FCC June Lifeline Rules Cleared, Could Take Effect Feb. 4; Rural Telcos Back Snapshot Rule Change

Lifeline USF rules in a June FCC order will become effective as early as Feb. 4, said a Wireline Bureau public notice posted Friday in docket 11-42. The rules strengthen document retention requirements, ensure only Eligible Telecom Carriers directly serving low-income customers receive Lifeline reimbursement, and require ETCs to use a uniform snapshot date to request reimbursement, the PN said. Related FCC information collection requirements were modified and approved by the Office of Management and Budget Jan. 5 after a Paperwork Reduction Act review, the PN said, noting parties should expect 10 listed rules “to become effective on or after" Feb. 4. Rural telco groups recently urged the FCC to reconsider the snapshot rule that requires ETCs to report their Lifeline subscriber numbers as of the first of each month. The requirement will at times prevent rural ETCs from being reimbursed for providing Lifeline benefits, said John Staurulakis Inc., NTCA and WTA in a filing posted Wednesday. “To eliminate the need for costly billing system changes or the use of burdensome manual processes ... the Commission should allow RLEC ETCs to take a ‘snapshot’ of their number of subscribers as of their carrier-specific billing dates,” they said. Addressing the FCC’s current rulemaking to modernize Lifeline, the rural groups voiced concerns about proposed use of a third party to verify consumer low-income eligibility. Saying rural consumers were accustomed to ETCs taking care of such administrative details, they asked the commission to allow them to collect and forward eligibility documents to any third-party verifier. In a filing posted Friday, Public Knowledge repeated support for expanding Lifeline to broadband coverage and further explained why it believed the FCC has legal authority to allow service to be provided by non-ETCs. FCC officials have said they could act soon on the rulemaking. “We’re hopeful for February, and if not February, then we’re very hopeful for March,” Phillip Berenbroick, PK counsel-government affairs, told us.