TracFone’s petition to amend FCC Lifeline rules to...
TracFone’s petition to amend FCC Lifeline rules to prohibit in-person distribution of cellphones to prospective customers is “meritorious, and it should be granted,” said Free State Foundation President Randolph May Monday in an FCC filing. TracFone’s petition is “commendable as…
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part of the ongoing effort to continue on the reform track,” May said. Although reforms the FCC has already instituted are on track to save the agency $400 million this year, critics of the program are still reporting instances of fraud and abuse, particularly when Lifeline phones are distributed in public places, he said. TracFone “appears to be correct that ‘in-person distribution of handsets remains a practice that invites fraud and is difficult to police,'” he said. “This is because allowing carriers to distribute handsets in person in real time to prospective Lifeline customers makes it more difficult for the carrier to perform the requisite verification to certify eligibility for Lifeline support in accordance with FCC requirements” (http://bit.ly/12ESZbt).