NARUC Members Clash on Proposed Lifeline Support Limits

Expect lively debate about Lifeline at the NARUC annual meeting Nov. 11-15 in Baltimore, said Telecom Committee members and staff in interviews. In separate NARUC telecom draft resolutions, Nebraska Public Service Commissioner Crystal Rhoades and District of Columbia PSC Chairman Betty Ann Kane disagreed whether Lifeline should support reseller services (see 1710310051). The conflict is likely to be the “hot item” at the NARUC meeting and already is spurring discussion and lobbying, said NARUC Telecommunications Staff Subcommittee Chair Lynn Notarianni, from the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. A less contentious draft resolution aims to show a united front by states in favor of requiring direct dialing of 911 in hotels and other enterprises, said Colorado PUC Commissioner Wendy Moser.

Kane supports limiting Lifeline support to facilities-based providers capable of providing broadband, but Rhoades strongly disagrees with that part of the FCC Lifeline proposal scheduled for vote at federal commissioners’ Nov. 16 meeting (see 1710270013). The state commissioners told us they haven’t spoken to each other about their disagreement. “We’ll be speaking, and the staff will be speaking,” Kane said. The D.C. chair welcomes disagreement on resolutions because otherwise “it kind of gets boring,” she said. Rhoades predicted “a lively and robust discussion at NARUC.” While disagreeing on “this specific issue,” the Nebraska commissioner agrees with the Kane resolution’s support for several other aspects of the FCC Lifeline item.

Most states haven’t had much time to digest everything in the FCC proposal, said Notarianni, who’s also the Colorado PUC Telecom Section chief. But “putting a resolution out there, even if it gets modified a lot, may be one way to quickly bring it to discussion” at the NARUC meeting, she said. States widely support many aspects of the FCC Lifeline proposal, especially codifying a strong state role in the eligible telecom carrier certification process, she said. But views on whether Lifeline should support resellers “probably will vary considerably across the states” and possibly even “within the state,” said Notarianni.

The USF is meant to support infrastructure investment in addition to customer access, Kane said. Funding providers that aren’t investing in infrastructure “is going the wrong direction” and wireless won’t provide as high quality a connection, the D.C. PSC chair said. “I just don’t want to see second-class broadband service.” And there are “more opportunities for waste, fraud and abuse” with mobile Lifeline services than with fixed, she said.

More than 75 percent of low-income families in the Lifeline program use non-facilities-based carriers, argued Rhoades. Requiring support only for facilities-based services could effectively kill the Lifeline program because there won’t be enough providers, she said. It may not be economically viable for resellers to build out their own plant, and it doesn’t make policy sense to overbuild existing networks, she said. “The Lifeline program is not the part of USF that is designed or was ever intended to facilitate building out of the network,” she said. “It’s also incredibly disingenuous to somehow connect waste, fraud and abuse to a restriction on the type of carrier.”

The NARUC draft resolution on E-911 would signal to Congress that states think passing Kari’s Law is a priority, said resolution author Moser in an interview. The pending bill is named after a woman who died during an attack in a hotel room after her 9-year-old daughter couldn't directly dial 911 without first entering an additional “9.” The draft resolution also supports related actions in the FCC’s September notice of inquiry on 911 provision by enterprise communications systems (ECS), including their ability to support direct 911 dialing, proper routing to emergency call centers and automatic location information (see 1709260040). Requiring ECS providers to have direct 911 dialing would ensure that “when we teach our kids 911, it really is 911 no matter where" you are, Moser said.

A few state legislatures have passed bills like Kari’s Law, but a national requirement would be better because it would cover everyone, Moser said. Some hotel chains voluntarily implemented direct dial to 911 after the Kari incident, but many still haven't, increasing confusion for consumers about whether they can direct dial, she said. While still collecting feedback, Notarianni said she doesn’t expect major pushback on the proposed resolution.