Rosenworcel Releases New Podcast with Former 911 Operator

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel announced the release of her latest Broadband Conversations podcast with her with her guest, Congresswoman Norma Torres—the only 911 operator serving in Congress. Congresswoman Torres spent 17 years as a 911 operator for the Los Angeles Police Department.  Rosenworcel said: “Before a whistle on a fire station blows, an ambulance races, or an air horn blares, it is a 911 professional who takes in a call and sets emergency response in motion. I have tremendous respect for 911 operators and Congresswoman Torres, who for 17 years worked as a 911 operator in Los Angeles. Our conversation today sheds light on the stress and strain that 911 operators bear, and Congresswoman Torres discusses what steps can be taken to ensure that 911 operators are given the respect and dignity their work deserves. As National Public Safety Telecommunications Week continues, I encourage everyone to listen to this episode and to the stories of 911 operators. These operators help keep us safe. They save lives. They are everyday  heroes.”

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The Regulatory Mix Today:  Rosenworcel Releases New Podcast with Former 911 Operator, FCC Inspector General Report on Lifeline Fraud, USAC Response on E-Rate Overbuilding

FCC Inspector General Report on Lifeline Fraud

The FCC’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) has issued an advisory to alert Lifeline carriers, beneficiaries, and the public to a number of fraudulent enrollment practices found pervasive across the IG’s ongoing investigations targeting Lifeline carriers and the carriers’ sales agents. According to the report, many of these enrollment practices rely on identity fraud and the manipulation of personal information, including enrollee names, to evade the program’s safeguards. The advisory describes simple tricks used by fraudsters to create phantom enrollments.  It notes that in the last year OIG recommended and USAC adopted a “death check” as part of the Lifeline enrollment process after its investigations confirmed GAO’s preliminary findings that thousands of deceased individuals had been enrolled by Life-line carriers.  “Our office is committed to using every tool at our disposal to fight fraud, waste, and abuse in the Lifeline program,” said FCC Inspector General David Hunt. “My hope is that this advisory will deter fraudulent practices by educating and warning program stakeholders.” The advisory states that “OIG will hold accountable those who defraud the USF and will continue to seek criminal, civil, and administrative sanctions against Lifeline carriers and carrier agents who engage in these and other fraudulent practices.”

USAC Response on E-Rate Overbuilding

USAC CEO Sekar has responded to Commissioner O’Rielly’s March 2019, letter outlining his concerns about the use of federal USF money to overbuild existing networks that were themselves built with USF money  See the Regulatory Mix dated 3/7/19.   Sekar assured O’Rielly that “USAC conducts a careful review of E-rate requests for self-construction to determine compliance with the E-rate program rules. These reviews are conducted by a team with advanced knowledge of fiber construction and E-rate program rules. The team ensures that special construction projects meet the following requirements: (1) demonstrate that the self-constructed high speed broadband service is the most cost-effective alternative; (2) the bidder was selected based on a fair and open competitive bid process; (3) build and use the self-constructed services within the same funding year.”  He also noted that the E-rate program rules “prohibit duplicative services, which the FCC defines as “services that deliver the same functionality to the same population in the same location during the same period of time.” “Thus, USAC is required to deny requests for funding of duplicative services because such requests contravene “the requirement that discounts be awarded to meet the ‘reasonable needs and resources’ of applicants.”   In response to O’Rielly’s request for specific information about E-Rate funding for WANs, Sekar said that “USAC does not have specific data for special construction requests of consortia-wide WANs because the application does not require to indicate if the connection is for a WAN; instead, we maintain information on special construction in general (of which WAN projects would be a subcategory).”  The letter shows that three consortium applicants that requested E-rate funding for special construction that were denied for not selecting a cost-effective offering.

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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.