceCenters within the Division of Services for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing,in accordance with G.S. 143B‑216.33, G.S. 143B‑216.34, and Chapter8B of the General Statutes.
(e) Administration ofService. The Department of Health and Human Services shall administer thestatewide telecommunications relay service program, including itsestablishment, operation, and promotion. The Department may contract out theprovision of this service for four‑year periods to one or more serviceproviders, using the provisions of G.S. 143‑129. The Department shalladminister the Regional Resource Centers within the Division of Services forthe Deaf and the Hard of Hearing in accordance with G.S. 143B‑216.33,G.S. 143B‑216.34, and Chapter 8B of the General Statutes.
(f) Charge to Users. The users of the telecommunications relay service shall be charged theirapproved long distance and local rates for telephone services (including thesurcharge required by this section), but no additional charges may be imposedfor the use of the relay service. The local service providers shall collectrevenues from the users of the relay service for long distance servicesprovided through the relay service. These revenues shall be deposited in thespecial fund established in subsection (d) of this section in a mannerdetermined by the Commission after consulting with the State Treasurer. Localservice providers shall be compensated for collection, inquiry, and otheradministrative services provided by said companies, subject to the approval ofthe Commission.
(g) ReportingRequirement. The Commission shall, after consulting with the Department ofHealth and Human Services, develop a format and filing schedule for acomprehensive financial and operational report on the telecommunications relayservice program. The Department of Health and Human Services shall thereafterprepare and file these reports as required by the Commission with theCommission and the Public Staff. The Department shall also be required toreport to the Revenue Laws Study Committee.
(h) Power to Regulate. The Commission shall have the same power to regulate the operation of thetelecommunications relay service program as it has to regulate any publicutility subject to the provisions of this Chapter.
(i) WirelessSurcharge. A CMRS provider, as part of its monthly billing process, mustcollect the same surcharge imposed on each exchange access facility under thissection for each CMRS connection. A CMRS provider may deduct a one percent (1%)administrative fee from the total amount of surcharge collected. A CMRSprovider shall remit the surcharge collected, less the administrative fee, to the911 Board in the same manner and with the same frequency as the local serviceproviders remit the surcharge to the State Treasurer. The 911 Board shall remitthe funds collected from the surcharge to the special account created undersubsection (d) of this section. (1989, c. 599; 1997‑443, s. 11A.118(a); 1999‑402,s. 1; 2003‑341, s. 1; 2007‑383, s. 4; 2009‑451, s. 10.56(c),(d).)