The California Public Utilities Commission took action on two uni...
The California Public Utilities Commission took action on two universal service matters. First, the PUC unanimously approved a pre-qualification requirement for Lifeline to ensure customers aren’t back-billed if it’s later found they weren’t eligible for the discount. The PUC…
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decided that, starting in July 2009, new applicants won’t receive the Lifeline discount until a third-party administrator has verified their eligibility. The PUC (Case R-04-12-001) said the state traditionally approved the discount without independent verification of eligibility, but new FCC guidelines adopted in May required income verification for initial and continued participation. The result was that up to 50 percent of new applicants ultimately were deemed ineligible and were back-billed for service and installation, which was seen as a major financial burden on low-income households. The PUC said the pre-qualification program will ensure that the nation’s largest state Lifeline program provides benefits only to those actually qualified to receive them. Second, the PUC approved a total $512 million budget for the state’s four universal service programs that provide support for high-cost areas, advanced services to schools and libraries, telecom relay service and adaptive telecom equipment for handicapped persons. The total for the 2009-10 fiscal period is $317 less than the amount approved for the current 2008-09 fiscal period. The biggest cut was a $400 million reduction in the high-cost Fund B for large incumbents, to just $51.5 million, reflecting changes made to that program. Some of that reduction was offset by a $27 million expansion of the California Teleconnect Fund for schools and libraries, to $60.3 million, and a $34 million total increase in the relay service and adaptive equipment programs, to a total $331 million.