The FCC goes live in Maryland this week...

The FCC goes live in Maryland this week with a new database for Lifeline, intended to ease some concerns over waste and fraud. The database, which includes social services and LexisNexis records, will allow phone companies to check to make sure no others in a household are receiving Lifeline when someone applies for the discounted phone service, said Telecommunications Access Policy Division Chief Kim Scardino at the NARUC Winter Committee meeting Saturday. The database will be rolled out next week in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Washington states, with the rest of the nation to follow, she said. She said the program will also allow screeners to tell if someone signed up for the service through another carrier, or used up his or her minutes and is trying to sign up through a new carrier. She said that over the past 2-1/2 years, the FCC has manually scrubbed Lifeline’s rolls, saving $250 million. But Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable General Counsel Paul Abbott said 98 percent of those scrubbed in the state were removed because they didn’t respond to attempts to reach them to resolve questions. “I don’t know if there was waste or abuse involved,” he said on a panel about Lifeline data collection. Stephen Athanson, regulatory counsel for TracFone Wireless, expressed concern LexisNexis doesn’t include all people, which may lead to some people being disqualified without further verification of their address. Members of Congress have attacked Lifeline, citing the program’s rising cost due to wireless company participation and other alleged shortfalls.