The Regulatory Mix, TMI’s daily blog of regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court, issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of a TMI Regulatory Bulletin.
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USAC
USAC has released a summary of upcoming state-specific deadlines in connection with the Lifeline duplicate dispute resolution process. (Duplicate dispute resolution is the process carriers must follow to de-enroll subscribers receiving more than one Lifeline benefit.)
Upcoming Letter Mailing Dates: On the following dates, USAC will send a letter to the subscriber alerting them to select a single Lifeline Program carrier within 35 days. Subscribers will also receive a postcard and automated phone call reminder during this 35-day period.
June 3: Pennsylvania
June 6: South Carolina
June 10: Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, and Wisconsin
Upcoming Subscriber Selection Deadlines (End of 35 Day Call-In Period): If the subscriber fails to respond to the letter by the date listed below, the randomly-selected default carrier (indicated on the letter) will be designated on the subscriber's behalf.
June 3: Michigan
June 10: Kentucky, Nebraska, North Dakota, Virginia, and Alabama
Upcoming De-Enroll Start Dates: On the dates listed below, the Duplicate Resolution De-Enroll Report will become available in the National Lifeline Accountability Database (NLAD), detailing which subscribers will be de-enrolled from NLAD. The carrier must de-enroll these subscribers from its internal company systems within 5 business days of this date. This date is also the first day that carriers can perform a benefit transfer on subscribers that were identified in the duplicate resolution process. If a subscriber would like to change their single Lifeline Program carrier, they must contact their preferred carrier and request a benefit transfer.
May 29: Ohio
June 3: Maine, Mississippi, Rhode Island, and West Virginia
June 5: Georgia
June 10: Delaware, District of Columbia, and Missouri
Upcoming De-Enroll Deadlines: Carriers must de-enroll subscribers from their internal company systems by the date listed below. From this date forward, carriers may not include these subscribers on FCC Forms 497 for reimbursement.
May 28: Oklahoma
May 29: Louisiana and Washington
June 3: Massachusetts
June 5: Ohio
June 10: Maine, Mississippi, Rhode Island, and West Virginia
Minnesota
The PUC is asking for comment on CenturyLink’s request for a variance from the PUC’s rule governing service interruptions. Specifically, CenturyLink is asking that it be allowed to clear 85% of all out-of-service troubles within 24 hours of the time the trouble is reported, as opposed to the 95% in the current rule. Comments on the request may be filed until June 12, 2014.
The PUC also agreed to CenturyLink’s request that it open a rulemaking to consider changes to its service quality rules, parts 7810.4100 through 7810.6100. The PUC directed that a request for comments be issued to solicit specific language suggestions and substantive evidence supporting any such suggested changes. TMI Regulatory Bulletin Service subscribers, watch for a TMI Bulletin when the request for comment is issued.
