FCC Orders Promote Wireless Lifeline Service
The FCC handed down two orders last week intended to make Lifeline service available to more Americans. The commission agreed to allow prepaid wireless provider TracFone to “self certify” it’s providing 911 service to Lifeline customers in various states, in the aftermath of state inaction. It also approved Virgin Mobile’s petitions to offer Lifeline service as an eligible telecommunications carrier in New York, Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee, but dismissed a petition to serve Pennsylvania. Commissioners also approved a clean-up order on universal service provided by competitive eligible telecommunications carriers serving tribal and Alaska native areas.
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“I think they have a lot of complicated stuff sitting around that the [Kevin] Martin administration never wanted to deal with,” said a regulatory attorney active on universal service issues. “There are things that they did in a sloppy way and in some cases it was sloppy because it had nothing to do with the basic transaction at issue.” In the TracFone case, the FCC imposed “a really onerous” requirement on the carrier that had little to do with Lifeline service, the attorney said. “They didn’t delete the condition, they just made it a little more livable.” The lawyer said the other orders were also limited in scope, addressing other CETC issues.
In the TracFone order the commission addressed a requirement it handed down earlier that the carrier demonstrate compliance with 911 requirements before it can provide service in a state. The FCC had required that TracFone get certification in each state from relevant authorities. But TracFone officials complained that in many cases, state and local authorities had been slow to act and in some cases refused to address its request for certification altogether.
“We affirm that TracFone must continue to comply with this requirement and seek certification from the [public safety answering points] within its service area,” the order said. But in cases where a PSAP doesn’t act, the company will now be allowed to self-certify compliance with 911 requirements. “TracFone may not self-certify compliance until 90 days after it has provided a PSAP with notification of the 90-day self certification period adopted in this order,” the FCC said. “TracFone also may not make such a self-certification until it has provided a PSAP with all of the information and/or equipment requested by the PSAP in analyzing TracFone’s ability to provide 911 and E911 service to its customers.” All three orders were relatively narrow, the attorney said.
The Virgin Mobile order was largely a “me too” order, allowing it as a second major pre-paid wireless provider to also offer Lifeline service. The FCC said it would forbear from a requirement that an ETC provide coverage “at least in part, over its own facilities.” The order requires Virgin Mobile to comply with the same requirements imposed on TracFone, including the provisioning of 911 and E911 service.
The third order addresses a carve out which the FCC approved last year when it imposed a cap on universal service high-cost support for competitive ETCs, mainly wireless carriers. That order provided an exception for CETCs serving tribal lands or Alaska Native regions. But at the same time, the FCC limited the exception “to one payment per each residential account.” The order waives this exception, which, officials said, had proven difficult to enforce. “My colleagues and I pledged last year to resolve questions regarding the implementation of this exception,” Commissioner Robert McDowell said in supporting the order. “I am pleased that with this order we have fulfilled our commitment.”