FCC Waives Lifeline Requirements for Maui Wildfires
The full FCC is temporarily waiving some Lifeline program eligibility rules to make consumers receiving federal disaster assistance eligible to enroll in the program, said an order Friday. “Because of the exigent circumstances arising from the Hawai’i Wildfires, we find…
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that there is good cause for further action to ensure that consumers in the affected areas receive critical assistance for their communications needs,” the order said. The waiver will permit households to enter the Lifeline program if they're receiving individual assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Individuals and Households Program due to the Hawai’i wildfires, regardless of whether they matched most of the usual requirements for Lifeline. Only households in Maui County would be eligible, but if FEMA expands its assistance the FCC waiver would also cover the additional households, the order said. The order waives the rules for six months but delegates authority to the Wireline Bureau to expand the time frame if needed. A disaster information reporting service release Friday showed 14,147 cable and wireline subscribers without service in the areas affected by the fires, but all 21 cellsites in the region were listed as up and running.