Telecommunications Universal Service Regulations Article 6

The incumbent Operator shall, by June 1 of the year prior to the fiscal year in which universal service is implemented（hereafter named the "implementation year"）, submit the Annual Universal Service Implementation Plan（hereafter named the "implementation plan"）based on the cabinet-level municipalities, counties and cities which are publicly designated as the implementation units by the competent authority（NCC）, and apply to the competent authority（NCC）for accreditation as universal service providers for uneconomic public payphone and telephone services in uneconomic areas. In addition to the incumbent operators, other local network operators or mobile broadband operators shall also apply to become a universal service provider for telephone service in uneconomic areas in accordance with the aforementioned procedure.The "Implementation Year" as stated in paragraph 1 refers to the calendar year from January 1 to December 31.The competent authority（NCC）shall publicize the Implementation Plan in accordance with paragraph 1 and paragraph 2 no later than July 1 of the year prior to the implementation year. Local network operators or mobile broadband operators shall once again submit improved implementation plans no later than August 1 of the same year, and apply for accreditation as a universal service provider for telephone service in uneconomic areas.The competent authority（NCC）, before approving the previous implementation plan, shall compare the net universal service costs, requested subsidy amounts, and the predicted improvements in service penetration and quality as outlined in various implementation plans; and in consideration with the actual operating abilities of the applicants, the competent authority（NCC）shall then choose the best implementation plan; if necessary, the competent authority（NCC）must request the applicant to amend its proposed implementation plan.