The Congressional Research Service circulated documents on the FCC’s Lifeline overhaul and telemarketing regulation. The Lifeline document is a mere two pages and dated April 5. “The announced expansion of the program has once again brought the program under additional scrutiny,” the CRS brief said. “The policy debate over the design and expansion of the Lifeline program has continued with the release of the 2016 Lifeline Order.” Issues include “the impact that minimum broadband and voice standards may have on the ability of providers to offer services within the $9.25 per month subsidy and such standards' potential for the need for subscriber co-pays” and “whether a firm budget cap should be established consistent with the other USF programs,” CRS said. The separate telemarketing report, dated April 1, is 12 pages. “This report will outline the laws underpinning the National Do Not Call List; describe the regulations implementing the list; answer some of the most frequently asked questions related to the list; and discuss the possible penalties for violating the rules,” the report says in its summary. “The report will also briefly discuss some of the ways the various states have implemented their own do not call lists.”
Three telcos urged the FCC to provide interim USF support for voice service in extremely rural, high-cost areas not yet covered by Connect America Fund Phase II support. CenturyLink, FairPoint and Frontier Communications said they understand the commission is considering including the areas in a planned reverse auction of CAF II broadband/voice subsidy support, but for now a number of price-cap telcos are responsible for maintaining voice service without support. "Our specific request is that the Commission continue to fund voice services in the highest cost, remote areas where carriers have accepted CAF II support but where there are remaining rural customers that are not covered by CAF II support," they said in a letter to all five commissioners Tuesday in docket 10-90. "Voice access is critical to our customers in these areas for personal, professional and public safety reasons. Therefore, voice service funding should be maintained while these areas await the Commission’s actions to implement a workable broadband deployment solution."
The federal USF had more than $8 billion in financial assets as of Dec. 31, said the 2015 annual report of Universal Service Administrative Co., which oversees the fund for the FCC. The USF, which had assets of $4.5 billion in 2006, paid out $8.4 billion in 2015 but collected more than that, further increasing its cash and other assets, said industry consultant Billy Jack Gregg in an email Wednesday summarizing findings from his analysis of the annual report (see 1603310052). A portion of the assets was used to offset USF funding commitments in 2015, such as model-based Connect America Fund Phase II support, Gregg said. "These assets also provide the reserve funds which the FCC will use to mitigate the $1.5 billion annual increase in the Schools and Libraries Fund, and to underwrite CAF Phase II competitive bidding support." The assets include $6.8 billion in investments, the report said.
The FCC can't give VoIP providers full numbering rights without classifying them as telecom carriers that provide telecom services under Title II of the Communications Act, NARUC said in challenging a 2015 order that gave interconnected VoIP (I-VoIP) providers direct access to phone numbers (see 1506180060). "Its implementing regulations giving I-VoIP providers direct access to numbers/portability" in all but name deem it a telecom service, the state regulatory group said in its brief filed late Monday (NARUC v. FCC, No. 15-1497). "An entity cannot 'be deemed' to be a telecommunications carrier unless it is offering a service that conforms to the Act's definition. In 2011, the [U.S. Court of Appeals for the] 10th Circuit rejected a similar FCC analysis." The commission's brief is due May 19.
A key Senate Republican appropriator slammed FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler Tuesday for sidestepping congressional intent and privately going against his word. Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., focused on both the issue of prohibiting broadband rate regulation and on allowing the grandfathering of broadcaster joint sales agreements, the subject of two appropriations policy riders last year and both issues that Boozman suggested he may revisit in riders this year. The FCC has now supplied Congress with draft legislative language addressing rate regulation, a spokeswoman confirmed.
An FCC webinar Monday at 2 p.m. will summarize the rate-of-return USF overhaul order released Wednesday, said a wireline bureau public notice listed in Friday's Daily Digest. Parties can register at http://bit.ly/1ZRHZla, it said.
States may sue the FCC over the commission’s Lifeline order, pending a review of the text of the final order, NARUC President Travis Kavulla said in an interview on Friday. At its Thursday meeting, the FCC approved by a 3-2 vote an order that would extend USF low-income subsidies to broadband (see 1603310056). While states support a broadband expansion, they have disagreed with the FCC’s decision to shift potential responsibility for verifying Lifeline broadband provider eligibility from the states to a national third party, sharply condemning the proposal in a March 17 letter ultimately signed by 96 state commissioners (see 1603180052). Before the FCC vote, the National Governors Association and NASUCA voiced concerns about where the order leaves states. Capitol Hill Democrats were revealed to be heavily involved in lobbying the agency hours before the vote. After the vote, rural telco/RLEC groups NTCA and WTA also voiced concerns about the Lifeline order.
The Universal Service Administrative Co. scored some "quick wins" last year on its efforts to address "priority" initiatives to improve its oversight of the FCC's USF programs, USAC CEO Chris Henderson said in the group's 2015 Annual Report posted Thursday in FCC docket 96-45. "We’ve simplified audit reports to help those receiving them better understand our goals and we’ve built a new approach to managing audits going into 2016," Henderson said in a letter included in the report. "We’ve used direct stakeholder feedback to shape and inform the development of applicant tools and forms. We revamped our approach to Lifeline Program recertification, making the process more consumer-friendly. As a result, our recertification percentage was almost double what it was last year. We’ve also built the foundation of a data capability that will change the way we operate and inform critical stakeholders, such as the FCC, program participants, and the American public." He said USAC is looking to help the FCC in its efforts to connect 34 million people who don't yet have high-speed broadband access.
Commissioner Mignon Clyburn called FCC rate-of-return USF changes a "win-win" for rural consumers wanting broadband and phone consumers paying into the USF. Clyburn said she was proud the FCC went beyond fixing a stand-alone broadband problem that prevented rural telcos from receiving USF support when customers with high-speed Internet access dropped traditional phone service. "We are also establishing a blueprint to connect unserved households and modernize the Connect America Fund to ensure that rate-of-return carriers use finite resources as efficiently as possible," she said in a statement that accompanied the 249-page Order and Further NPRM released Wednesday (see 1603300065).
The FCC voted 3-2 to approve a Lifeline modernization order that extends USF low-income subsidies to broadband service and streamlines the program's administration. But the agency didn't act until after its Thursday meeting was delayed three times, an attempted -- or apparent -- budget compromise collapsed, and Republicans dissented and cried foul. Commissioner Mike O'Rielly suggested personal relations had been "irreparably" harmed because the Democrats "will misrepresent, cut corners and welch on deals." Asked about certain Republican charges, Chairman Tom Wheeler said, "Balderdash."