States push for Lifeline protections in Verizon/TracFone deal

The attorneys general from 16 states and the District of Columbia sent a letter to the Federal Communications urging the agency to request additional information from Verizon about its planned TracFone Wireless acquisition. “The potential for Verizon to pursue additional profits by reducing the access and/or quality of Lifeline services could shut out millions of low-income Americans from adequate communications services,” they wrote. “Considering the fundamental role that cellular telephones play in accessing modern society and the modern economy, it is imperative that Lifeline services be protected and maintained if this transaction is approved.” The AGs want the FCC to adopt specific conditions that protect Lifeline customers, such as a commitment by Verizon to provide Lifeline services at an affordable rate and at a quality commensurate with modern standards. Alternatively, it could require that Verizon offer, for a period of years, Lifeline service packages that are at least as consumer friendly or more than TracFone’s existing lowest cost Lifeline packages. They also point out that a merger of the leading mobile network operator and the leading mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in an “already concentrated mobile wireless market” would see the last significant MVNO integrated into a national facilities-based provider.