The FCC has acted on 55 percent of recommendations made by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to improve the security of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), FCC Chairwoman Jessical Rosenworcel recently told members of Congress. The agency’s goal is to implement the remaining work by year-end.
This January, the GAO suggested in a report ways to manage fraud risk, enhance the program’s performance goals and measure and consumer outreach. This followed an earlier GAO account that said some ISPs claimed fraudulent ACP money, Inside Towers noted.
Specifically, GAO recommended the Commission develop and implement a process, with clearly defined responsibilities and sources of information on fraud risks, for conducting fraud risk assessments for ACP at regular intervals and when there are changes to the program or operating environment. The GAO also suggested the agency develop and implement an anti-fraud strategy that aligns with the GAO’s fraud risk system, and implement a mechanism to prevent duplicate ACP subscribers, and ways to monitor anti-fraud controls for ACP identity verification.
Rosenworcel told lawmakers the Commission has “undertaken aggressive and robust” action to correct the deficiencies named in GAO’s report. She sent her response to members of the House and Senate Commerce Committees.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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