Public interest groups asked for more time to file opposition to CTIA's petition for reconsideration of targeted FCC Lifeline USF decisions (see 1508130048), in a motion posted Wednesday in docket 11-42. The Center for Democracy and Technology, Free Press, the New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge asked the commission to push back a Sept. 17 deadline for filing oppositions to Oct. 19.
Seattle supports proposed reforms to the FCC Lifeline program, including the changes to the structure, modernization of the program and the improvements to access to broadband for low-income residents in the city, said a filing in docket 15-71. At least two connections should be allowed per household to ensure adequate service and mobility, the city said. The minimum standards for broadband should be based on the FCC's definition of 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream, the city said. The FCC also should ensure that providers report regularly on the levels of adoption at the city level to enable local jurisdictions to assist the commission in overseeing the program's implementation, Seattle said.
A group of wireless carriers objected to a provision in the June FCC Lifeline order (see 1506180029) establishing “a uniform snapshot date for Lifeline reimbursements going forward.” The eligible telecom carriers (ETCs) said under the rule they would sometimes have to provide service to Lifeline customers but not get compensated. “The new rule takes a snapshot of an ETC’s Lifeline subscribers as of the first of the month and provides reimbursements for the previous month’s service based on the number of subscribers in the snapshot,” the ETCs said in their petition for reconsideration. “To remedy the injustices described herein, the rule need only be modified to add to the snapshot count any subscribers de-enrolled in the previous month that received Lifeline service during that month.” The petition was the second wireless recon petition filed at the FCC. CTIA is challenging a different aspect of the rules (see 1508130048). Wireless ETCs American Broadband and Telecommunications, Assist Wireless, Easy Telephone, iWireless, Telrite, Telscape Communications and Total Call Mobile signed the petition. “Most egregiously,” ETCs wouldn't be reimbursed for service in the month of December for all subscribers that fail to recertify their eligibility annually because Universal Service Administrative Co. requires all such subscribers to be de-enrolled by Dec. 31, the filing said. “Annual recertification is the largest single de-enrollment event in the Lifeline program. Annual recertification failure rates vary by carrier from 10 to 50 percent.”
Frontier executives met with FCC Commissioners Michael O'Rielly, Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel plus Chairman Tom Wheeler Thursday to explain the company's broadband plans if its buy of Verizon's wireline services in California, Florida and Texas (see 1502050059) is approved, said filings posted Tuesday in docket 15-44. Participants were Frontier CEO Dan McCarthy, Executive Chairwoman Maggie Wilderotter and Executive Vice President-External Affairs Kathleen Abernathy, herself a former FCC member, and the commissioners. According to the filings, the Frontier executives told of the company's plans for investment in broadband infrastructure and rural broadband expansion, and discussed Frontier's recent settlement with the Communications Workers of America (see 1507310059). They also told the commissioners of what they see as the consumer benefits the transaction could provide and expressed support for "modernizing" the FCC Lifeline program to include broadband, the filings said.
AT&T, CenturyLink and Verizon expressed concerns about a possible FCC requirement that telecom carriers providing Lifeline-supported service retain sensitive consumer documentation that's submitted to demonstrate eligibility for the USF program. The large telcos said the FCC shouldn't move forward with the proposal or should consider it further in a Lifeline NPRM the FCC is planning to vote on along with a Lifeline order at its June 18 meeting. Meanwhile, wireless Lifeline providers and others continue to lobby the FCC, backing the possible expansion of traditional Lifeline voice support to broadband access.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., said the successful passage of his bipartisan net neutrality amendment -- ultimately nonbinding and attached to a budget resolution (S.Con.Res-11) -- is a sign that Congress should legislate on net neutrality. Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam sent a letter to Thune and other Commerce leaders Friday that also encouraged bipartisan net neutrality legislation to sidestep the FCC net neutrality order. Thune’s symbolic amendment received the backing of Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., another Commerce member. The amendment passed by voice vote, as Nelson predicted Thursday (see 1503260050). It was one of the few out of many telecom amendments that advanced to passage.
State oversight of the federal Lifeline program is needed to make sure eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) play by the rules, said National Regulatory Research Institute Principal Researcher Sherry Lichtenberg in a report on Lifeline services presented at the NARUC annual meeting (http://bit.ly/1fj6Lq5). NRRI surveyed 48 states and Washington, D.C., to determine the types of providers certified, their certification processes, ETC requirements and enforcement polices, the state Lifeline fund size and any pending changes in certification requirements and processes. Twenty states and D.C. have their own Lifeline funds, but several of the states are in the process of modifying their funds as a result of state legislation and the FCC Lifeline reform order (http://fcc.us/I3S1NH). Over 50 percent of the states certify wireless and cable providers as ETCs, but none of the states has certified VoIP providers, the NRRI survey found. California, Massachusetts, Missouri, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming all have, or recently closed, pending legislation or state commission proceedings concerning Lifeline, said Lichtenberg. California Assembly Bill 1409 would have required the California Public Utilities Commission to consider cable and VoIP providers for participation in the state’s Lifeline program, but California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) vetoed the bill (CD Sept 23 p15). The Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable has an ongoing proceeding to change the requirements for the FCC Lifeline program that’s currently open for comment on a staff recommendation (CD Oct 16 p15). State commissions need to “strike a balance” between creating Lifeline rules that prevent waste, fraud and abuse, and meeting the public interest requirement of increasing the enrollment of eligible consumers in the program, said Lichtenberg in the report. Eligible required services should be determined on a state-by-state basis, she said.
TracFone’s petition to amend FCC Lifeline rules to prohibit in-person distribution of cellphones to prospective customers is “meritorious, and it should be granted,” said Free State Foundation President Randolph May Monday in an FCC filing. TracFone’s petition is “commendable as part of the ongoing effort to continue on the reform track,” May said. Although reforms the FCC has already instituted are on track to save the agency $400 million this year, critics of the program are still reporting instances of fraud and abuse, particularly when Lifeline phones are distributed in public places, he said. TracFone “appears to be correct that ‘in-person distribution of handsets remains a practice that invites fraud and is difficult to police,'” he said. “This is because allowing carriers to distribute handsets in person in real time to prospective Lifeline customers makes it more difficult for the carrier to perform the requisite verification to certify eligibility for Lifeline support in accordance with FCC requirements” (http://bit.ly/12ESZbt).
House lawmakers are taking a close look this week at the FCC’s handling of the Universal Service Fund Lifeline Assistance Program, aimed at increasing Americans’ access to telecom service. On Thursday, Republicans on the House Communications Subcommittee said they plan to ask during a hearing at 10:30 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn tough questions about allegations of waste and fraud in the FCC Lifeline program. Meanwhile, a group of House Democrats, led by Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., introduced a bill Tuesday to change the Lifeline program and codify a provision that would permit eligible users to use subsidies to acquire wireless broadband services. House Communications Subcommittee Democrats also met with FCC staff members to discuss the status of the overall program.
The Colorado Public Utilities Commission asked the FCC for another waiver of the deadline for adopting uniform eligibility criteria for the Lifeline program (http://bit.ly/WZQRDS). The PUC was already granted an extension from June 1, 2012 to April 1, 2013, but it needs more time because the Colorado Senate is currently focused on repealing its Telephone Assistance Program for low-income individuals, “which would render the eligibility requirements moot and Colorado would become [an] FCC Lifeline default state,” the PUC said. Because the PUC “has no control over the legislative process, including whether or how swiftly a bill becomes law,” it requested that the effective date for the uniform eligibility criteria be extended until July 1.