The FCC Wireline Bureau waived certain emergency broadband benefit program rules requiring an enrollment freeze and consumer notifications as the commission transitions to the affordable connectivity program, said an order posted Friday in docket 20-445 (see 2111230058). The rule, originally intended to "avoid claims volatility and to allow for more certain financial projections in the final months," required a freeze in EBB enrollments once the program's end date was announced. Waiving the rule "maximizes the time period" for enrollment during EBB's final weeks and "avoids unnecessarily limiting participation," the order said. The bureau also waived the 15- and 30-day consumer notice requirement that EBB is ending, given that enrolled households will continue receiving up to $50 monthly broadband subsidies during the 60-day transition to ACP, it said.
The FCC is likely to face minimal implementation obstacles as it transitions from the $3.1 billion emergency broadband benefit program to the $14.2 billion affordable connectivity program, advocacy and industry groups told us (see 2111180067). A central concern is ensuring EBB-enrolled households can switch to the new program with minimal hiccups once eligibility and subsidy amount changes take effect. That could be mitigated with education and outreach efforts, stakeholders said.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said he's "outraged" regarding an Office of Inspector General report that some emergency broadband benefit providers were falsely claiming a child in a household attended a qualifying low-income school (see 2111220058). Carr said Tuesday he's "concerned" because he was "kept in the dark" about the report until it was made public, "even though others at the commission were read in ahead of time." The FCC "must put tighter controls in place" as the agency sets up the $14.2 billion affordable connectivity program, he said. The agency didn't comment.
Broadband and housing advocates want more FCC scrutiny over multi-tenant environments and the deals MTE building owners make with providers, said replies posted Monday in docket 17-142 (see 2110210053). Some said exclusivity agreements could hamper enrollment efforts in the upcoming $14.2 billion Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). MTE trade groups rejected additional regulation.
The FCC Wireline Bureau wants comments by Dec. 8, replies by Dec. 28, on implementation of the Affordable Connectivity Program, said a public notice Thursday in docket 21-450. The new program provides a $30 monthly broadband subsidy for nontribal households and retains the emergency broadband benefit program's $75 monthly subsidy for tribal households. The bureau proposes to retain EBB rules for a connected device. The effective date of the new program will be Dec. 31 as EBB won't be fully expended beforehand and a 60-day transition period for EBB enrollees begins then. The new program would retain similar rules to EBB, including those for participating providers. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act modified household eligibility to remove those that were eligible for a provider's COVID-19 program or experienced a substantial loss of income in the past year, while adding households that receive Women, Infants and Children benefits. The bureau seeks comment on whether aspects of the EBB application process should be retained or modified, and whether providers should file an election notice to participate if they're already in the EBB program. The PN seeks comment on a statutory requirement that providers "allow an eligible household to apply the affordable connectivity benefit to any internet service offering of the participating provider, at the same rates and terms available to households that are not eligible households." The bureau proposes a 30-day non-usage period requirement with 15 days for households to cure the non-usage. The PN seeks comment on whether modifications to this requirement are warranted. The infrastructure law requires that participating providers let enrollees apply the benefit to any internet service. The bureau is seeking comment on how to implement this. Staff proposes requiring providers seek affirmative consent before enrolling a household in ACP and seeks comment on whether that should be done through written consent (see 2111170066). The bureau also is seeking comments on outreach (see 2111090063). The PN seeks comment on partial reimbursement and provider disputes.
Automatically transition emergency broadband benefit program enrollees into the affordable connectivity program, said the National Lifeline Association in a letter to FCC posted Tuesday in docket 20-445. Lifeline subscribers should also be automatically enrolled in the new program and all enrollees should be given an opt-out notice, NaLa said. The group wants a "benefit transfer integrity check" where ACP applicants agree to stay with their chosen provider for 30 days, except when moving out of a service area, before transferring to another provider. NaLa asked that the definition of a "connected device" also be amended to define a tablet by size and "other capabilities related to online learning or telework rather than by the ability to make cellular calls."
Funding in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to continue a modified version of the emergency broadband benefit program is being hailed as a game changer by advocacy groups for including language allowing the FCC to provide grants for outreach efforts (see 2111080067). Under the EBB program, the FCC wasn't allowed to use funds for this purpose (see 2102260058).
Parties opposed an FCC plan to retarget Lifeline USF to facilities-based providers and impose certain other funding restrictions, in comments being posted this week in docket 17-287 on an NPRM and notice of inquiry (see 1711160021). "This package of proposals runs the risk of harming over eight million Lifeline households and millions more eligible veterans, older Americans, and households with school-aged children,” said Olivia Wein, National Consumer Law Center attorney, in a release Wednesday highlighting NCLC comments filed with many other groups. The FCC plan "to restrict and reduce Lifeline services will cut off whole communities from these necessary connections," commented the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, urging rejection of "proposals to radically disrupt the Lifeline program."
The FCC is considering acting in its special access proceedings in April or May, informed sources told us Monday. The commission is looking at issuing a Further NPRM in its broad review and an order on its incumbent telco tariff investigation in the next couple of months, an industry official said. The FCC's goal is to act in April but that’s not nailed down, said another informed source, who agreed the agency might combine an FNPRM with action on the tariff probe. The commission is reviewing its special access framework in an industrywide rulemaking and is investigating ILEC tariff terms and conditions that critics allege include anti-competitive “lock-up” provisions, which incumbents dispute.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s reference to a “statutory responsibility” to make sure schools and libraries pay a low rate for broadband connection during Monday’s speech on E-rate (CD Sept 30 p5) was to a little-noticed shift in which the agency will take a harder line on providers that charge the institutions too much for broadband connections, a Wireline Bureau official told us Tuesday. The stepped up enforcement would be one of several efforts in July’s E-rate reform order to try to bring down prices for schools and libraries, including requiring more transparency on pricing.