FCC Gives Telrite Lifeline Waiver in Hurricane-Hit Islands, Waives Number Assignment Rules
Citing Hurricane Irma, the FCC quickly granted Telrite a temporary Lifeline wavier from the USF program's nonusage and recertification rules for low-income consumers in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, which felt the effects of the storm this week.…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
Waived for 90 days are sections 54.405(e)(3), 54.405(e)(4), 54.407(c)(2), and 54.410(f) of rules for eligible telecom carriers serving Lifeline subscribers in those areas, said a Wireline Bureau order Thursday in docket 11-42 that partially granted Telrite's emergency petition Wednesday. "Strict compliance with these rules would be impracticable and would risk de-enrollment of Lifeline subscribers in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Irma." The bureau declined Telrite's request for an indefinite waiver, absent further commission action. On its own motion, the bureau temporarily granted a waiver of number-assignment rules to allow service providers in Florida, Puerto Rico, USVI and any states where states of emergency are declared due to Irma, said an order in docket 95-116 in Thursday's Daily Digest. Former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler tweeted, "Hurricane Harvey shows it is time for FCC to improve emergency alerts http://brook.gs/2gKlnYi," linking to a Brookings Institution piece he wrote.