A Message from TAG Mobile

Today, AirVoice Wireless and TAG Mobile filed a response with the FCC, calling on the Commission to withdraw its allegations and grossly disproportionate fines against the two companies. The FCC’s allegations and proposed penalties do not hold up against the facts; and neither has a prospect of surviving in federal court.

Here are the facts: Approximately two-thirds of claims in the Notice of Apparent Liability (NAL) resulted from a USAC systems flaw that created duplicate Subscriber IDs for the same customer, and then left them in the system. AirVoice itself alerted USAC to the issue in March 2024 and was told that no further action was needed.

The remaining claims involved consumers who enrolled in Lifeline in two different states. Those consumers passed identity verification by NLAD and the state Lifeline administrators, meaning neither USAC nor the companies identified the duplicate enrollments. In other words, it was flaws in the government’s verification systems – not the companies’ technology – that allowed these claims to get through.

The FCC’s proposed penalties are also grossly disproportionate to what actually occurred. These claims represented fewer than 0.01% of AirVoice and TAG’s Lifeline claims during the period and amounted to less than $4,000. Yet the FCC is seeking more than $10 million in penalties – an extraordinary response that bears no reasonable relationship to the facts.

AirVoice and TAG go to great lengths to enroll only eligible customers and seek reimbursement only for proper claims. No sound public policy goal is served by imposing draconian penalties on providers that identify and report problems in government systems, and that connect low-income Americans, particularly those in rural areas.