NARUC Reveals Draft Resolutions on Lifeline, Separations
The Lifeline national verifier should be rolled out quickly with application programming interfaces sought by carriers, said a NARUC draft resolution released Tuesday. Other proposed telecom resolutions up for votes July 15-18 in Scottsdale, Arizona, relate to separations, IP captioned telephone service (IP CTS) and a precision agriculture bill pending in Congress.
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The FCC and Universal Service Administrative Co. should “work with the states to implement a properly functioning, consumer-friendly National Verifier without further delay,” says the Lifeline draft resolution by Vermont Public Utilities Commissioner Sarah Hofmann. It would urge the FCC to incorporate API into the national verifier so carriers may help Lifeline recipients with the enrollment process. TracFone and other Lifeline providers raised concerns about the lack of API (see 1806250032). A verifier without API could disconnect millions from enrollment, the draft says.
Another draft asks the Separations Joint Board to “make every effort to gather facts concerning network and accounting trends within the telecommunications industry.” If needed, the separations freeze should be extended two more years at most, despite Commissioner Mike O’Rielly seeking 15 years, says the draft by Colorado Public Utilities Commissioner Wendy Moser. Continuing the “interim freeze” holds back broadband deployment by allocating about 75 percent of a typical carrier’s loop costs and related expenses to states, “despite broadband being an interstate service,” it says. The draft asks the FCC to meaningfully participate in the joint board: “We are concerned State members of the Federal State Joint Board proposed solutions to this cost, revenue, expense misalignment has been stifled by the FCC process.”
A different Moser proposal would oppose the FCC’s June 8 initiative to expand the IP CTS contribution base by including a percentage of annual intrastate revenues from carriers including VoIP providers (see 1806080058). The proposed resolution “opposes redirecting more money into the current federal TRS fund at this time through a single combined contributions factor for IP-CTS, as it does nothing to stop the waste, fraud and abuse.” It would urge the FCC to require “user eligibility assessments that are sufficiently thorough and not biased towards the use of IP CTS technology.” The draft supports FCC restructuring IP CTS provider compensation rate methods “to align with a cost-based rate for IP CTS providers to discourage unethical sales practices.”
Congress should pass the Precision Agriculture Connectivity Act and ask the FCC to appoint state commissioners to the task force to be established by the bill, says a draft resolution by South Dakota Public Utilities Commissioner Chris Nelson. The House Communications Subcommittee cleared HR-4881 last month (see 1806130047). The FCC didn't comment right away on the draft resolutions.