Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)

FCC commissioners adopted an NPRM seeking comment on how it should craft rules for annual data collection on prices and subscription plans for services offerings through the affordable connectivity program (see 2206020058). The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act directed the commission to adopt rules for the data collection by November.

FCC commissioners will consider an NPRM during their June 8 meeting that would seek comment on rules for data collection of price and subscription rates of service offerings through the affordable connectivity program, said a sunshine notice Wednesday (see 2205170082). The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act mandated an annual data collection.

The National Tribal Telecommunications Association and WTA backed NTCA's request to waive FCC rules regarding the affordable connectivity program's uniform 30-day non-usage tracking requirement for small providers offering fully subsidized plans to households on tribal lands. It's "expensive for small service providers on a per-customer basis, and discourages small provider participation," said WTA, in comments posted Friday in docket 21-450 (see 2205180062). The rule may also harm consumers who were "away from their homes for extended periods" due to "innocent and legitimate causes," the group said. NTTA said its members' ability to track usage this way "does not currently exist outside of a labor-intensive, manual process." It supported a "billing month basis" instead. NTTA also backed delaying the rule's implementation until Sept. 15.

National Lifeline Association asked the FCC to reform the Lifeline program before affordable connectivity program funding runs out, in separate meetings with Wireline Bureau Chief Trent Harkrader and aides to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, said an ex parte posted Wednesday in docket 11-42 (see 2203180062). The group asked that minimum service standards be eliminated "in favor of opening up competition," eligibility be expanded and "reasonable benefit transfer" limits be adopted. NaLa also asked the FCC to adopt an eligible telecom carrier "safe harbor for reasonable reliance on eligibility determinations" through the National Verifier and National Lifeline Accountability Database. Lifeline "must be ready to support low-income households' broadband needs," NaLa said, adding that it backed a partial-month reimbursement.

The FCC Wireline Bureau wants comments by May 26 on NTCA's petition to waive the affordable connectivity program's rolling 30-day non-usage rule for small providers offering fully subsidized plans to tribal households, said a public notice Wednesday in docket 21-450 (see 2205130069). NTCA also asked as an alternative to set a Sept. 15 effective date for the rule.

NTCA asked the FCC to grant a waiver of the affordable connectivity program's "uniform, rolling 30-day" non-usage period for small providers that offer a fully subsidized plan to tribal households, said a petition posted Friday in docket 21-450. The group also sought a waiver for ACP subscribers that qualified through Lifeline. The rule "requires an automated functionality that many of these entities do not have," NTCA said, asking the FCC to allow small providers serving tribal consumers to abide by emergency broadband benefit program rules on non-usage. AT&T is also seeking a targeted waiver for consumers receiving asymmetric digital subscriber line services (see 2205090056).

More than 30 consumer advocacy organizations asked NTIA and the Biden administration to prioritize "consumers’ needs over the desires of industry" in its broadband programs funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, in a letter Thursday. "Universal equitable connectivity could be imperiled if the NTIA fails to use its congressional authority," the letter said, and NTIA should "set minimum standards, prescribe best practices, exercise oversight over the states’ proposals, and determine who can access a low-cost broadband plan." Public Knowledge, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, Consumer Reports, Electronic Frontier Foundation, MediaJustice and the Marconi Society were among the signers. NTIA should "require states to prioritize scalable, symmetrical projects," and "impart its expertise" as states plan for the various programs, the groups said. The agency should also ensure providers receiving broadband, equity, access, and deployment program support offer a low-cost plan separate from the FCC's affordable connectivity program because it could "leave customers in the lurch after just a few years when the ACP [affordable connectivity program] runs out of funding."

NTCA asked the FCC to consider reverting the affordable connectivity program's usage rules for asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) services to those in the emergency broadband benefit program "with a technical infeasiblity exemption where such measurement is not possible," in comments posted Friday in docket 21-450 (see 2204150057). The FCC sought comment on AT&T's petition to waive the requirement for its grandfathered plans that use ADSL technology. The group said some of its members faced problems with capturing usage of its ACP-enrolled customers using ADSL technology. NTCA opposed FCC action that "would result in its members forgoing reimbursement for a discount extended to a subscriber." AT&T's willingness to do so "highlights that strict compliance with the rule ... is neither feasible nor reasonable," NTCA said. AT&T also met with Wireline Bureau staff on its petition, per an ex parte posted Monday, saying its request is "limited to a small and targeted subset of potentially eligible wireline customers on grandfathered plans utilizing ADSL technology that is no longer supported by equipment manufacturers."

The Biden administration’s Monday announcement (see 2205060046) that 20 ISPs committed to offer low-income households broadband plans with download speeds of at least 100 Mbps at no more than $30 per month got a mixed reception among communications policy stakeholders. All of the participating ISPs -- which include Altice, AT&T, Charter, Comcast, Cox, Frontier, Mediacom and Verizon -- were already part of the FCC’s affordable connectivity program that subsidizes qualifying households’ broadband up to $30 per month. The White House said the participating ISPs cover more than 80% of the U.S. population.

NTCA asked FCC Wireline Bureau staff to reconsider the affordable connectivity program's non-usage rules or grant additional time for companies serving tribal consumers, said an ex parte posted Wednesday in docket 21-450 (see 2204150057). Some of the group's smaller members "will have substantial difficulty with" the rules, Vice President-Federal Regulatory Brian Ford told staff, noting at least one member company serving customers on tribal lands with fully subsidized plans would need to use an automated process for tracking usage because doing so manually "would be nearly impossible." Tribal areas "pose unique challenges," Ford said, and it's "important to reconcile reasonably the prospect of a new program intended to increase broadband adoption in these areas and a non-usage provision that applied too strictly could undermine the success of these efforts."