CPUC Nod Could End EBB Snafu in 3 States
The FCC might be close to resolving an enrollment issue affecting emergency broadband benefit (EBB) participation by some Lifeline eligible telecom carriers (ETCs) in California and two other states. TruConnect CEO Nathan Johnson told us Monday the California Public Utilities Commission delay responding to the FCC about a proposed alternative verification process (AVP) “has made trying to get people enrolled in California incredibly cumbersome to the point where a lot of carriers aren’t even bothering.” The FCC said it's working with the CPUC.
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Lifeline providers sought FCC approval for an AVP for California, Oregon and Texas, the three states that opted out of the national Lifeline accountability database (NLAD) and do their own eligibility verification. “In working with the Wireline Bureau staff, we had been asked to get guidance from the state commission staffs in the three opt-out states about sharing the administrators’ reports and Lifeline subscriber approvals with the national verifier and NLAD for the purposes of EBB enrollment,” said Kelley Drye attorney John Heitmann in a Tuesday interview. FCC staffers said they preferred to consider approval of AVPs for all three NLAD opt-out states simultaneously, he said.
Weeks after Oregon and Texas, CPUC staff said Monday that ETCs in California could use the California third-party administrator’s Lifeline eligibility determination information for the EBB AVP, subject to certain conditions, said Heitmann, a counsel for the National Lifeline Association. “We’re optimistic we can now close the loop and get an AVP approval secured within” the next seven days, “which will facilitate the widespread launch of the EBB and equal access to the EBB for Oregonians, Texans and Californians.”
“The providers have been working through the feasibility” of the proposed AVP “with both the CPUC and the FCC, and the FCC has also been working with the CPUC directly to make sure the proposal conforms with the statutory requirements and to make sure the existing EBB application and enrollment process is as smooth as possible,” an FCC spokesperson said Monday. The CPUC didn’t comment.
All the CPUC had to do was say yes, said TruConnect's Johnson. The CPUC delay concerned TruConnect because EBB funding available to consumers shrinks every day, said Johnson. The FCC let phone and cable facilities-based providers use their own verification, he said. California Cable and Telecommunications Association's larger members aren’t experiencing this problem, said CCTA President Carolyn McIntyre. Universal Service Administrative Co. also had talks with the CPUC, Johnson said. USAC didn’t comment.
The Utility Reform Network wants to iron out any wrinkles, but the issue might not affect as many customers as carriers suggest, said TURN Managing Director-San Diego Christine Mailloux. “There is a problem with the data transfer between the California program and the USAC EBB process, but everyone is aware of it and working on it.” There shouldn’t be delay for carriers signing up existing California LifeLine customers, she said: If a carrier is trying to sign up a new customer for both LifeLine and EBB, “there is an extra step in the process that may be delaying that customer’s eligibility determination and the carrier’s subsidy approval.”