The FCC circulated a proposed "administrative clean-up" order and Further NPRM to address "serious and persistent" problems with waste, fraud and abuse in the Lifeline program, said agency officials Monday. If adopted, the new order would prohibit participating carriers from enrolling subscribers unless a national verifier database identifies the customer as living or the customer produces documentation demonstrating both identity and status as living. It would also prohibit telecom carriers from paying commissions to employees or sales agents based on the number of consumers who apply for Lifeline, and would require employees and sales agents to register with the Universal Service Administrative Co. before accessing any program databases.

Comments or oppositions are due Sept. 16, replies Oct. 1 to a Network Communications International petition for forbearance from USF contributions for its interstate and international inmate calling services (see 1908140055), said an FCC Wireline Bureau public notice Friday in docket 19-232.

NARUC, CTIA and consumer advocacy groups asked the FCC to postpone plans to change minimum service requirements for Lifeline until it can review a market study that's underway. That's per replies posted through Friday to docket 11-42. NARUC at the most recent meeting of state telecom commissioners asked the federal regulator to postpone such changes (see 1907230040).

Networks Communications International sought FCC forbearance from a requirement to provide USF contributions for its interstate and international inmate calling services, in a petition posted Wednesday in docket 17-232. The company said a significant number of customers of ICS providers are otherwise eligible for USF assistance, leading to "the absurd result of USF-eligible recipients actually contributing to the very programs from which they receive services."

The FCC Wireline Bureau designated Sunset Digital an eligible telecom carrier in high-cost areas in Tennessee and Virginia, limited to participation in the Connect America Fund Phase II auction if the company makes a winning bid and is found authorized for USF support. The bureau also waived a requirement Sunset submit proof of its ETC designation by Feb. 25, 2019, to participate because waiver "will serve the interests of low-income consumers," said in an order Tuesday on docket 09-197.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau Fraud Division had its first day Monday. Charged with overseeing efficient use of USF money, it's headed by Rakesh Patel (see 1908090010), the agency said. Patel had been director of the USF Strike Force within the agency. Eight people are assigned to the division, a spokesperson said.

The FCC established an Enforcement Bureau Fraud Division, tasked with taking enforcement actions against fraud in the USF and other funding programs that the agency oversees, says a notice set for Monday’s Federal Register. The FCC approved the division’s establishment in January (see 1902040037). Using existing Enforcement Bureau staff, the division will work with the Office of Inspector General and other law enforcement agencies, says the notice.

2020 Democratic presidential hopeful and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg backed telehealth investment improvements as part of a rural healthcare policy platform. Buttigieg urged doubling annual funding for the FCC's USF Rural Health Care Program to $1 billion. The platform also proposed to “massively expand” broadband coverage across the U.S. and “expand the types of care settings that can receive reimbursement for telehealth services.” Release of Buttigieg's plan Friday was two days after a trio of other 2020 Democratic hopefuls -- Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts -- issued competing rural-focused policy platforms that propose major investments in broadband deployments (see 1908070070). Much of the tech-focused debate during the 2020 campaign until last week was on the antitrust implications of the growth of major tech companies, including Warren's proposal to break up big tech companies like Google, Facebook and Amazon (see 1904170046 and 1906270010).

CenturyLink reported Q2 2019 revenue of $5.58 billion Wednesday, down from $5.9 billion in the same quarter last year, as it continues to expand its fiber network. The company's "guiding principle" is growing free cash flow per share, said CEO Jeff Storey during an earnings call (requires login). The company generated $956 million in free cash flow in Q2, excluding cash paid for integration and transformation costs and special items of $55 million, it said in an earnings report.

Frontier Communications stock received a rating of underperform Wednesday in an equity research note from analysts at Wells Fargo Securities after Frontier's Q2 2019 earnings report Tuesday. Frontier reported $2.07 billion revenue for the quarter, down from the Q1's $2.1 billion (see 1904300217). The company's net loss for the Q2 was $5.32 billion, for a net loss of $51.07 per common share. It reported a net loss of 71,000 broadband subscribers. On an earnings call Tuesday, Frontier CEO Dan McCarthy called the increased customer churn to 2.14 percent on the consumer side "disappointing," blaming it partly on seasonality, competitive pressures and customer roll-off as promotional bill credits ended. McCarthy said it's premature to speculate how the company's federal broadband subsidies will fare under an upcoming USF transition from the Connect America Fund to the proposed Rural Digital Opportunity Fund still at the NPRM stage. He suggested the terms of the RDOF reverse auctions may be less favorable to Frontier than they were under CAF Phase II auctions. Frontier plans to participate in the RDOF auctions and is pleased that latency will be a consideration in how the bids will be weighted, McCarthy said. The company said it expects to close on the sale of its operations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana, announced in late May, sometime in the first half of 2020 (see 1905290042). "The focus is clearly on liquidity, with plans of divesting its northwest operations to bring $1.3 billion in cash to the balance sheet," said Wells Fargo, "but the incremental investment required to meet the terms of the deal coupled with lower than expected benefit from FTR's transformation program and higher payments due in 2H 2019 that weren't initially considered with 2019 guide, all leave us firmly on the outside looking in." Frontier's share price dipped under a dollar early Wednesday and closed at 94 cents, down 23.59 percent.