Minor Changes Sought to Draft FCC ACP Rules
FCC draft rules for the $14.2 billion affordable connectivity program were widely welcomed as more consumer protection provisions were included and several ACP changes were made to reflect challenges seen during the emergency broadband benefit program, industry and advocacy groups told us. Some sought minor changes to rules governing participating providers and connected devices. Rules must be finalized by Friday as required by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
“Many of the decisions are spot-on,” emailed National Lifeline Association attorney John Heitmann. He said he raised some concerns in meetings with aides to commissioners and Wireline Bureau staff that are “likely attributable to correctable drafting errors forced by the ultra-compressed timeline.”
The draft is more consumer-friendly because the infrastructure law required that, said Public Knowledge Senior Policy Counsel Jenna Leventoff: The FCC “also had the benefit of seeing what worked and what didn't with EBB.” The agency “did a really Herculean job in a compressed amount of time,” said United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry Policy Adviser Cheryl Leanza.
The commission is "working diligently to meet the [ACP's] statutory deadlines to promulgate rules," emailed a spokesperson Wednesday. "Congress gave the FCC a very short window to stand up [ACP] and working with a hyper-accelerated schedule during the holidays, we’ve proven that we are up to the task with this draft," said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel: "We faced similar circumstances creating [EBB] and met our statutory deadlines. So, I look forward to working with my colleagues to do the same with this new program. I know we can get this done.”
The proposal to adopt a hybrid approach for households transitioning from EBB to ACP was welcomed by most groups. The draft “gets a lot right, especially with respect to the transition of EBB subscribers to the ACP,” NaLa said in an ex parte filing Wednesday in docket 21-450. It’s “the best result we were likely to get,” NTCA Director-Industry Affairs Brian Ford told us. It was a “smart way to balance competing interests,” Leventoff said.
Stakeholder Hopes
Others would have preferred a more uniform opt-in policy.
Free Press “opposed the notion of switching customers to lower-priced plans without their express consent first” to prevent bill shock for transitioning households, said Vice President-Policy Matt Wood. “[We] recognize the complex considerations in play and the speed at which this transition is moving,” Wood said, so “we're still optimistic that the program will land at a good balance.”
The FCC is "making the right call to steer clear of a uniform opt-in approach for all legacy EBB households that transition to the ACP, as this would likely result in significant and detrimental de-enrollments," emailed Internet Innovation Alliance Co-Chair Kim Keenan: "The commission should focus on implementing the program in a way that is efficient and encourages participation in the program for both consumers and providers."
Industry groups wanted the agency to address benefit transfers, with some raising concerns about potential abuse of that practice during EBB (see 2110150043). The draft rules would require providers to receive and document informed consent from consumers before performing a benefit transfer, and limit transfers to one per month unless it's done improperly. “We're very pleased with that,” Ford said, saying the FCC should ensure the process is as smooth as possible. There "are issues on which we adamantly though respectfully disagree,” Heitmann said: “Although everyone would have liked more time to work on this, this is another case where a public review and comment period for a draft FCC order should lead to a better outcome for all.”
The Wireless ISP Association told Wireline Bureau staff its members had some concerns, per a filing Tuesday. The FCC declined to allow partial reimbursement "at this time" in the draft rules, and WISPA asked that it "establish a timeline for consideration of the procedures that would be needed to allow for partial reimbursement." Some providers asked the FCC to reconsider its 90-day de-enrollment provision for nonpayment. Providers would be required to re-enroll customers without collecting outstanding balances, said Cincinnati Bell, asking the FCC to "revise the draft rules to allow providers to deny re-enrollment of customers with past due balances or require a reasonable payment plan at the time of re-enrollment," in a letter Wednesday.
Several groups had concerns about the draft rules for connected devices. ACP households that received a connected device wouldn’t be eligible for a device if they received one through EBB. It’s “disappointing” because some households don’t adopt broadband if they don’t have a device, Leventoff said. The proposed rules for connected devices "would severely diminish the number of participating providers that are willing to sell such devices and the number of devices they are willing to procure and make available to eligible households," NaLa told FCC staff. Staff appeared receptive to Heitmann’s concerns, he said.
A coalition of groups is starting to focus on a forthcoming Further NPRM on ACP outreach grants. The National Digital Inclusion Alliance was “pleased” to see “numerous consumer protections” included and that the FCC plans to act on providing outreach grants, emailed Policy Director Amy Huffman. New America’s Open Technology Institute will likely file comments with others that have been working on the ground, said Policy Analyst Claire Park. More than a dozen groups asked the FCC to "hire vendors to conduct culturally competent outreach" in a filing Wednesday. Funding for community outreach will “be a critical indicator” of the uptake of ACP, Leanza said, saying it remains unclear when the grant funding will be available because the comment period hasn’t started.