CTIA urged the FCC to grant the relief it seeks in a petition for reconsideration of the FCC Lifeline order and reconsider its decision to set long-term minimum capacity standards for mobile broadband at 70 percent of the average mobile data usage per household (see 1606240077). Most commenters supported CTIA’s complaint about the order, the group said in reply comments. “Only two filers opposed the Petition, and they failed to rebut CTIA’s legal and policy objections to the rule,” the wireless association said. “The record clearly supports the Petition’s grant.” Most commenters “generally” agreed “the long-term minimum standard for mobile broadband could present affordability challenges and should consequently be reconsidered,” CTIA said. Only the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates and a coalition led by the Greenlining Institute opposed the petition, CTIA said. NASUCA, meanwhile, noted in its comments the need for the FCC to address “affordability” of service, CTIA said. FCC “failure to address affordability … was one of the major factors in CTIA’s Petition,” the wireless association said. Greenlining “expresses general opposition to any reduction in minimum service standards, but fails to address the challenge to affordability in the current long-term standard formula,” CTIA said. Comments were filed Monday in docket 11-42.
NARUC doesn't plan to vote on any big telecom items at its summer meeting in Nashville next week, according to a list of draft resolutions released Tuesday. The deadline for submitting resolutions was Monday. The meeting schedule does list Telecommunications Committee panel discussions on several current topics including special access, 5G wireless, rate-of-return reform, phone number portability, Next-Generation 911, the Connect America Fund Phase II auction and the FCC Lifeline order challenged by states in federal court.
Wisconsin and other states asked a court to vacate part of the FCC Lifeline order that extends USF low-income subsidies to broadband service, sets an annual budget of $2.25 billion and streamlines the program's administration (see 1603310056). "The States seek review of the Order’s creation of a new, federal Eligible Telecommunications Carriers (ETC) designation process and its asserted preemption of the State commissions’ primary authority to designate ETCs with respect to broadband services," said a state petition (in Pacer) to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Thursday (State of Wisconsin, et al., v. FCC, No. 16-1219). "The States seek review on the grounds that this part of the Order exceeds the Commission’s jurisdiction or authority, violates the Communications Act of 1934 and the notice-and-comment requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act, and is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise contrary to law. The States request that this Court hold unlawful, vacate, enjoin, and set aside this part of the Order." Joining Wisconsin were Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Utah, plus the state regulatory commissions of Connecticut, Mississippi and Vermont. NARUC recently also challenged the FCC's new federal broadband ETC mechanism (see 1606030053). The FCC didn't comment Friday.
Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., introduced another bill seeking to curb the FCC Lifeline program. He filed HR-5525 Thursday, which would “prohibit universal service support of commercial mobile service and commercial mobile data service through the Lifeline program.” The bill’s one co-sponsor is Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions, R-Texas, and it’s referred to the Commerce Committee. Democrats had rebelled against Scott’s Lifeline budget cap legislation earlier this year, which cleared the Communications Subcommittee but never the full Commerce Committee (see 1604190053).
Tuesday’s court ruling on net neutrality may support state regulation of facilities-based VoIP services, said state officials in interviews Friday. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld FCC reclassification of broadband as a telecom service under Title II of the Communications Act (see 1606140023). Since telecom services are subject to more regulation than information services under the statute, the D.C. Circuit ruling could help resolve a question that has been raised in courtrooms, state legislatures and utilities commissions across the country, said state officials: Is VoIP a telecom or information service?
NARUC challenged the FCC Lifeline decision to bypass state regulators in setting up a national process for designating providers eligible for new broadband low-income USF support (see 1603310056). "Congress specifies that the FCC simply has no role in the [eligible telecom carrier] designation process unless the State cannot act as a result of State Law," said the state regulatory association in a petition for review Friday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (NARUC v. FCC, No. 16-1170). It said if upheld on review, the FCC's "flawed view of the power of an Agency vs. the power of Congress to specify the scope of ... agency powers will break new ground transferring yet another substantial swath of authority from Congress to agencies." The NARUC challenge isn't a surprise (see 1604010042).
House Republicans have begun investigating the FCC Lifeline program. Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., “instructed Committee staff to begin an investigation of the program consistent with your recommendation,” he told Reps. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., and Austin Scott, R-Ga., in a letter dated Thursday. “As you so aptly observe, such action is necessary to ensure not only that ratepayer dollars are responsibly spent but also ensure the long-term effectiveness of the program for those that truly need the assistance.” Pompeo and Scott wrote to Upton earlier this week complaining of the contents of a notice of apparent liability the agency issued to Total Call Mobile. Scott and Pompeo said that case shows “rampant fraud persists” in the program: “Indeed, the facts of the case seem to indicate that the FCC’s failure to take timely action enabled Total Call to continue enrolling tens of thousands of duplicate Lifeline consumers in the program. Often this appears to have been achieved through a mechanism that allowed Total Call to override the National Lifeline Accountability Database, the system that is supposed to identify duplicates and prevent the kind of fraud Total Call is alleged to have perpetrated.” Upton agreed the case shows “additional scrutiny” is warranted. An FCC spokesman declined comment. The FCC has said it kept the proposed $51 million fine against the carrier under wraps for a time and during a separate proceeding to revamp Lifeline to pay for broadband at the request of its inspector general (see 1604140060).
BOSTON -- The FCC was criticized by another group of stakeholders at INTX, as the show drew to a close Wednesday. All four state telecom regulator panelists heaped criticism on the FCC over a range of process and legal issues. Critiques involved moving Lifeline subsidies for the poor to broadband from voice in a way that allows the FCC to certify providers as eligible telecom carriers (ETC) instead of just states having that authority, and pre-empting anti-municipal broadband state law. Process concerns included that the federal commission takes too long to issue the text of orders, is too partisan, and commissioners don't cooperate. State commissioners of both parties said the FCC doesn't work closely with state telecom regulators and follow through by having such cooperation reflected in rules. Asked in Q&A whether the FCC had any bright spots, panelists praised it for moving USF to broadband.
A utilities regulator and consumer group in California urged a federal court to reject a lawsuit by big telecom companies about disclosure of subscriber data in a state investigation of market competition. AT&T, Comcast, CTIA, Verizon and others sued the California Public Utilities Commission May 5 in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, challenging the lawfulness of a CPUC order requiring the telcos to provide data about carrier subscriptions to The Utility Reform Network (TURN), a California consumer advocacy group. In opposition last week, the CPUC and TURN said the data is critical to an ongoing investigation of telecom competition in California.
The Congressional Research Service outlined answers to frequently asked questions about the FCC Lifeline program. “Lifeline program does not have a designated funding cap, or ceiling, but the 2016 Order does establish a budget-type mechanism,” said the report, dated last week. It included answers to questions about certification of service providers and steps the agency has taken against waste, fraud and abuse. CRS noted some wrong information circulating about the program: “Most providers that offer a prepaid wireless option currently offer a wireless phone to the subscriber at no charge. The cost of this device is not covered under the Lifeline program but is borne by the designated provider. Misinformation connecting the program to payment for a ‘free phone’ has resulted in numerous queries.”