The General Assembly finds and declares that changes in pricing for telephone services mandated by the Federal Communications Commission and made necessary by the divestiture of Southwestern Bell Telephone Company from American Telephone and Telegraph Company will cause significant increases in the cost of local exchange telephone service which could force some local exchange telephone customers to discontinue service. The public interest requires that the extent of such rate increases be ameliorated by the creation of a statewide fund that will partially offset such rate increases. The purpose of the fund created by this subchapter is to ensure a smooth and nondisruptive transition from the present pricing system to the system dictated by the Federal Communications Commission and the divestiture and to ensure that rates for local telephone service are at reasonable levels.