Telrite Defends Lifeline-Supported Broadband Plans in Response to TracFone, Sprint
Telrite said its Lifeline-backed broadband plans and devices fully comply with the 2016 FCC order expanding low-income telecom subsidies to broadband service, and are made possible by a 12-month "port freeze" that prevents service "flipping." A Telrite letter Monday in…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
docket 11-42 responded to recent submissions from TracFone raising concerns about port-freeze practices and from Sprint raising questions about Wi-Fi use (see 1701230039). Telrite's broadband plans and devices "comply with the letter and the spirit" of the Lifeline order, which placed a "premium on the development of innovative service offerings, including Wi-Fi services," the company wrote: Its various plans and devices "are made possible because the 12-month benefit port freeze has helped to curb abusive 'flipping' and to incentivize additional investment in innovative services, such as Premium Wi-Fi." Telrite believes the order doesn't require Lifeline providers to give consumers smartphones "to meet the mobile minimum broadband minimum service standards or qualify for the 12-month benefit port freeze." It also urged the FCC to declare its premium Wi-Fi service meets a broadband definition and may be used to meet minimum service standards.