Oklahoma Asks FCC to Wait on Lifeline Broadband ETC Applications
A state commission urged the FCC to delay processing several companies' applications to be Lifeline broadband providers until the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit resolves states’ appeal of the FCC Lifeline order extending the low-income program to…
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broadband. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission Public Utilities Division (PUD) submitted a request Thursday in docket 09-197 to hold in abeyance the application of Blue Jay Wireless for FCC designation as an eligible telecom carrier under the Lifeline broadband program. The Blue Jay application is one of the first since the FCC pre-empted states for Lifeline ETC designation. The PUD said it’s unresolved whether the FCC has authority to pre-empt states and issue its own designations, a question that is the subject of the D.C. Circuit case. It’s also unresolved what role state regulatory agencies will have in monitoring activities of federally designated broadband ETCs, a question that's the subject of a Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission petition for clarification at the FCC, it said. “PUD is concerned about the potential negative impacts to the Lifeline market if the FCC grants ETC designation where statutory authority does not exist and the loss of what, to date, has been effective oversight by states, such as Oklahoma, of the ETCs participating in the Lifeline market.” OCC asked the FCC to hold off on several more applications in the docket Friday. Earlier last week, NARUC asked the D.C. Circuit to reject an FCC motion to suspend review of the Lifeline order pending agency resolution of petitions to reconsider parts of its recent overhaul of the low-income telecom subsidy program (see 1610120050).