Pai Asks for USAC Assistance To Combat Lifeline Waste, Fraud, Abuse
FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai asked Universal Service Administrative Co. for help in fighting waste, fraud and abuse in the Lifeline USF support program since wireless resellers started participating heavily in 2009. The commission's investigation of Total Call Mobile "revealed much…
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about the dubious practices of the industry," he said in a Monday letter to USAC CEO Chris Henderson. The FCC recently proposed a $51 million fine against Total Call in a notice of apparent liability (see 1604080032). Pai said the investigation showed, for example, that Total Call's sales agents "repeatedly registered duplicate subscribers to the addresses of local homeless shelters and used fake Social Security numbers to register duplicate subscribers." The FCC learned Total Call "was not alone" in some of the practices, he said. Pai asked USAC to give his office by May 2 certain pieces of information on each of the four Lifeline wireless resellers named by Total Call sales agents, along with USAC actions, among other things.