Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)

Commissioner Chris Nelson isn’t convinced eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation is no longer necessary, the South Dakota Republican said at NARUC’s winter conference Tuesday. Telecom association officials on Nelson’s panel said Congress sees that the ETC process has run its course. Nelson and a District of Columbia consumer advocate raised concerns about possible impacts to service quality as telcos abandon state-regulated copper networks.

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society and Next Century Cities asked the FCC to reconsider its decision to collect affordable connectivity program data on an aggregate basis rather than at the subscriber level (see 2301120056). The decision "falls short" of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act's requirements and "undermines the overall integrity of the program," said a petition for reconsideration posted Monday in docket 21-450. The groups said subscriber-level data is "critical for informing efforts by federal and state agencies, public interest groups, and non-profit organizations to target public awareness and enrollment support strategies," adding the deferment of when the data collection will start is "arbitrary."

T-Mobile expanded its participation in the FCC’s affordable connectivity program to seven more states, bringing the total number covered to 48, T-Mobile said Wednesday. T-Mobile expanded the program to Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming. Participants get “data, texting, calling and mobile hotspot data on Assurance Wireless’ plans" via T-Mobile's network and a free Android smartphone for new customers, the carrier said.

The number of items the FCC is considering at its monthly meetings has slowly declined in the two years since Jessica Rosenworcel was designated to lead the agency. The January meeting was over in about half an hour and had two items for votes. Similarly, Rosenworcel has teed up just two items for this month's meeting. A review of the record found the FCC tackled 59 items, large and small, at meetings the first year under Rosenworcel. That was down to 42 in year two. In more than half the meetings in year two, commissioners tackled three or fewer items at the meetings.

The FCC Wireline Bureau extended through April 30 its COVID-19 pandemic waiver of Lifeline recertification and reverification requirements for subscribers residing on tribal lands, said an order Monday in docket 11-42 (see 2301170051). The bureau also extended the waiver to tribal households participating in the affordable connectivity program, noting such subscribers "may have been required to respond to ACP recertification outreach during the waiver period."

Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., sharply criticized the FCC’s handling of the affordable connectivity program, after the GAO reported its goals and measures "lack specificity and clearly defined targets, raising questions about how effective” the commission’s oversight of the program is. “The results of GAO’s findings reveal that the FCC’s ACP is subject to massive waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars,” Cruz and Thune said Wednesday: “We find it incredibly concerning that the FCC has failed to establish a process that regularly assesses fraud risks within the ACP. It is incumbent upon” Senate Commerce “to have an oversight hearing to address GAO’s report and hold the FCC accountable to American taxpayers.” Thune launched a review of all federal broadband funding programs in December in a bid to hold executive branch agencies accountable for their disbursal of money from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and other measures (see 2212060067)."We appreciate GAO’s recommendations and are committed to further improving our performance goals and monitoring for risks within the program," an FCC spokesperson emailed Wednesday in response to GAO's recommendations. “The success of" ACP, "which currently helps over 15.7 million eligible households afford high-quality broadband service, continues to be a top priority for the Commission," the spokesperson said.

GAO recommends several improvements to performance metrics, outreach efforts and fraud prevention efforts for the FCC's affordable connectivity program. GAO said Wednesday that ACP goals and measures "lack specificity and clearly defined targets, raising questions about how effective these goals and measures will be at helping FCC gauge the program's achievements and identify improvements." It said translations of ACP outreach materials varied in quality. GAO said the commission did a fraud risk assessment, but it hasn't developed an anti-fraud strategy to address identified risks or a process to do such risk assessments regularly. The GAO's nine recommendations include revising the language translation process through incorporating revision and quality assurance steps and the Office of the Managing Director developing and implementing a process for regular fraud risk assessments. The FCC didn't comment.

An FCC order establishing a data collection for the affordable connectivity program takes effect Feb. 13, said a notice for Friday's Federal Register. Commissioners adopted the item in November (see 2211230074).

The FCC Wireline Bureau clarified that participation in the affordable connectivity program's Your Home, Your Internet pilot program by nongovernmental entities "must be in partnership with a federal government entity or a state, local, or tribal housing entity" in response to an inquiry from the Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future. Organizations with existing partnerships with government agencies are eligible to participate, the bureau said in a letter posted Friday in docket 21-450, although the government entity must certify and submit the applications. The bureau also declined to extend the application deadline, citing the FCC's "goal of initiating our pilot programs and grant-funded outreach efforts as soon as possible."

The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau encouraged potential applicants to submit applications for the affordable connectivity program's outreach grants by Monday at 11:59 p.m. EST (see 2211220067). Late applications won't be accepted, said a public notice Wednesday in docket 21-450. The bureau also reminded potential applicants that the deadline to submit applications for the ACP navigator and Your Home, Your Internet pilot programs are due by Monday at 9 p.m. EST.