As the communications industry anxiously awaits a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on the judicial challenge to the Federal Communications Commission’s Open Internet rules, the Commission is...more
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) released the Lifeline Modernization Order on April 27, 2016, to modernize the Lifeline program to support broadband Internet access, which “has become a prerequisite...more
Last summer, the FCC adopted new rules for the Lifeline program in its Second Order and NPRM (see our prior analysis of the order), including: the retention of eligibility documentation (such as scans of food stamp cards); an...more
In July, we reported that the FCC implemented several changes to the Lifeline program, and the corresponding deadlines when those changes will become effective. At the time, the Commission also issued Further Notice of...more
Last week, the FCC adopted a Second Report and Order, Order on Reconsideration, Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Memorandum Opinion and Order to comprehensively restructure and modernize the Lifeline program. ...more
Thursday, the FCC adopted an order and further notice of proposed rulemaking (referred to below as “Order and FNPRM”) that will revise some aspects of the Lifeline program and proposes to make even larger changes, including...more
As previously reported, on June 2 the U.S. Senate’s Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation and the Internet held a hearing on “Lifeline: Improving Accountability and Effectiveness,” in anticipation of the...more
On May 28, 2015, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler released a summary of his proposals for reforming the Lifeline program. After noting the stark disparity in broadband access between wealthy American households and those with low...more