EBB Providers Facing NLAD Issues; Some Hope in Sight

Emergency broadband benefit providers are encountering problems enrolling eligible households in the program through Universal Service Administrative Co.’s national Lifeline accountability database, representatives said in interviews and FCC filings. Industry groups said it prevented some consumers from taking advantage of the temporary benefit when the EBB launched in May.

Several providers, including Lumen, LICT and RCN, reported challenges to enrolling eligible households through NLAD if the information didn't match what was in the national verifier. Incompas, NTCA and WTA also said their members are experiencing difficulties. All said it's unlikely they can submit information by the first snapshot date as a result.

The Wireline Bureau gave participating providers an additional 30 days to file reimbursement claims for the first month (see 2106080046), which advocates and industry reps said is helping. The new USAC guidance could ease some difficulty with enrolling households, stakeholders agreed.

NTCA told staff of acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel last week that small providers faced “ongoing difficulties” with NLAD (see 2106040069). The issue stemmed from how potential enrollees' information was submitted through the national verifier. “We have heard from a number of members about issues with EBB enrollment,” NTCA Senior Vice President-Industry Affairs Mike Romano told us. ISPs aren't allowed to receive EBB support if their subscribers aren't NLAD-enrolled (see 2105280051). Some small and rural providers were unable to provide the monthly discount to “numerous consumers” in May, Romano said. WTA said its members encountered “significant difficulties.” These appeared “widespread and have been plaguing many small” telcos “that have had to submit their data manually,” the group said.

Incompas members have had issues, said General Counsel Angie Kronenberg. “We are encouraged to see the FCC and USAC working in collaboration to solve the problem,” she said, and are “hopeful for [a] quick resolution.”

“I've heard from a number of” WTA members about NLAD issues, said Senior Vice president-Government and Industry Affairs Derrick Owens: “It's not just a few companies.” USAC's recent changes are a good sign, he said. “We're waiting to see what those changes actually do for our companies.” USTelecom is "encouraged by recent USAC news that will streamline this process going forward" and is "ready to work closely with USAC to make any process improvements and make it easier for customers to enroll and receive the benefit," said a spokesperson.

The FCC is “working closely with consumer groups and participating providers” to ensure eligible households get the benefit, a spokesperson said. It's “actively working to be responsive to EBB provider feedback as the program rules allow,” the spokesperson said. The FCC is “trouble-shooting challenges that would be expected when starting up a program of this size and this quickly, and we are implementing solutions like those described in the bulletin USAC recently shared with EBB participating providers earlier this week,” the spokesperson said. USAC said it will release a new search tool Tuesday for providers to check application status. June 24, providers can enroll consumers by using only their application ID from the national verifier, first and last name, and date of birth, USAC said.

Romano said NTCA “tried to flag some of these concerns” before the program’s rollout and suggested ways to address them, but “obviously time was of the essence and the program was rolled out leveraging existing systems and processes to the greatest extent possible.” He said the FCC and USAC “may be considering steps now to help promote more efficient enrollment while preserving critical accountability measures, and we appreciate their willingness to consider and implement changes.”

Radiate is among providers experiencing difficulties with NLAD. Several of its subsidiaries, including RCN, couldn't submit information about newly enrolled customers before the June 1 snapshot date. Radiate told FCC staff it expects “any challenges it is facing submitting making initial claims for customers that were newly enrolled in May will likely be repeated for customers newly enrolled in June and subsequent months.” RCN didn’t comment Thursday.

Free Press is “optimistic” after the FCC waived the reimbursement deadline for May, which “would appear to address the bulk of this issue and ease the process for applicants,” said Policy Counsel Leo Fitzpatrick. Free Press will “continue to closely monitor the rollout” and “provide regular feedback” to the commission, he said: It's a “measure many advocates previously requested for the Lifeline program but now made a feature under new commission leadership.”

The FCC did an “extraordinary job” in scaling up EBB quickly, said New Street’s Blair Levin, but “it’s hard to appropriately and effectively respond to a crisis if we haven’t been working consistently to build the correct infrastructure.” Unanticipated administrative challenges come with any startup, Levin said: The FCC is “learning a huge amount” to be able to meet the broadband needs for low-income households in an effective “long-term capacity.”