FCC Grants Lifeline Recertification Waiver to States Affected by Delay in Verifier Launch
The FCC gave a waiver to Lifeline eligible telecom carriers affected by delay in launch of a national verifier of consumer eligibility for the low-income USF support program in six states (see 1712010042). The Wireline Bureau temporarily waived "recertification rules…
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in Colorado, Montana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming from January 1, 2018 through the date of the soft launch of the National Verifier for subscribers whose recertification deadlines or 'anniversary dates' would otherwise fall during that time frame," said a public notice in docket 11-42 and Tuesday's Daily Digest. Because the national verifier will reverify consumer eligibility, ETCs in the six states were instructed not to recertify the eligibility of Lifeline consumers with anniversary dates starting in January. "Now that the initial launch of the National Verifier has been delayed, however, those subscribers are at risk, through no fault of their own, of not having completed the recertification process by their anniversary dates," the PN said. The bureau partially granted the Michigan Public Service Commission extension of a waiver from Lifeline eligibility criteria changes through June 30 or the date on which the state aligns its eligibility criteria with the FCC's and updates its database. The PSC sought the waiver through Dec. 31, said an order in the docket.