The FCC Wireless Competition Bureau unveiled additional measures to ensure that carriers are receiving reimbursement from the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) for fully subsidized service only for households using their service.
The FCC’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued an advisory about potential provider non-compliance with the ACP usage and de-enrollment rules among certain providers. The OIG has said it has ongoing investigations concerning this issue.
The Commission continues to revise and refine its rules, processes, and procedures to safeguard limited ACP funds. In particular, the bureau has referred the non-use matter to the Enforcement Bureau for further investigation and has directed the Universal Service Administrative Company to revise its methodology for proactively monitoring provider claims and de-enrollment data. The bureau also directed USAC to expand its program reviews to help ensure compliance with the non-use rules.
The Commission’s non-use rules are designed to ensure that ACP funding is targeted to households that are actually using their ACP service. Where a carrier does not assess or collect a monthly fee from the enrolled household for the supported service, the household must use that service at least once every 30 days. If the household does not, the provider is required to notify the household that they will be de-enrolled if the household does not use the service within the next 15 days. The carrier must de-enroll households that don’t contribute to the cost of their supported service and that fail to use the service within 45 days.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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