Some Coming FCC Lifeline Changes Backed by State Regulators, Seeking More Tweaks
State regulators found much to like about coming FCC Lifeline changes, when we surveyed all NARUC Telecom Committee members in August. All respondents are happy their federal counterparts appear poised to clarify states can continue being the ones to decide…
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whether telecom/broadband providers can be designated as eligible for the USF program for the poor. Many like the idea of the Universal Service Administrative Co. sharing more information. No state commissioners reported getting information from the FCC about the order and Further NPRM (see 1908190028) that FCC Chairman Ajit Pai circulated to his colleagues Aug. 19. Some want the FCC to release a draft before its members vote, such as having it on the Sept. 26 open meeting agenda. Commissioners of both political parties and from several states seek more changes to Lifeline than what the FCC says are in the draft. The state officials want to prevent those eligible for services including subsidized broadband from being incorrectly deemed ineligible. Its annual budget is some $2 billion-plus, actual support about half that. NARUC worries about lack of a Lifeline application programming interface for subscriber sign-ups, and wants the agency to halt minimum-service standard increases as sought in its resolution and by CTIA and others. The draft doesn't address that petition, and the comment cycle ended Aug. 15, the FCC says. In July, NARUC members asked the FCC to delay implementing in December a 2016 plan to increase the amount of data carriers must provide Lifeline customers monthly; to slow the rollout of a Lifeline national verifier (NV) that may have inaccurately deemed some subscribers ineligible; and to make other changes. State commissioners still seek those changes. Some hope they occur in time to prevent the program from ratcheting up requirements that could mean the telecom products would cost the poor more. One way that NV administrator USAC makes it easier for would-be Lifeline customers is by letting them check their eligibility online, based on their state, said Pennsylvania Assistant Consumer Advocate Barrett Sheridan. Challengers to the 2016 Lifeline order, enacted under a Democrat-led FCC, essentially agreed to drop their case if the agency reversed the order giving eligible telecom carriers the option to get nationwide OK. At the time the option was OK'd, then-Commissioner Pai opposed the national ETC broadband designation, a spokesperson noted now. "When he became Chairman, he announced he would work to reverse that," the representative emailed Thursday. "The draft Order follows through."