FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks faced questions on the outlook for the Mobility Fund Phase II program in a closed-door meeting with the House Rural Broadband Caucus, said attendees. Work on the fund has stalled since last year when the FCC launched an investigation of potential wrongdoing in MF-II and scheduled an auction.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks faced questions on the outlook for the Mobility Fund Phase II program in a closed-door meeting with the House Rural Broadband Caucus, said attendees. Work on the fund has stalled since last year when the FCC launched an investigation of potential wrongdoing in MF-II and scheduled an auction.
Former FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn made headlines in February when she became part of the growing team supporting T-Mobile’s buy of Sprint (see 1902040064). The move was a surprise since Clyburn is best known for working on such issues as curbing prison calling rates and preserving the Lifeline program. Clyburn said she's doing no lobbying in Congress and ethics rules bar her from outreach to the FCC (see 1903050071). Industry officials said she has likely had a net positive effect.
Former FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn made headlines in February when she became part of the growing team supporting T-Mobile’s buy of Sprint (see 1902040064). The move was a surprise since Clyburn is best known for working on such issues as curbing prison calling rates and preserving the Lifeline program. Clyburn said she's doing no lobbying in Congress and ethics rules bar her from outreach to the FCC (see 1903050071). Industry officials said she has likely had a net positive effect.
ARRL, which represents amateur radio operators, asked the FCC for a pause in docket 16-239, which proposes to remove limitations on the symbol, or baud, rate, applicable to data emissions in some amateur bands. The FCC sought comment in July 2016. ARRL asked for a pause “for the purpose of facilitating discussion among commenters of differences expressed in the record of this proceeding.” ARRL said, “We intend our effort to reach a common understanding of issues and to agree on proposals insofar as possible.” The filing was posted Thursday.
Challenges to FCC wireless and wireline infrastructure orders will be paused, pending review by a special master, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday. Challenges by Sprint and 11 others to a September order restricting local fees and reviews of small-cell siting applications were consolidated under Sprint v. FCC, No. 19-70123, said an order (in Pacer) of Judges Richard Tallman and Mary Murguia. The September order case will be assigned to the same merits panel that reviews Portland and American Electric Power Service challenges to an August ruling/order barring local infrastructure moratoriums and revising pole-attachment processes. The latter two were also consolidated under Portland v. FCC, No. 18-72689, said another order (in Pacer) of the two judges. The court referred all the cases to its special master, Appellate Commissioner Peter Shaw, for a case management conference he will schedule. “The special master shall consider any issues he deems appropriate to manage the petitions effectively, including but not limited to the development of a briefing plan for the above-listed twelve petitions,” said the first order. The judges granted in part the FCC’s motion, opposed by localities (see 1903070059), to hold the Sprint case in abeyance. Noting the FCC's request to continue a stay in the Portland case, the second order stayed the now-consolidated case pending the conference. “Proceedings in these consolidated petitions other than the case management conference are stayed pending [that] conference,” said both orders: "Briefing is suspended pending further order of the court following the ... conference." The decisions mean “we’re in abeyance for what I hope will be a short period of time,” emailed local government attorney Ken Fellman. “Given the number of parties, different case filings and complexity of the issues, we’ve thought that a case management conference would be necessary to delineate the process of getting from here to a decision.” Local governments are pleased because the FCC had "asked for an indefinite abeyance," but the court "simply delayed matters until after the scheduling issues can be considered at a case management conference," said Best Best attorney Joseph Van Eaton. "We are hopeful that the process established by the 9th Circuit will result in expedited resolution of this appeal. At the very least, we suspect the FCC will be asked to explain why it has not decided the pending reconsideration petitions." The agency didn’t comment.
Universal Service Administrative Co. is working to enhance its Lifeline national verifier (NV) of consumer eligibility, said Michelle Garber, USAC vice president-Lifeline, noting some changes will take time or could require more FCC direction. She acknowledged the NV's lack of greater access to government databases, particularly in less-populated rural states, increased initial verification failure rates, but said access to a key Medicaid national database is coming. "I don't think it's a question of if that'll happen; it's a question of when," she told us recently. "I feel like it'll happen this year."
Universal Service Administrative Co. is working to enhance its Lifeline national verifier (NV) of consumer eligibility, said Michelle Garber, USAC vice president-Lifeline, noting some changes will take time or could require more FCC direction. She acknowledged the NV's lack of greater access to government databases, particularly in less-populated rural states, increased initial verification failure rates, but said access to a key Medicaid national database is coming. "I don't think it's a question of if that'll happen; it's a question of when," she told us recently. "I feel like it'll happen this year."
Sprint urged deferring Lifeline de-enrollments and national verifier "hard" launches until Universal Service Administrative Co. gains greater automated access to Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program databases. The Lifeline provider said USAC has negotiated such access to SNAP, Medicaid and Federal Public Housing Assistance program databases in only eight of the 27 states and territories where the NV is in use (16 hard launches where it's mandatory and 11 soft launches); in 16 it has only FPHA access. The carrier said more than 60 percent of current Lifeline applicants demonstrate eligibility through SNAP and Medicaid participation, and only 0.6 percent through FPHA. "In 11 jurisdictions, the NV will launch without a connection to a state [SNAP or Medicaid] database due to cost effectiveness constraints,” the provider filed, posted Tuesday in FCC docket 11-42. That forces manual reverification that's "highly problematic and can result in large numbers of customer de-enrollments due to extremely low end user response rates," Sprint said. "The mass de-enrollment of potentially millions of otherwise-eligible Lifeline subscribers because of a difficult and ineffective reverification process clearly is not in the public interest." It backed refining database search criteria, enhancing feedback on reverification failures, establishing "consistent, transparent application of eligibility criteria" and temporarily suspending Lifeline recertification in remaining non-NV states. The National Lifeline Association urged the NV to "incorporate checks or 'dips' against the national CMS/Medicaid database, as well as any additional state SNAP databases that may come online, prior to any deenrollments." NaLA voiced "appreciation for recent stakeholder engagement toward implementing" an NV application programming interface solution to allow providers "to help consumers navigate the verification process." The FCC and USAC didn't comment.
Sprint urged deferring Lifeline de-enrollments and national verifier "hard" launches until Universal Service Administrative Co. gains greater automated access to Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program databases. The Lifeline provider said USAC has negotiated such access to SNAP, Medicaid and Federal Public Housing Assistance program databases in only eight of the 27 states and territories where the NV is in use (16 hard launches where it's mandatory and 11 soft launches); in 16 it has only FPHA access. The carrier said more than 60 percent of current Lifeline applicants demonstrate eligibility through SNAP and Medicaid participation, and only 0.6 percent through FPHA. "In 11 jurisdictions, the NV will launch without a connection to a state [SNAP or Medicaid] database due to cost effectiveness constraints,” the provider filed, posted Tuesday in FCC docket 11-42. That forces manual reverification that's "highly problematic and can result in large numbers of customer de-enrollments due to extremely low end user response rates," Sprint said. "The mass de-enrollment of potentially millions of otherwise-eligible Lifeline subscribers because of a difficult and ineffective reverification process clearly is not in the public interest." It backed refining database search criteria, enhancing feedback on reverification failures, establishing "consistent, transparent application of eligibility criteria" and temporarily suspending Lifeline recertification in remaining non-NV states. The National Lifeline Association urged the NV to "incorporate checks or 'dips' against the national CMS/Medicaid database, as well as any additional state SNAP databases that may come online, prior to any deenrollments." NaLA voiced "appreciation for recent stakeholder engagement toward implementing" an NV application programming interface solution to allow providers "to help consumers navigate the verification process." The FCC and USAC didn't comment.