A partisan fight over a GOP Lifeline budget cap bill dominated a Tuesday House Communications Subcommittee markup, reflecting what a Democratic staffer previously told us about an unwillingness to negotiate on the part of the GOP. A Democratic ex-lawmaker doubted the legislation could become law. The subcommittee cleared all seven measures on deck, with most contention about the Controlling the Unchecked and Reckless Ballooning of the Lifeline Fund Act (HR-4884), which would impose a $1.5 billion budget cap and cleared the subcommittee in a 17-11 roll call vote.
States may sue the FCC over the commission’s Lifeline order, pending a review of the text of the final order, NARUC President Travis Kavulla said in an interview on Friday. At its Thursday meeting, the FCC approved by a 3-2 vote an order that would extend USF low-income subsidies to broadband (see 1603310056). While states support a broadband expansion, they have disagreed with the FCC’s decision to shift potential responsibility for verifying Lifeline broadband provider eligibility from the states to a national third party, sharply condemning the proposal in a March 17 letter ultimately signed by 96 state commissioners (see 1603180052). Before the FCC vote, the National Governors Association and NASUCA voiced concerns about where the order leaves states. Capitol Hill Democrats were revealed to be heavily involved in lobbying the agency hours before the vote. After the vote, rural telco/RLEC groups NTCA and WTA also voiced concerns about the Lifeline order.
The FCC appears likely to modify Lifeline mobile voice proposals that have raised concerns, but the specifics remain unclear, some public interest and industry officials told us Monday. Cheryl Leanza, United Church of Christ policy adviser, said she believes there will be some "moderating" changes. "I would be surprised if they didn't alter the proposal in some way. It's hard to say exactly how," she said, but "I wouldn't say it's going to change radically." Public Knowledge counsel Phillip Berenbroick said he "wouldn't be shocked" to see the FCC show some flexibility on proposed minimum service standards and their implementation timeline.
Major FCC policies could fundamentally tilt the communications playing field in favor of Internet edge and tech companies and against broadband providers, NCTA President Michael Powell said Wednesday. If the commission succeeds in its net neutrality, broadband ISP privacy and set-top box initiatives, the regulatory “bias” will facilitate the ability of edge/tech companies to enter telecom and video markets while restricting the ability of cable and telco providers to compete in the Internet space, said Powell, a former FCC chairman, at a Free State Foundation conference.
AT&T said FCC Lifeline USF modernization efforts seem "to be moving in the right direction" but will depend on the details. AT&T welcomed an FCC draft order's plan for a national entity to verify consumer eligibility for the low-income support program, which would be extended to cover broadband service (see 1603080054). The proposal to take eligibility out of the hands of Lifeline providers "has the potential to be a transformative change if properly implemented," said AT&T Senior Executive Vice President Jim Cicconi in a Monday blog post. "It could close the door on provider-initiated eligibility fraud and help re-focus the program on the consumers it was intended to serve." Cicconi said it's not clear how long it would take before Lifeline providers can stop performing the functions and whether the national eligibility verifier would take over other administrative functions providers currently perform. "Our fingers will remain crossed until we see all the details, and we may not uncross until we get further down the road to implementation. But Chairman [Tom] Wheeler and Commissioner [Mignon] Clyburn should be commended for championing this approach," he said. Cicconi said AT&T also appreciated the FCC's acknowledgement that existing Lifeline rules impose costs and burdens that discourage provider participation. He was disappointed, however, the FCC didn't propose to eliminate "eligible telecom carrier" requirements for Lifeline providers. He added, "It is also hard to imagine how the Commission can justify phasing out Lifeline support for standalone wireless voice but continue to support standalone wireline voice. Lifeline consumers overwhelmingly choose wireless voice over wireline. If any voice support is to be phased out it should be a technology neutral phase-out of support for all standalone voice. "In a filing Monday in docket 11-42 summarizing a meeting with aides to Wheeler, NCTA lauded the FCC proposal to create a streamlined national ETC process for designating Lifeline broadband providers.
With panels on some of the major telecom concerns, NARUC’s upcoming winter committee meetings will offer some robust discussion, commissioners told us in interviews Thursday. The telecom committee panels Feb. 14-17 coincide with some active proceedings at the FCC, as well, NARUC members said, with topics including Lifeline, carrier of last resort (COLR) and enabling competition in a broadband world, the agenda shows. FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai is expected to speak at a general session about the commission pre-empting state laws on municipal broadband, net neutrality and inmate calling.
Representatives of Total Call Mobile (TCM) asked the FCC to change a provision in the June FCC Lifeline order (see 1506180029) establishing “a uniform snapshot date" for Lifeline reimbursements. TCM reported on a series of recent meetings at the FCC, raising an issue it has complained about in the past (see 1510290038). “TCM recognizes that the negative impact of the proposed Snapshot Rule is likely an unintended consequence,” it said in a filing in docket 10-90. “Barring Commission action, the Snapshot Rule will go into effect in February, 2016. TCM respectfully asks the FCC to examine impact of the Snapshot Rule on companies like TCM and change the Snapshot Rule to reimburse service providers for customers who enroll and dis-enroll within the same month before the Snapshot Rule takes effect.”
One of the Senate’s biggest Lifeline critics will retire at the end of his term. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., lost his bid to become governor of Louisiana over the weekend. After the loss, Vitter said he wouldn't seek re-election to his Senate seat in 2016. Vitter slammed the idea of expanding the FCC Lifeline program earlier this year and introduced legislation on the topic (see 1506180053). He's responsible for legislation involving broadband and the Small Business Administration (see 1510070067), which he recently shepherded through his Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee.
Representatives of Total Call Mobile said a provision proposed in the June FCC Lifeline order (see 1506180029) establishing “a uniform snapshot date" for Lifeline reimbursements is unfair to carriers, in a meeting with FCC officials. The company gave FCC officials data on its own reimbursement history, said a Wednesday filing in docket 11-42, that "illustrates how TCM would lose revenue each month because customers enroll and dis-enroll in the same month, receive devices and service, but are not counted for the purpose of reimbursement. For example, a customer may enroll on April 2 and dis-enroll on April 15 but TCM would not be reimbursed for the cost of providing service to this customer because April reimbursement is calculated based on the number of subscribers on May 1.” The rule would have cost TCM $921,719 in the first nine months of this year, officials said.
Consumer groups and others seek 14 more days for replies on issues being addressed in the FCC Lifeline NPRM. So said a filing from the California Emerging Technology Fund, Center for Accessible Technology, Consumer Action, Greenlining Institute, Media Alliance, National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates, National Consumer Law Center and Public Knowledge posted in docket 11-42 Friday. They previously filed for an extension, of which the FCC granted half (see 1509160069), and now want until Oct. 14 to file replies. Because of the complex nature of the issues being addressed, the organizations said the extension would let the replies be more focused and provide the FCC with better information.