Today:  FTC Announces Details and Schedule for its Seventh Hearing on Competition and Consumer Protection, FCC Waiver Request for Lifeline Eligibility Certifications, FCC Designates Lawfulness of Tariff Revisions for Investigation

FTC Announces Details and Schedule for its Seventh Hearing on Competition and Consumer Protection

The FTC announced details for its  seventh session of its Hearings on Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century. 

FCC Waiver Request for Lifeline Eligibility Certifications

The FCC is seeking comment on a Petition of Q Link Wireless, LLC for a Limited Waiver to Permit Alternative Transmission of Lifeline Eligibility Information and Customer Certifications to the National Verifier. Specifically, Q Link requests that the Commission grant it a limited waiver to “permit Q Link in ‘hard launch’ states to submit eligibility documentation to the National Verifier via bulk transfer to facilitate its review of consumer eligibility” until Q Link’s Emergency API Petition requesting that the Commission direct USAC to implement machine-to-machine interfaces for the National Verifier is resolved.  In particular, for each customer, Q Link would dip the state eligibility database where available, and where no state eligibility database is available, Q Link would collect from the customer the relevant eligibility documentation, including the executed certification form, and the customer’s required personal information, run an NLAD check, and obtain any required Household Worksheet. Q Link would transmit to USAC in bulk the certification form, a record of the customer executing the certification form, and the proof of eligibility from the state eligibility database or the relevant eligibility documentation collected from the consumer, along with any other information required of consumers using the National Verifier web portal directly.  Q Link would not complete a customer’s enrollment in Lifeline and activate Lifeline service prior to receiving a determination by the National Verifier that the consumer is eligible.

FCC Designates Lawfulness of Tariff Revisions for Investigation

In the Order the FCC designated issues for investigation regarding the lawfulness of the Iowa Network Access Division d/b/a Aureon (Aureon) tariff revisions to Aureon’s Tariff No. 1 filed on September 24, 2018 (Transmittal 38).  The FCC’s focus in this investigation is Aureon’s cost support for the rates in Transmittal No. 38.  Specifically, the FCC designated the following issues for investigation: (1) whether the increase in Aureon’s central office switching equipment investment in Transmittal No. 38 as compared to Aureon’s February 2018 tariff filing (Transmittal No. 36) represents investment that is used and useful in Aureon’s provision of regulated interstate service; and (2) whether the annual network lease expense of $4,299,4274 (Filed Lease Expense) complies with the FCC’s affiliate transaction rules.

Aureon, which is a division of Iowa Network Services, Inc. (INS), is a centralized equal access (CEA) provider that was created to aggregate traffic for connection between rural incumbent local exchange carriers (LECs) in Iowa and other networks, and to implement long distance equal access obligations (permitting end users to use 1+ dialing to reach the interexchange carrier of their choice).  Aureon currently delivers traffic to 206 subtending LECs through several points of interconnection (POIs) across the state.

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The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s 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 an Inteserra Briefing.