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Eligible Telecommunications Carriers
An eligible telecommunications carrier (ETC) is a telephone service
provider that has agreed to offer service to all customers (excluding
those who fail to pay for service) in the area for which the carrier
is designated as an ETC. In return, the carrier is eligible for state
and federal universal service funds.
The Wisconsin Administrative Code (Wis. Admin. Code PSC §
160.13.) spells out the full requirements for an ETC. Those requirements
are located on the Revisor
of Statutes Bureau's website.
Annual FCC Certifications
The Commission staff has issued instructions to the telecommunications
industry to specify a process for the submittal of affidavits by
ETCs to document their continued qualification for support. These affidavits in the past have been used to provide
an annual certification to the FCC that the ETCs in Wisconsin are
using federal high cost support appropriately. The Commission is using
the self-certification approach to meet the FCC filing requirements
again this year.
Questions may be addressed to Jeff Richter at 608 267-9624 or at
Jeff Richter.
The memos to all ETC's and sample affidavits in pdf and word formats are available at the following
links:
2011 Memo to Wisconsin State Telecommunication Association member and affiliate ETCs
2011 Memo to all other Wisconsin ETC's
2011 Affidavit and questions for ETCs
(26 KB) 
(33 KB)
Incumbent Telephone Companies
All of the incumbent Local Exchange Service Providers operating
in Wisconsin have requested, and been granted, ETC designation for
all the areas in which they provide service. This was done in the
December 23, 1997, order in docket 05-TI-162.
(1562 KB)
Competitive Providers
A number of Competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) have requested
certification in various urban and rural areas. The Commission has
granted ETC status to each of the following CLECs for the exchanges
listed.
| Name |
PSC ID |
Exchanges in which Provider is Designated
as an ETC |
| Bayland Communications, Inc. |
387 |
Oconto, Oconto Falls, Green Bay |
| Cheqtel Communications, Inc |
1455 |
Barron, Rice Lake, Chetek |
| Chequamegon Telecomm. Company |
1065 |
Ashland, Bayfield, Hayward, Spider Lake, Superior,
Washburn |
| Lakefield Communications Inc. (LCI) |
7057 |
All exchanges served by AT&T Wisconsin |
| Lifeconnex Telecom, LLC |
3126 |
All exchanges served by AT&T |
| Nexus Communications, Inc. |
7648 |
All exchanges served by AT&T Wisconsin |
| Sage Telecom, Inc. |
3005 |
All exchanges served by AT&T Wisconsin |
| Sharon Telephone Co. |
5340 |
Darien |
Tennessee Telephone Service LLC
dba Freedom Comm |
5858 |
All exchanges served by AT&T |
| Vernon Communications, LLC |
6079 |
Viroqua |
West Wisconsin Communications Systems,
Inc.
(d/b/a 24-7) |
7073 |
Boyceville, Chippewa
Falls, Colfax, Eau Claire, Elk Mound, Elmwood, Knapp, Menomonie,
Wheeler |
Pending Applications
The Commission has received applications for ETC designation from the following providers:
Wireless Providers
A number of wireless providers have requested ETC status. A few have been approved as ETC's but only
for interstate purposes. Because of the unique situations of wireless
providers, the Commission has not applied the intrastate ETC requirements
(contained in Wis. Admin. Code § 160.13) to these providers,
and has ruled that they are not eligible for intrastate universal
service funding. However, these providers are still required to
accept all qualified customers, to provide lifeline service and
meet the federal requirements for ETCs.
The following wireless providers that have been granted ETC status.
A link to the order granting ETC status follows each name. The orders
contain lists of exchanges for which ETC status was granted.
| Airadigm Communications, Inc. * |
7989-TI-105 |
| ALLTEL Communications, Inc. * |
7131-TI-101 |
| Brown County MSA Cellular Limited Partnership |
8159-TI-100 |
| Budget Prepay, Inc. |
826-TI-101 |
| Bug Tussel Wireless, LLC * |
5-TI-1677 |
| Cricket Communications, Inc. |
9553-TI-100 |
| Metro Southwest PCS, LLP * |
8123-TI-100 |
| Midwest Wireless Wisconsin, LLC |
8203-TI-100 |
| Millenium 2000 |
9593-TI-100 |
| NEIT Wireless LLC * |
5-TI-1677 |
| New Cingular Wireless PSC LLC (dba AT&T Mobility) * |
8212-TI-100 |
| Nextel (NPCR, Inc., d/b/a Nextel Partners) * |
8081-TI-101 |
| Nsighttel Wireless, LLC |
8202-TI-101 |
| TerraCom, Inc. |
9590-TI-100 |
| TracFone Wireless, Inc. |
9385-TI-100 |
| United States Cellular Corporation (US Cellular) * |
8225-TI-102 |
| Virgin Wireless |
9592-TI-100 |
| Wausau Cellular Telephone Company |
8250-TI-100 |
| Wisconsin RSA #3 Limited Partnership * |
8194-TI-101 |
| Wisconsin RSA #4 Limited Partnership |
8195-TI-101 |
| Wisconsin RSA # 7 Limited Partnership * |
8198-TI-104 |
| Wisconsin RSA #10 Limited Partnership |
8201-TI-101 |
* federal - only
For further information on Eligible Telecommunications Carrier
status, or other ETC related issues, please contact Peter Jahn at
Peter Jahn
or at 608-267-2338.
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