Lifeline Advocates Hit Pai Plan to Scrap LBPs, But O'Rielly Doubted LBP Authority

Lifeline advocates knocked FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's plans to roll back the agency's process for designating Lifeline broadband providers (LBPs), which he said usurped state authority. Senior House Democrats blasted the decision and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn voiced disappointment. Some said Pai wasn't living up to his rhetoric to close the "digital divide," but others praised him, including a key Republican senator. Although Commissioner Mike O'Rielly didn't comment, he previously said he didn't believe the FCC could bypass state authority to designate USF-eligible telecom carriers (ETCs) for Lifeline. Pai announced he would begin a proceeding to scrap the LBP process and said he didn't believe staff in the meantime should approve pending LBP applications (see 1703290025).

“This is another attempt by President [Donald] Trump's FCC to inflict death by a thousand cuts on the Lifeline program," said a statement from House Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., Communications Subcommittee Ranking Mike Doyle, D-Pa., and Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif. "Through lawyerly maneuvering, the FCC is trying to disguise its efforts to eliminate a system designed to make it easier for anyone who needs access to broadband to get it -- no matter where they live. We will continue to fight for this important program that keeps struggling families across the country connected.”

Pai's statement "confirms that under this Administration low-income Americans will have less choice for Lifeline broadband, and potential providers who want to serve low-income Americans will face greater barriers to entry and regulatory uncertainty," said a Clyburn statement. "While today's announcement is not surprising, it is nonetheless deeply disappointing.”

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., defended Pai's move. “Giving states authority over designating Lifeline providers is what Congress has always intended. States play a crucial role in ensuring that Lifeline is run honestly and efficiently," he said in a statement. "Chairman Pai is correcting FCC overreach that threatened accountability and, therefore, the success of the Lifeline program. I thank Commerce Committee Senators [Deb] Fischer [R-Neb.] and [Tom] Udall [D-N.M.] for their leadership in supporting the role of states to prevent waste and abuse in the effort to connect Americans to the internet through broadband.”

In dissenting from a Lifeline overhaul order, O'Rielly had said he didn't believe the FCC had "authority to completely bypass the statutorily-set state role in designating ETCs." Congress was the appropriate venue for any such change," he said in his April 2016 statement: The commission "would have been on much firmer ground if it had taken a shot clock approach.”

Gigi Sohn, a top aide to previous Chairman Tom Wheeler, said Pai defies FCC will by opposing Wireline Bureau approval of pending LBP applications. "He has a right to bring this to a vote of the full commission, but he doesn’t have the right to unilaterally decide that applications meeting the standards for LBP will not be granted," she told us. Sohn, an Open Society Foundations fellow, also said Pai "beat up" Wheeler for allegedly committing "process fouls and being an imperial chair," but Pai is "acting in the same way" he accused Wheeler of acting.

The FCC Wireline Bureau did give Boomerang Wireless an additional 60 days to comply with requirements of its LBP revocation decision, given the provider's need to transition existing broadband subscribers, said an order in docket 09-197.

Pai "again says one thing and does another," emailed Cheryl Leanza, a United Church of Christ, Office of Communications policy adviser. "He wants good headlines, but make no mistake, if he renders a decision to revoke or fail to grant LBP designations, he is revoking low-income people's access to broadband. Some of the providers impacted by his decision were offering the lowest cost, most innovative models of broadband access. Actions speak louder than words: we will not be fooled by Chairman Pai's claims to care about closing the 'digital divide' when in fact he is taking steps to widen it.”

Free Press said Pai "misreads the law to limit Lifeline options." He "claims that he cares about expanding affordable internet access but hides behind misguided legal theories to slow down Lifeline modernization," said Senior Counsel Jessica González in a statement. "He talks the talk on the need to bridge the digital divide but fails to walk the walk.”

Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., lauded Pai for his plans to withdraw the FCC from its defense of LBP provisions against a state legal challenge. "As a former North Dakota Public Service Commissioner regulating the Lifeline Program in North Dakota, I’m grateful for Chairman Pai’s continued recognition of states’ rights, and I agree with his comments that ‘states are the best cops on the beat’ when it comes to overseeing Lifeline," Cramer said in a statement. "As I mentioned when I introduced the PSC Oversight Act back in February, the FCC doesn’t have the authority, the manpower, or the local knowledge to police the entire program at a national level. That’s why the states are so important in maintaining the integrity of this program. It’s my hope we can move this legislation through Congress so future Administrations are prohibited from bringing back this overreaching rule.”

Free State Foundation President Randolph May said he believes in policies oriented toward the free market but also is a longtime supporter of Lifeline as a safety net as long as it's properly structured and efficiently run. "I think Chairman Pai will also be shown to be a supporter of a properly structured, efficient Lifeline program," May emailed. "He made clear last year that he believed the Commission erred as a matter of law in creating a federal Lifeline broadband provider designation process. I certainly don’t fault him for acting on his belief that extension of Lifeline to broadband services must rest on a sound legal foundation, not just on policy predilections. I think those, like me, who favor Lifeline as an effective means of closing the digital divide, understand Chairman Pai’s action and don’t take it as inconsistent with support for Lifeline."