The FCC Office of Inspector General issued a general warning against Lifeline fraud Tuesday. OIG said a common scam is to manipulate someone’s name or identity to get extra payments. “OIG has seen thousands of examples of ‘female juniors’ among Lifeline enrollments,” the office said. “Another fraudulent practice involves adding an individual’s middle initials to either the first name or last name fields … to create fraudulent enrollments.” Address manipulation is also common, OIG said: “One vacant lot in Detroit was used by a carrier as the home address of nearly two hundred Lifeline subscribers.” Lifeline abuse won’t be tolerated, the warning said: This advisory is “to alert and educate Lifeline stakeholders and the public about some of the techniques used to perpetrate fraud we have learned about during our investigations. OIG ... will continue to use a full-range of tools to expose and combat fraud, waste, and abuse in USF programs.”
Questions continue about a $20.4 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) proposed in a Friday speech at the White House by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai (see 1904120065) and whether it will have much effect on closing the digital divide. Pai said the program would connect up to 4 million rural homes and small businesses to high-speed internet. Critics said the FCC appears to be rebranding the Connect America Fund, without any new proposed spending. Some hope the FCC won’t dig into funding for Lifeline and other USF programs.
Officials in President Donald Trump's administration and the FCC spoke optimistically about the U.S. path forward on rural broadband and spectrum policy during a Monday NTCA event, citing 2018 successes and actions slated for this year. The FCC's plans to follow up the USF Connect America Fund with a new $20.4 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (see 1904120065) received some attention at the event, but more focus was on upcoming spectrum auctions and ways to increase rural broadband deployments.
The FCC approved a process for sharing in the upper 37 GHz band, despite complaints from Commissioners Mike O’Rielly, Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks (see 1904100071). The two Democrats partially dissented. Chairman Ajit Pai, meanwhile, announced that the 37, 39 and 47 GHz auction will start Dec. 10 -- the FCC's third high-band auction. Commissioners approved a public notice on rules for the auction amid complaints by Rosenworcel and O’Rielly. Agency members also approved telecom and cable items.
The White House's Friday push to highlight FCC actions to improve 5G deployments and rural broadband connectivity was more notable for giving President Donald Trump an opportunity to go on record as opposing 5G nationalization, industry officials and lobbyists told us. Concerns about the Trump administration's direction on 5G policy have continued for more than a year, including on Capitol Hill (see 1903050069).
Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., filed their Internet Exchange Act Thursday, to improve broadband access for rural and underserved areas. S-1166 would authorize NTIA-administered matching grants to establish internet exchange (IX) facilities or expand an IX facility if it's the only one in a core-based statistical area. It would permit USF E-rate and telehealth program recipients to use their funding to contract with an ISP to connect to an IX facility or pay the costs of maintaining a point of presence at a facility. Blackburn said S-1166 “will make big strides in closing the digital divide in Tennessee by providing internet access to areas with the highest degree of need.” Congress needs “to strengthen our internet infrastructure to better serve Middle America and rural communities, and improve the online experience for people in all parts of our country,” Baldwin said.
The FCC intends to begin its auction of spectrum in the 37, 39 and 47 GHz bands Dec. 10 and plans to begin work on a fund targeting broadband deployment in unserved rural areas, Chairman Ajit Pai told reporters Friday morning. The announcements came ahead of Pai's planned participation in an afternoon event with President Donald Trump aimed at clarifying that the U.S. isn't headed toward a nationalized 5G network, as we reported Thursday. That event is set to begin just before 2:30 p.m., the White House said.
Free Press spoke with FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel to oppose a draft USF budget NPRM (see 1904030026). “Not only would the proposed changes to Lifeline … severely frustrate the Commission’s goal of bringing affordable broadband to all Americans, the very existence of this long, drawn-out proceeding has loomed like a dark cloud over the program,” said a Tuesday filing in docket 17-287 on a phone call including Free Press CEO Craig Aaron. “It likely has caused reduced Lifeline provider participation in the program, and fewer choices for Lifeline users.”
Huawei and other Chinese companies pose a major challenge for the U.S. and other nations, said Jamil Jaffer, executive director of the National Security Institute at George Mason University's law school, during a Technology Policy Institute panel Tuesday. “The risk is real.” A Trump administration supply chain security executive order apparently is off the table (see 1903250055).
National wireless resellers “want the additional revenues, but not all the additional obligations” that come with providing low-income services in Texas, said the Texas Telephone Association. TTA replied Monday to National Lifeline Association comments in docket 48979 urging the Texas Public Utility Commission to review a state Lifeline requirement it said is keeping non-facilities-based providers from participating (see 1903250043). Resellers “have not been able to demonstrate that they meet the statutory requirement of providing all elements of [basic local telecommunications service] and have instead sought waivers from these requirements or have simply argued that these requirements should not apply to them,” the association said. “If the Commission decides to shift its policies and allow companies that do not invest in network facilities in Texas to become [eligible telecom providers] for the limited purpose of receiving low-income support, the Texas low-income support program could grow by nearly $16 million annually,” possibly increasing the Texas USF surcharge, TTA said. The FCC in 2017 proposed banning resellers from Lifeline, it noted.