Collins, Casey Warn FCC on Lifeline Revamp NPRM Proposals
Senate Aging Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, and ranking member Bob Casey, D-Pa., urged the FCC to vote down any Lifeline revamp proposal that would “bar or discourage resellers from participating.” The revamp NPRM adopted in November seeks comment on…
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creating a self-enforcing budget cap, setting a maximum subscriber discount level and ending both federal designation of Lifeline broadband providers and pre-emption of states' role in designating some eligible telecom carriers (see 1711160021). Collins is the first Capitol Hill Republican to criticize the NPRM. Democrats have done so (see 1803080056, 1803210061, 1803300045, 1804260068 and 1805020061). “Fully implement prior reforms to protect the integrity” of Lifeline, including full implementation of the national verifier database, before taking up any further revamp plans, Collins and Casey ask in a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai that we obtained. “Delay misguided proposals that attempt to address problems by prohibiting or discouraging wireless wholesalers from participating in the program.” If non-facilities-based providers “are excluded from the Lifeline program, about 8.3 million low-income households could lose their coverage,” the senators said. Close monitoring of USF expenditures “is essential,” but “we are concerned that the proposal to implement a self-executing budget cap will require a complex administrative apparatus,” the senators said. The FCC is "reviewing" the letter, a spokeswoman said.