Pai Defends FCC Lifeline Moves to Lawmakers Voicing Concerns
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai defended the agency's Lifeline USF actions and proposals to lawmakers who voiced concern about their ramifications for the low-income subsidy program. "I am committed to bridging the digital divide, and, like you, I believe the Lifeline…
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program can help do just that," he wrote, responding to Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and four colleagues in an exchange posted Friday in docket 18-5. He said a November order "seeks to focus Lifeline support where it is most needed and incentivize investment in networks that enable 21st century connectivity for all America" (see 1711160021). But he's also "committed to ensuring that the Commission fulfills its obligation to be a responsible steward" of USF by strengthening Lifeline's "efficacy and integrity by reducing the waste, fraud and abuse that has run rampant in this program for the better part of a decade." An accompanying NPRM "sought comment" on various "measures to improve" program administration, "from re-empowering state commissions to police Lifeline carriers to partnering with states to stand up the National Verifier, from improving program audits to adopting a self-enforcing budget." He sent the same response to Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., (here), and similar responses to Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Robert Casey, R-Pa., (here) and Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., (here). "I agree with you that the National Verifier will be one important tool in eliminating this waste, fraud, and abuse. But it is not the only one, nor will it solve all the problems with the program. It simply isn't prudent to sit idly by when hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars are at stake," he told the last three. Pai also defended, in a response to Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., (here) the FCC's Lifeline tribal changes, which he said will spur broadband investment while preserving basic support for low-income Native Americans.