FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said that the digital divide has morphed during COVID-19 to a monstrous divide that leaves people of color disproportionately on the wrong side. "This cannot stand," he said, adding that the country can no longer put off the hard work of digital equity. "This is the time. This is the moment."

He also called that disparity the "smoldering front" in the battle against internet inequality.

Commissioner Starks was speaking Tuesday (Jan. 26) at the State of the Net conference, the 17th annual but the first virtual. 

Also Read: NCTA Says Broadband Pledgers Should Automatically Qualify for EBB

He called the COVID-19 era both an unprecedented crisis and an unparalleled opportunity, starting with getting the billions in COVID-19 related Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) aid to as many Americans as possible.

The FCC has only 60 days to stand up at $3.2 billion emergency broadband benefit for low-income Americans. The FCC is empowered to offer up to $50 per household per month for broadband connectivity ($75 per month on tribal lands), and up to $100 to subsidize access devices for those households that also contribute to the cost.

The FCC has gotten a lot of industry comment on the program this week--the deadline was Jan. 25--and Starks had his own, saying it should focus on two priorities (Starks is now speaking to an acting Democratic chair, Jessica Rosenworcel, and eventually a 3-2 Democratic majority, so his party will have the power to make those changes):

1. He said the FCC should do broad outreach that includes state and local governments, ISPs, philanthropies and others, pointing out that the current FCC Lifeline low-income subsidy--through which the emergency funding is being handed out--is only tapped into by 20% of eligible subscribers.

2. Starks said the FCC should make the rules as clear and simple as possible to encourage ISPs' voluntary participation. He said he has already started reaching out to ISPs and their associations to encourage participation.

But Starks also said he recognized that while the EBB, if successful, could reach more disconnected people of color than any previous FCC effort, it was a short-term solution to a long-term problem. 

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He said the FCC has focused almost exclusively on the rural broadband divide while three times as many unconnected households are in urban areas. For example, he said, almost half the residents of Detroit lack access to broadband. 

To address that long-term issue, he said the FCC should update its Lifeline subsidy by entering into memoranda of understanding (MOU) with other federal agencies that when they administer programs with similar criteria to low-income broadband eligibility, they be told about the Lifeline subsidy. If someone is enrolled in SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), they are probably broadband insecure as well. 

He also said the FCC needs to complete its study of the Lifeline program and update the E-rate schools and libraries subsidy to make it clear that it can be used for remote education from home. The FCC under former chairman Ajit Pai interpreted the "classroom" language in the E-rate statute to preclude subsidizing home broadband or equipment, even in the pandemic when the home has morphed into the classroom. Starks called that a cramped reading.

The FCC has proposed a $6 million fine against prepaid service provider TracFone Wireless. 

The FCC's Enforcement Bureau said the company apparently claimed Lifeline subsidies for customers who were not eligible to receive them. At issue are thousands of subs in Texas and hundreds of subs in Florida. 

Related: FCC Won't Drop Suspect Lifeline Subs 

The FCC said that was because sales agents in Florida, working on commission, manipulated eligibility information of existing subs to enroll fictitious accounts. In Texas, the company allegedly claimed more Lifeline support than the Texas Public Utility Commission authorized. The PUC is the one who makes eligibility calls in the state. 

The fine is based on a total of 5,738 apparently improper claims from a single month--June 2018--plus a bump up for the "egregious conduct" of the Florida agents.  

The Lifeline program is a monthly Universal Service Fund (USF) subsidy of up to $9.25 on broadband and phone service for low-income consumers. Participating carriers get money for each eligible sub, which they must pass through in the form of a discount. The USF fund comes from fees on consumer's phone bills. 

“Every dollar misdirected from the Lifeline program to a carrier that violates our rules is a dollar that won’t go toward providing more affordable connectivity to low-income Americans,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in a statement. “Ensuring that this program works for those who need it most is especially important now, during the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic." 

The FCC has already taken steps to boost the Lifeline program, including temporarily waiving some rules aimed at safeguards against waste, fraud and abuse. But Pai signaled with the proposed fine that the FCC was still rooting out such waste, fraud and abuse when it found it," adding "I’m hopeful that our new rule prohibiting carriers from paying commissions to employees or sales agents based on the number of Lifeline customers they sign up will help deter the kind of apparent fraud we’ve seen in this case.” 

The FCC has launched a new API (application programming interface) that it says will make it easier for carriers to verify a potential subscriber's eligibility for the Lifeline program and thus make it easier for consumers to enroll. 

Lifeline is the Universal Service Fund subsidy of up to $9.25 per month carriers can get for each low-income resident. 

Related: GAO: FCC Should Better Monitor Fraud in High-Cost Program 

The API allows carriers to send applicant info directly to the FCC's National Eligibility Verifier for an eligibility check. The verifier is part of the FCC's effort to cut down on waste, fraud and abuse. 

“Lifeline is an important program for closing the digital divide for low-income Americans,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in a statement. “By enabling carriers’ systems and the National Verifier to interact through this interface, we’ll make it easier for eligible consumers to enroll in the program. I’d like to thank the hardworking staff of the FCC and the Universal Service Administrative Company, which administers Lifeline, for making this improvement to the National Verifier. Because of their efforts, Lifeline will be a more efficient tool for connecting some of our most vulnerable citizens to broadband.”