Universal Telephone Service and Ratepayer Protection Act of 1983

Universal Telephone Service and Ratepayer Protection Act of 1983 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for the establishment of the Universal Service Board (the Board) and a Universal Service Fund (the Fund).

Directs the Board to establish: (1) a system of charges to compensate exchange common carriers for interstate exchange access, and to reform the system of jurisdictional separation of carrier property and expenses; and (2) a system of charges to be collected from persons owning or operating facilities which are for the origination or termination of interstate transmissions, which do not directly or indirectly interconnect with exchange service, but which provide comparable services. Requires the Fund to include an account consisting of the the total amount collected under the charges established in clause two from persons not interconnecting with exchange service.

Requires an exchange common carrier to file a tariff for interstate exchange access for each of its exchange areas to the Commission. Authorizes a carrier to file, or the Federal Communications Commission may require a carrier to file, a joint tariff for interstate exchange access for all of its exchange areas within a single State. Directs the Commission to delegate to each State commission such authority, subject to certain conditions. Authorizes a State commission to require or authorize exchange common carriers within the State to divide revenues received from charges for interstate exchange access. Requires each tariff for interstate exchange access to specify separate charges for each type of interstate exchange access on an element-by-element basis. Requires charges for each type of interstate exchange access to be justified by costs. Requires each tariff to consist of four charges, three of which shall encompass all costs associated with interstate exchange access and one of which shall be a surcharge.

Directs the Commission to establish: (1) practices and methods to ascertain and fully apportion the cost of services, facilities, and other factors used jointly or in common to provide exchange services and intrastate interexchange access and interstate exchange access; and (2) the forms for records, accounts, and memoranda to be kept by carriers providing interstate exchange access in order to facilitate processing tariffs of such carriers.

Provides that effective as of enactment the decisions and orders of the Commission in C.C. Docket Number 78-72 (adopted December 22, 1982) shall cease to have an effect.

Directs the Board to establish: (1) a Universal Service Fund (the Fund) to assure the continued availability of universal transmission services, including service in high-cost areas, at reasonable rates and affordable charges; and (2) and oversee an administrative committee to administer the accounts of the Fund. Directs the Board to determine annually uniform surcharges on amounts collected by exchange common carriers, and from all interstate interexchange customers directly or indirectly interconnecting with exchange service.

Directs the Fund to include an account: (1) consisting of the total amount the Board determines necessary to ensure that the costs of eligible carriers for exchange facilities, including traffic-sensitive and nontraffic-sensitive costs, per customer-access line which exceed 115 percent of the national average for such costs will not be borne directly by exchange ratepayers or recovered through charges for interstate exchange access; and (2) to ensure that the subscriber rate for interexchange telephone service between any two points in the United States does not exceed 115 percent of the national average interexchange rates. Directs the Board to determine the uniform surcharge so that the amount of surcharges paid is sufficient to finance the above accounts, taking into consideration the amount available from the account derived from charges on persons who do not interconnect with exchange service.

Requires the accounts of the Fund to be administered in a manner which expedites the disbursement of funds to exchange common carriers through the use of rules and procedures which eliminate burdens or delays in the certification or application process to the maximum extent practicable, and which permit disbursement decisions to be made on the basis of uniform, general, simplified standards of eligibility which are readily applied to the information and other data included in each application. Provides that payments from the accounts to individual exchange common carriers shall be subject to audit and adjustment by the Board.

Directs the Commission to establish a joint board, the Universal Service Board, consisting of two commissioners of the Commission and three State commissioners. Directs the Board to: (1) establish and maintain formulas (by which the Commission shall be bound), for determining the amounts and means necessary to fund the accounts of the Fund, and to oversee the distribution of funds from the Fund; (2) make such changes and modifications in the system of jurisdictional separation of carrier property and expenses presently in force as may be necessary or appropriate for the orderly transition to the system of charges for interstate exchange access established by this Act; and (3) determine at regular intervals the relative assignment by exchange common carriers of the cost of factors of production which are used jointly or in common to provide exchange service and interstate exchange access.

Authorizes any State commission to exercise the authority it has under State law with respect to: (1) exchange service, interexchange service, and comparable two-way communication service, to the extent such service involves intrastate communications; and (2) facilities to the extent used to provide such service. Provides, however, that the Commission shall not be restricted from exercising technical regulatory authority over services and facilities.

Authorizes a State commission to require any exchange common carrier to lease and maintain on request a single basic one-line telephone instrument to any subscriber within the State on the basis of a tariff that includes all costs of providing and maintain such instrument and wiring.