Telecom
Telecom Companies Regulated by the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission.
The Commission does not regulate as public utilities providers of voice over IP, cable television, wireless or cellular, out-of-state long distance, or internet service.
NH State law and rules require excepted local exchange carriers (ELECs) to register with the New Hampshire Department of Energy.
Under New Hampshire law, any company or other non-municipal entity that “owns, operates, or manages” equipment for the “conveyance of telephone messages… for the public” is a telephone utility, with three notable limitations:
Offering cellular phone service does not make a company a public utility.
Delivering telephone service to customers using Internet Protocol (VoIP or IP-enabled) transport does not make a company a public utility. (This means that cable television providers offering telephone service are not public utilities. See New Hampshire RSA 362:7 for the formal definition of VoIP and IP-enabled communications.)
Providing wholesale telephone service to other companies, rather than directly “for the public,” does not make a company a public utility.
Telecommunications Relay Service
See Puc 404.02
Local exchange carriers (LECs) and Incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) are required to contribute to the TRS Trust fund on a monthly basis on or before the 20th day of each month. Effective November 1, 2010, contributions should be computed based on the number of access lines multiplied by 6 cents. Contributions should be remitted to the Trust Administrator at Citizens Bank. Note that there is no form to submit to the NHPUC.
Instructions on how to make contributions to the TRS Trust account are provided in the link below.