FSF President Randolph May Supports Reforming the FCC's Lifeline Program

 

ROCKVILLE, MD - Free State Foundation President Randolph May is testifying today at a hearing on "Lifeline: Improving Accountability and Effectiveness" before the Senate Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet. In his testimony, Mr. May states:

 

"I support continuation of a Lifeline program that provides subsidy support to those truly in need. But in order for the program to remain viable and sustain public support, meaningful reforms aimed at reducing waste, fraud, and abuse should continue to be pursued. And, when considering proposals to expand Lifeline to include broadband service, in light of the additional costs likely to be involved, policymakers should proceed cautiously." 

 

Here are other excerpts from Mr. May's testimony:

  

"The principle of promoting universal service has been central to federal and state communications policy for many decades, and this is as it should be. The universal service principle supports access to basic communications service for all Americans. And Lifeline service, the focus of today's hearing, is an important means of effectuating the policy of promoting universal service through a "safety net" mechanism. Indeed, if Lifeline service is properly formulated and implemented, so that it aids low-income persons in an efficient and effective manner, free from fraud and waste, then it should be a cornerstone of the nation's universal service policy. This is because Lifeline is the most targeted means of providing subsidies to those truly in need of assistance."

 

"With regard to expanding Lifeline support to include broadband service, the Commission - and Congress - should proceed with caution. While there is considerable merit to the notion that, at some point and in some way, broadband service should be supported with Lifeline subsidies, any such revamping of the original concept of Lifeline - as a "safety net" for access to basic voice service - should be undertaken in a way that does not threaten the sustainability of the existing program. The results from the FCC's broadband pilot program demonstrate the challenges inherent in attempting to expand the program to include broadband without, at the same time, increasing substantially the total amount of subsidies provided."

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Randolph J. May, President of the Free State Foundation, is a former FCC Associate General Counsel and a former Chairman of the American Bar Association's Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice. Mr. May is a public member of the Administrative Conference of the United States, and a Fellow at the National Academy of Public Administration.

Mr. May is a nationally recognized expert in communications law, Internet law and policy, and administrative law and regulatory practice. He is the author of more than 150 scholarly articles and essays on communications law and policy, administrative law, and constitutional law. Most recently, Mr. May is the editor of the book, Communications Law and Policy in the Digital Age: The Next Five Years. He is the author of A Call for a Radical New Communications Policy: Proposals for Free Market Reform. And he is the editor of the book, New Directions in Communications Policy and co-editor of other two books on communications law and policy: Net Neutrality or Net Neutering: Should Broadband Internet Services Be Regulated? and Communications Deregulation and FCC Reform.