The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) has denied a joint petition for an administrative stay of the 2017 Lifeline Order filed by three eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs), the National Lifeline Association, the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, and the Oceti Sakowin Tribal Utility Authority (collectively, Petitioners). In the 2017 Lifeline Order, the Commission limited enhanced Tribal Lifeline support to rural Tribal areas and facilities-based service providers. This restriction renders several of Petitioners ineligible for enhanced Tribal Lifeline support going forward. In rejecting the stay request, the Bureau found that Petitioners: (1) were unlikely to prevail on the merits of their claims, among them that the FCC failed to engage in Tribal consultation before implementing the facilities-based and rural limitations and that the Commission violated the Administrative Procedure Act; (2) would not suffer irreparable harm from the loss of the enhanced Lifeline subsidy; and (3) failed to demonstrate that the requested stay would serve the public interest and not harm third parties.
