February 3, 2017–The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau released an order on reconsideration today rescinding Lifeline broadband provider (LBP) designation for nine carriers, citing the need to take more steps to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse in the program. The order was among a slew of items released today rescinding or retracting items released shortly before FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler left the agency last month (see separate story).The order on reconsideration released today reconsidered orders that had designated the following providers as Lifeline broadband providers (LBP): Spot On Networks LLC, Boomerang Wireless LLC, KonaTel, Inc., STS Media, Inc., Applied Research Designs, Inc., Kajeet, Inc., Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico LLC, Northland Cable Television, Inc., and Wabash Independent Networks, Inc.

The Wireline Competition Bureau had designated the carriers as LBPs in orders released in December and January. “The Bureau sets aside those orders, revokes the LBP designations for those providers, returns those petitions for LBP designation to their status as petitions pending before the Bureau, and removes them from streamlined treatment in light of the considerations discussed below,” according to the order, which was adopted in WC dockets 09-197 and 11-42.

“We find that reconsidering the above-listed petitions for designation as an LBP would promote program integrity by providing the Bureau with additional time to consider measures that might be necessary to prevent further waste, fraud, and abuse in the Lifeline program,” the bureau said. “Recent investigations in the Lifeline program raise concerns that substantial waste, fraud, and abuse appears to continue to exist in the program. For example, in December 2016 the Enforcement Bureau entered into a consent decree with Total Call Mobile, in which Total Call Mobile admitted to violating Lifeline program rules to claim reimbursement for duplicate and ineligible consumers and paid a settlement of $30 million. The Universal Service Administrative Company has also indicated that at least 16 other major Lifeline wireless resellers have used tactics similar to Total Call Mobile’s.” Continue reading →

February 3, 2017–In actions taken at the bureau and office level today, the FCC has terminated investigations into the zero-rating and sponsored-data offerings of several providers and rescinded a notice of inquiry and various orders, reports, white papers, and guidance issued during the tenure of former Democratic Chairman Tom Wheeler—sparking sharp criticism from the agency’s only remaining Democratic Commissioner that no adequate explanation was offered for the rescissions. In addition to the zero-rating inquiry, issues covered by the rescinded items include the agency’s efforts to modernize its Lifeline and E-rate programs; cybersecurity risk reduction; guidance on the processing of proposals for broadcast shared services agreements; and 5G wireless network and device security.

Most of the actions and items rescinded were only a few weeks old, but rescinded letters stemming from the zero-rating investigation date back as far as late 2015, and the guidance on broadcast sharing arrangements dates back to March 2014. The rescissioning began yesterday when the Media Bureau set aside an order on reconsideration aimed at promoting broadcast ownership diversity adopted in early January.  The bureau said that it has concluded that petitions for reconsideration to which it was responding would be “more appropriately handled at the Commission level” (TRDaily, Feb. 2).

Today, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai explained that the rescissions were in response to the adoption of “midnight regulations” under his predecessor.  “In the waning days of the last Administration, the Federal Communications Commission’s Bureaus and Offices released a series of controversial orders and reports. In some cases, Commissioners were given no advance notice whatsoever of these midnight regulations. In other cases, they were issued over the objection of two of the four Commissioners. And in all cases, their release ran contrary to the wishes expressed by the leadership of our congressional oversight committees. These last-minute actions, which did not enjoy the support of the majority of Commissioners at the time they were taken, should not bind us going forward. Accordingly, they are being revoked,” Chairman Pai said.

Commissioner Mignon L. Clyburn, the only Democrat remaining on the Commission, criticized the actions. “Today is apparently ‘take out the trash day.’ In an eponymous episode of the West Wing, White House Chief of Staff Josh Lyman stated: ‘Any stories we have to give the press that we’re not wild about, we give all in a lump on Friday . . . Because no one reads the paper on Saturday.’ Today multiple Bureaus retract—without a shred of explanation—several items released under the previous administration that focus on competition, consumer protection, cybersecurity and other issues core to the FCC’s mission,” she said. “In the past, then-Commissioner Pai was critical of the agency majority for not providing sufficient reasoning behind its decisions, citing specifically to the Supreme Court case Fox v. FCC which states: ‘[T]he requirement that an agency provide reasoned explanation for its action would ordinarily demand that it display awareness that it is changing position. An agency may not, for example, depart from a prior policy sub silentio,’” she added. Continue reading →

February 1, 2017–The four nationwide wireless carriers don’t plan to use an FCC form for the reports they plan to file Feb. 3 on initial 911 location accuracy live call data, but they plan to modify a carrier consensus format for subsequent quarterly reports, CTIA told the FCC in an ex parte filing yesterday in PS docket 07-114. “The nationwide carriers are refining their initial quarterly Live Call Data reports, consistent with the report format submitted by CTIA on December 15, 2016 (carrier format). On January 18, 2017, the [Public Safety and Homeland Security] Bureau released a public notice and new report form (FCC Form) directing wireless carriers to ‘break out live call data for each Test City or relevant service area’ and include additional data not included in the carrier format. The nationwide carriers will work diligently and in good faith to modify the IT and analytic systems designed around the carrier format to align with the new FCC Form for future reports.

“Carriers will determine when those system changes can be completed and may follow up with Bureau staff as needed. Carriers will also provide the reports to APCO, NENA and NASNA, once appropriate confidentiality protections are in place. As noted in CTIA’s January 9, 2016 ex parte filing, during a meeting between the nationwide carriers, CTIA, and FCC staff, ‘all agreed upcoming compliance certifications will be based solely on data aggregated across all six monitoring regions….’ Continue reading →