Today: FCC Lifeline Broadband Designations, FCC Broadband Privacy Rules
FCC Lifeline Broadband Designations
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai responded to several Senators who expressed concern over the FCC’s decision revoking the Lifeline Broadband Provider designation of several carriers. See the Regulatory Mix dated 2/6/17. In addition to citing various procedural issues with the applications, he also expresses concern “as to whether the FCC has the legal authority to designate Lifeline providers or whether such designations must be made by state governments, as has long been the case. State regulatory agencies have a substantial legal challenge to the entire process of the FCC designating Lifeline Broadband Providers, arguing that it is unlawful, and the FCC itself recently asked the court for additional time to consider this issue…The FCC has repeatedly, and for many years, recognized states' primary role in this area. By preempting the states' role in certification, the federal designations could run afoul of this legal framework. Putting the designations on hold gives the FCC the chance to make sure the process is legally defensible and avoids potentially stranding customers if the courts ultimately deem the process unlawful.”
Pai also repeated his concern that the safeguards against waste, fraud, and abuse of the program were not strong enough, noting that “every dollar that is spent on subsidizing somebody who doesn't need the help by definition does not go to someone who does” and suggesting that “our federal safeguards are insufficient: My investigation last year into these matters revealed that providers could indiscriminately override checks that are supposed to prevent wasteful and fraudulent activities… We need to make sure that safeguards are strong and effective in order to direct subsidies to American consumers who most need the help.”
FCC Broadband Privacy Rules
Chairman Pai responded to several Senators who expressed their opposition to the FCC’s decision to delay implementation of FCC’s Broadband privacy rule data security requirements that were scheduled to take effect March 2, 2017. See the Regulatory Mix dated 3/3/17. TMI Briefing Service subscribers see Briefing dated 3/2/17. Pai defended the FCC’s decision saying that “[m]y view is that there should be a comprehensive and consistent framework for protecting digital privacy. There should not be one standard for Internet service providers and another for other online companies. The government should not treat one set of companies differently than others. Unfortunately, the prior FCC stripped the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of its jurisdiction over Internet service providers' privacy practices, creating a disjointed online privacy framework that disregards consumers' uniform expectation of privacy and tilts the regulatory playing field.” He noted that he had previously indicated his belief that jurisdiction should be returned to the FTC but saying that “until that happens, my hope is that the FCC and the FTC will work together to establish a simple, unified framework that protects all consumers. The data security requirement adopted by the Commission was not consistent with the FTC's standards. Accordingly, in order to provide an opportunity to harmonize the Commission's rules for Internet service providers with the FTC's existing standards, we granted a narrow stay of the data security rule before it could take effect on March 2. The stay will remain in place until the FCC is able to rule on the pending petitions for reconsideration of the privacy rules. The stay is thus simply a necessary stopgap measure as we work toward a unified online privacy system.”
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The Regulatory Mix, TMI’s daily blog of telecom related 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 Briefing.
TMI Telecom Regulatory Seminar and Workshop May 9 & 10, 2017
