OK Lifeline Waiver Extension, Navajo Nation Asks FCC

OK Smith Bagley’s request for a six-month extension on Lifeline verification waivers for providers serving the Navajo Nation, asked Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Navajo Nation Telecommunications Regulatory Commission Chairman Arvin Trujillo in a letter to FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel posted Monday in docket 11-42. Navajos are five times as likely as “the average American” to contract and die from COVID-19 and the Navajo Nation has instituted curfews, occupancy limits and other “drastic steps” to slow the disease’s spread, they wrote. The FCC Lifeline usage requirement is a concern, because many Navajos lack consistent access to electricity, they said.