DC Circuit Rejects NaLA Petition on Lifeline Non-Usage Rules
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied the National Lifeline Association's petition for review of the FCC Wireline Bureau's revisions to the Lifeline program’s non-usage rules, said a ruling Tuesday. The same court last month denied NaLA's request for an emergency stay of the minimum services standard increase to 4.5 GB monthly (see 2011300069).
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The issue was whether eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) may receive support for providing prepaid services to subscribers in a “cure,” a specified period of time in which subscribers have not used their service. Filed by Judge Harry Edwards, the opinion said the FCC’s interpretation of the rules “easily passes muster” and ruled that NaLA's argument had no merit because it was based on “an untenable construction of the disputed rules." Judges Gregory Katsas and Neomi Rao also heard the case. Chairman Ajit Pai praised the ruling, tweeting it was "another big win for the FCC" in its efforts to curb waste, fraud and abuse within the Lifeline program.
Existing rules allow Lifeline providers to be paid only if subscribers have used the service within 30 days or have cured their non-usage. In 2019, the commission issued an order clarifying that ETCs must exclude non-usage cure period subscribers from support payment requests. The judges affirmed that interpretation. The “natural and best reading” of the rules is that ETCs “may not receive support payments for such subscribers,” the court ruled.
The court rejected the petitioner’s argument that ETCs would have more difficulty maintaining current service offerings with the 2019 order. The ruling said NaLA failed to support its claim the order will have a "detrimental impact" on the availability and affordability of the Lifeline program. NaLA attorney John Heitmann of Kelley Drye said in an email he's "disappointed" with the decision and "will seek correction of the rule by the FCC next year."
The court said the Lifeline program's existing terms are “unambiguous” and dismissed NaLA’s petition because “the FCC was never put on notice” about the association's intent to challenge the commission’s statutory authority to interpret the rules as it had. The decision noted the Lifeline program is voluntary, and ETCs may “elect to discontinue such plans or exit the Lifeline market altogether” if they believe there's less value in offering prepaid plans.