USAC Learned From Lifeline NV Missteps, NARUC Told

The Telecom Committee later Tuesday cleared a proposed resolution seeking accurate broadband maps and an unserved focus for the FCC’s forthcoming 5G fund that’s replacing Mobility Fund Phase II. The committee agreed to an amendment deleting a phrase prescribing the mechanism the FCC should use to ensure maps are accurate, as expected (see 2002100023). Both votes were unanimous. The resolution needs NARUC board OK.

One year ago, state commissioners grilled USAC officials on high rates of users failing the automated check due to the NV not accessing all databases relevant to determining eligibility (see 1902110003). “It was tough,” Garber said now. “There were a lot of things we were saying were coming, but it was hard to see them coming, like a carrier” application programming interface or connection to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services database, she said. “There wasn’t enough communication and transparency.”

“A lot changed in the past year,” Garber said. “When we said we wanted to get better, people trusted us and engaged with us to help us do that.” South Dakota Commissioner Chris Nelson, who last year accused USAC of a "bait and switch," thanked USAC for its cooperation. His state's databases remain unconnected, but it's the fault of South Dakota agencies, he said.

USAC has 15 automated connections with state databases, to automatically process 67 percent of applications on average nationally, Garber said. In states without state database connections, USAC can automatically process about 60 percent of applications using national databases, she said. When it can’t automatically verify, USAC asks consumers for supporting documentation, and 80 percent of the time it can review documents and render a decision in six minutes or less, Garber said. It takes longer if consumers snail-mail documents, she said. The NV launched in all 56 states and territories by the end of 2019, though nine remain in soft launch and timing for hard launch hasn’t been announced, said Garber.

USAC keeps trying to connect more state databases, and is working to renew existing state connections, Garber said. Computer matching agreements have an initial term of 18 months, and parties can quickly extend them another 12 months, but then agreements must be reestablished entirely, Garber said. It requires signatories to revisit terms and conditions, then put the agreement again through the federal approval process, which includes getting OKs from Congress and the OMB, and publishing it to the Federal Register for comments, she said.

“It’s important for us to manage that really closely, so we don’t have any gaps in the connectivity to these databases,” Garber said. USAC is “building in time because we’ve already experienced some situations where there were changes in leadership and new people need to be briefed.”

Twenty companies are using the carrier API implemented by USAC in mid-December, and the organization has received 4,000 applications through that channel, Garber said. USAC met with carriers last week for feedback, she said. Not all carriers want to use the API, but she expects the number to grow to 25 to 30, the same number that use a different API for the national Lifeline accountability database, she said.

USAC mostly completed reverification of existing Lifeline subscribers in states that launched through March 2018, said Garber. On average, 80 percent passed reverification in those states. The other 20 percent may not have failed but might have been nonresponsive, she said.

No de-enrollments occur until USAC completes a three-step process where it checks databases, asks carriers for documents, then contacts subscribers, Garber stressed. De-enrollment notices include instructions on how to freshly apply through the NV, she said.

USAC recently opened a second support center to take calls and emails from consumers, Garber said. It’s open seven days a week, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Hold time is about 30 seconds, she said. USAC is making “iterative improvements” to NV to clarify the user interface, she said.

NARUC Notebook

Federal privacy legislation moved from “if” to “when” after California passed a comprehensive law, and it can get bipartisan support, said Joseph Wender, senior policy adviser for Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. Europe's general data protection regulation and the Cambridge Analytica breach of Facebook also have pushed Congress to act, Wender said. Once there was a real privacy law in the states, industry started applying pressure on Congress to save them from a patchwork of state laws, Wender said. More state laws on the way will add pressure, he said. Congress must deal with “elephants in the room” including how much to pre-empt states, whether there will be a private right of action, and if there will be a federal rulemaking, the Markey aide said: “We’ll never do anything weaker than California.” Compromise is much more likely on privacy than on net neutrality, Wender said.

Congress is likely to pass privacy legislation, hopefully this year, due to the California Consumer Privacy Act, GDPR and Cambridge Analytica, agreed NCTA Vice President-State Affairs Rick Cimerman. Businesses think the CCPA will be costly and would prefer one national privacy standard instead of 50 possibly conflicting state laws, said Jordan Crenshaw, U.S. Chamber of Commerce policy counsel. Industry supports a pre-emptive federal law and opposes private right of action, he said.

An online national census could miss low-income people who need internet access most, said National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates President Jackie Roberts. Policymakers use census data to see areas where internet access is needed. “Only 79 percent have broadband, and if you’re in a household with an income of $25,000 or less, that drastically drops." That makes following up offline with these households critical, Roberts said. The Census Bureau plans to mail hard copies to people who don’t respond online or by phone, said Associate Director-Communications Ali Ahmad.