Consultant Backs NTCA Lifeline Waiver Petition as NaLA Lobbies on Delay
The FCC should grant an NTCA petition for waiver of a Dec. 1 update to minimum standards and voice support for the Lifeline program, said comments posted in docket 11-42 late last week by rural LEC consulting firm TCA. Increasing…
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the minimum broadband service requirement to 20 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream could force consumers to buy more-expensive packages, TCA said. The Oregon Public Utility Commission also supported the waiver (see 1908290039). Don't "force Lifeline consumers’ to bear a higher cost of service by forcing them to subscribe to more expensive broadband service tiers to retain their Lifeline support,” TCA asked. The FCC should take up NTCA’s proposal to grandfather current speeds, while allowing customers to voluntarily shift to higher ones, the firm said. “Granting this waiver will ensure participants of the Lifeline Program remain connected by either voice or broadband as well as help RLECs be the link for keeping low-income customers connected.” The National Lifeline Association and Q Link Wireless spoke with an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel in support of a CTIA petition seeking a pause of the Dec. 1 change to minimum service standards. “If left unchanged, the December 2019 minimum service standards will effectively impose a $30/month price increase on Lifeline subscribers -- a price increase that these subscribers cannot afford,” they filed. NaLA and Q Link urged ensuring the national verifier doesn’t proceed to hard launch in any state “until a robust” application programming interface and access to state/federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid databases are in place. State regulators said similar last week (see reports, Aug. 30 and Sept. 3).