The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau (the Bureau) has announced the counties in which conditional forbearance from the obligation to offer Lifeline-supported voice service applies. The conditional forbearance would apply to the Lifeline voice obligation of eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) that are designated for purposes of receiving both Lifeline and high-cost support, and not to Lifeline-only ETCs. The Public Notice’s Appendix includes a comprehensive list of counties where the forbearance will apply effective on September 21.
For ETCs that receive high-cost support in these designated counties, the forbearance would only apply in areas within the county where the ETC does not receive high-cost support. The forbearance would apply in these counties until 60 days after the Bureau issues a public notice in 2022 in which it updates the list of counties.
