California Commissioner Urges FCC to Slow National Verifier Rollout
The Lifeline National Verifier (NV) should “not be transitioned until the verifier is provided access" to the Medicare and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program databases, California Public Utilities Commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves told FCC commissioners and the Wireline Bureau in meetings…
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last week. The CPUC member met separately Monday and Tuesday during the NARUC conference with Chairman Ajit Pai, Commissioners Mike O’Rielly, Brendan Carr, Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks, and Telecom Access Policy Division Chief Ryan Palmer, said ex-parte letters in docket 11-60. Some federal Lifeline revisions could harm the California program, “especially if done without a proper transition,” said Guzman Aceves, who raised concerns about the NV, program budget and the FCC’s proposal to limit Lifeline to facility-based providers. Lifeline was a hot topic at the NARUC conference, where commissioners agreed to a resolution urging the FCC and Universal Service Administrative Co. (USAC) ensure the NV accesses state databases required to automatically check user eligibility (see 1902130052). In commissioner meetings, Guzman Aceves also discussed CPUC efforts to prevent wildfires and the need to increase communications infrastructure resiliency. Hardware was to blame for most 911 system failures in 2018, which could be prevented with adequate investment and maintenance, she said. The CPUC wants to find areas of joint jurisdiction with the FCC “to restore wireless as infrastructure burns and address first responder concerns like the need for backup power for 911 selective routers,” she said. Guzman Aceves told the bureau and commissioners she wanted to better align the California Advanced Services Fund with the federal Connect America Fund. The California commissioner “described the challenges and drain on resources the CPUC has faced in obtaining data regarding whether an area is served as the carriers will not provide information on where they are building.” The FCC "could help substantially with this transparency issue by requiring USAC to collect data at the most granular level possible (address level), in order to avoid duplication of work at the state level for verifying if an area is in fact served or not,” she said.