The U.S. Supreme Court said yesterday it will review Wisconsin Bell Inc.’s challenge to the revival of a False Claims Act suit alleging that the former AT&T subsidiary defrauded the FCC’s E-Rate program. E-Rate helps schools and libraries afford telecommunications and internet services.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reinstated a whistleblower’s assertions that Wisconsin Bell allegedly submitted $100 million in claims for subsidies, while falsely certifying compliance with a “lowest corresponding price” (LCP) rule, Bloomberg reported. LCP is defined “as the lowest price that a service provider charges to nonresidential customers who are similarly situated to a particular applicant (school, library, or consortium) for similar services,” according to the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), which manages the E-Rate program for the FCC.
The rule is violated if a provider charges E-rate customers a higher rate than it charged similarly situated applicants. A similarly situated applicant is one that is located in the service provider’s geographic service area, according to USAC.
Wisconsin Bell disputes the allegations, Bloomberg reported.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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