Wireless Carriers Fight Pai’s Solution for Easing Lifeline Costs

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai may have thought he was doing wireless carriers a favor when he slashed by nearly two-thirds a potentially costly requirement that they increase data for low-income subscribers starting in December. Instead, budget carriers are fighting his plan, leaving an uncertain future for Lifeline, the Federal Communications Commission’s program to help low-income Americans pay their phone and broadband bills. Pai’s draft order would force carriers like TracFone Wireless to provide 1.5 GB more data than currently required under Lifeline. That’s down from the 8.75 GB increase slated to take effect under an Obama administration plan put in place four years ago that even Democrats now say would be too excessive. But Pai’s proposed boost, while far less than the Obama plan, would still be too costly for carriers to absorb, according to the National Lifeline Association, an industry trade group. The data increase would force carriers to raise prices $15 or more for subscribers, the group said. That could force subscribers, and by extension, companies, to leave the program. The fight shows Pai’s challenge in trying to make Lifeline plans more robust so that low-income Americans aren’t left behind in the digital age—even as doing so risks making the service less affordable.