Conn. Gen. Stat. » Title 16 — PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANIES · Chapter 283 — Telephone, Gas, Power and Water Companies
Connecticut General Statutes

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16-247e (2026)

Basic telecommunications services. Lifeline and telecommunications relay service programs. Universal service program

✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section CT-CGAcga.ct.gov (official) JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar
(a) In order to ensure the universal availability of affordable, high quality telecommunications services to all residents and businesses throughout the state regardless of income, disability or location, the authority shall (1) periodically investigate and determine, after notice and hearing, local service options, including the definition and components of any basic telecommunications services, necessary to achieve universal service and meet customer needs; and (2) establish lifeline and telecommunications relay service programs funded by all telecommunications carriers that provide intrastate telecommunications services, as such terms are defined in 47 USC 153, as amended from time to time, sufficient to provide low-income households or individuals or persons who are hard of hearing or speech impaired with a level of telecommunications service or package of telecommunications services that supports participation in the economy and society of the state. The authority shall apportion the funding for the lifeline and telecommunications relay service programs among telecommunications carriers on an equitable basis based on the gross revenues of each telecommunications carrier that are generated in Connecticut, both interstate and intrastate. The lifeline and telecommunications relay service programs shall be administered by an entity authorized, and subject to oversight, by the authority. The authority shall determine by order which customers qualify for the lifeline program. Recipients of lifeline funds shall use such funds to pay for telecommunications services provided by any telecommunications carrier.

(b) The authority may, if necessary, establish a universal service program, funded by all telecommunications companies or users in the state on an equitable basis, as determined by the authority, to ensure the universal availability of affordable, high quality basic telecommunications services to all residents and businesses throughout the state regardless of location. Any funds contributed to a universal service program shall be used to support the availability of basic telecommunications services provided by any telecommunications company in a manner to be determined by the authority.

(P.A. 85-187, S. 5, 15; P.A. 94-83, S. 5, 16; P.A. 97-121, S. 1, 2; P.A. 99-11, S. 1, 3; P.A. 11-80, S. 1; P.A. 17-202, S. 51; P.A. 18-48, S. 1.)

History: P.A. 94-83 entirely replaced previously existing language re telephone company rates and revenue requirement with new Subsec. (a) re basic service and lifeline program and new Subsec. (b) re universal service program, effective July 1, 1994; P.A. 97-121 amended Subsec. (a) to require telecommunications carriers that provide intrastate telecommunications services to fund lifeline program, based on their gross revenues and substituted “telecommunications carriers” for “telecommunications companies”, effective June 6, 1997; P.A. 99-11 amended Subsec. (a) by adding references to telecommunications relay service program and to speech and hearing impaired individuals, effective May 12, 1999; pursuant to P.A. 11-80, “department” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “authority”, effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 17-202 amended Subsec. (a) by replacing “hearing impaired individuals” with “persons who are hard of hearing”; P.A. 18-48 amended Subsec. (a) by making a technical change, effective May 29, 2018.

Federal Communications Act does not preempt department from imposing universal service contribution assessments on commercial radio service providers; state assessment does not violate federal funding mechanisms solely because it taxes both interstate and intrastate revenues; court rejected claim that statute had disparate effect on certain commercial mobile radio service providers because complainant provided no evidence to show a discriminatory result. 253 C. 453.

(Return to Chapter
Table of Contents)		 (Return to
List of Chapters)		 (Return to
List of Titles)

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3 cases, 1997–2004 · leading case: Bell Atl. Mobile, Inc. v. Dep't of Pub. Util. Control, 754 A.2d 128 (Conn. 2000).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Bell Atl. Mobile, Inc. v. Dep't of Pub. Util. Control, 754 A.2d 128 (Conn. 2000). · cites it 30× “The plaintiff claims that the trial court improperly concluded that: (1) federal law does not preempt General Statutes § 16-247e 2 to the extent *456 that it requires commercial mobile radio service providers to contribute to the state universal service program; (2) the…”
Tele Tech of Connecticut Corp. v. Dep't of Pub. Util. Control, 855 A.2d 174 (Conn. 2004). “ervice or to grant a certificate pursuant to this section, the department, after holding a hearing with notice to all interested parties and determining that (1) continued competitive provision of a telecommunications service would be contrary to the goals set forth in section…”
Metro Mobile CTS of Fairfield Cnty., Inc. v. Deparment of Pub. Util. Control, 702 A.2d 1179 (Conn. 1997). · cites it 2× “Subsequent to the trial court’s rendering of its judgment, General Statutes § 16-247e, which was the basis for the department’s orders that are at issue in this appeal, was amended by the legislature.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.