TRACFONE ASKS FCC TO APPROVE LIFELINE RULE CHANGE

摘要

TracFone Wireless is asking the FCC to change its Universal Service Fund rules to maximize benefits to Lifeline customers. The carrier said in a filing last week that its petition seeking a rulemaking would base reimbursement on a single subscriber line charge rate nationwide, regardless of what's charged by the local incumbent, faced no real opposition, and the FCC should ask for additional comment. TracFone first filed a petition for rulemaking at the FCC, on which the commission sought comment. Then, this month, TracFone asked the FCC to grant it a waiver independent of its rulemaking petition. Under the formula for calculating Lifeline benefits, the FCC bases its calculation in part on the subscriber line charge, capped at $6.50 a month. nnBut some places, the local carrier charges less than $6.50, and the amount available to TracFone customers can be $2 to $3 less there. Lifeline customers get as much as $13.50 per month in benefits, but several dollars less in markets where the incumbent imposes a lower line charge. TracFone said this distinction makes no sense. It said only the Independent Telephone & Telecommunications Alliance filed comments on the petition. The group "acknowledges that TracFone's proposal to revise the measure of Tier One support would enhance consumer welfare," though ITTA said change should await comprehensive Universal Service Fund reform, the company said.