Michigan Chair Seeks Lifeline Delay for States Unable to Meet Deadline
It could take until 2018 for Michigan to align its low-income program with updated federal rules adding broadband internet access service to Lifeline, and many other states are in the same boat, said Public Service Commission Chairwoman Sally Talberg in an interview Wednesday. Talberg sponsored a NARUC resolution urging the FCC to grant waiver requests to postpone the Dec. 2 deadline for states that need more time. It’s seen likely to pass at the state regulator association’s Nov. 13-16 meeting in La Quinta, California (see 1611010042). The FCC is "evaluating the waiver requests,” said a spokesman.
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Talberg supported the end goal of updating Lifeline, but said more time is needed. “We saw this as a pressing issue where there is conflicting eligibility criteria between the state program and the federal guidelines” released in spring by the federal commission, Talberg said. Syncing Michigan’s program with the federal rules requires statutory changes, an IT overhaul of the state’s Lifeline eligibility database, she said, “and a number of other steps that just for the state itself as well as the providers would create a lot of inefficiencies and potential confusion.”
That process could take 12 to 18 months in Michigan, depending on how soon state legislators act, then afterward how soon a separate state agency can update the database, PSC Telecom Division Director Robin Ancona told us. “We support broadband being made available as a supported discounted service to folks,” Ancona said. “We just need time to work through the details to make sure it’s done in the right way.”
“My sense is there’s pretty broad support from both the industry as well as individual states” for the resolution, Talberg said. A couple of commissioners from other states voiced interest in co-sponsoring the Lifeline resolution, she said. Talberg said she hasn’t heard any opposition. Ancona agreed, saying the resolution won’t stop or delay states that don’t have issues implementing the Lifeline changes by Dec. 2. A petition for waiver by USTelecom, which supported the NARUC draft resolution, flagged about half of all states and territories as potentially having trouble meeting the deadline.
Industry and state commissions supported the USTelecom petition in comments to the federal regulator last month (see 1610210046). By seeking comment and speaking with states, the FCC appears to be “trying to drill down to try and understand what are these issues that would necessitate an extension of the deadline,” Talberg said.
The Kentucky PSC last month aligned its Lifeline program with the federal rules, and Wednesday reminded the public of eligibility changes in a news release. Kentucky doesn’t have a commissioner on the NARUC Telecom Committee. “Changes at the federal level have pared down the list of programs that can be used to qualify for the Lifeline subsidy,” Kentucky PSC Chairman Michael Schmitt said in a statement. “But this should not affect many Kentuckians, as there are multiple other ways to qualify.” Adding broadband to Lifeline is significant, he said. “Like many other states, Kentucky has a digital divide between those with easy access to broadband internet service and those without. The Lifeline expansion could help close that gap.”