Lifeline is Headed in the Right Direction (We Hope)

The effort to modernize the troubled Lifeline program appears to be moving in the right direction. AT&T has long supported the need to fix the program’s glaring administrative problems while allowing Lifeline eligible consumers to use their $9.25 discount on Internet access services. The Federal Communications Commission’s fact sheet outlined plans for a National Eligibility Verifier that should take eligibility decisions out of service providers’ hands, which truly has the potential to be a transformative change if properly implemented. What’s not clear in the fact sheet, however, is how long it will take before providers can stop performing all of these functions and whether the National Eligibility Verifier will take over any of the other administrative functions that providers are currently required to perform. We also appreciate the proposal’s acknowledgement that legacy Lifeline rules impose costs and burdens on providers that discourage their participation.

Of course, the news is not all encouraging. While a fact sheet is not much to go on, the one change that could ensure the most competitive options for consumers is nowhere to be seen. And that is reform of the FCC’s legacy eligible telecommunications carrier (ETC) regime that continues to require all Lifeline providers to be ETCs and makes all high-cost ETCs participate in Lifeline. There is unprecedented joint support from consumer groups and providers for not requiring Lifeline providers to be ETCs. Modernizing the ETC rules is long overdue, and the FCC now has a golden opportunity to get the change started in this order. It is also hard to imagine how the Commission can justify phasing out Lifeline support for standalone wireless voice but continue to support standalone wireline voice.