By Kelcee Griffis

Law360 (April 28, 2021, 7:27 PM EDT) -- Some mobile providers are warning that millions of people could lose a vital link to subsidized communications services in the next few weeks if the Federal Communications Commission doesn't extend a fast-approaching deadline when inactive subscribers will be cut off.

In a lobbying filing posted Tuesday, prepaid carrier TracFone Wireless told the FCC that suspending accounts of customers who haven't recently used their phones as of mid-May will only make it harder for people to take advantage of a forthcoming COVID-19 relief program offering even more communications support.

"TracFone urges the commission to ensure that the non-usage rules and requirements for these programs are appropriately harmonized to foster program participation," according to the filing.

The FCC's "non-usage" rule bars the provision of Lifeline subsidies to subscribers who haven't used their phone in a month. Once a Lifeline subscriber — who typically receives a $9.25 subsidized mobile phone plan per month — is notified that service could be cut off, the subscriber has two weeks to reactivate the device. Although the rule is aimed at preventing waste, fraud and abuse in the program, Lifeline service providers worry that customers will lose their service at a critical point during the pandemic.

The FCC has chosen to push ahead the cutoff date for inactive accounts several times since the coronavirus pandemic began last spring, but it recently declined to do so beyond May 1.

"It is expected that hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of existing Lifeline subscribers will be de-enrolled from the program on May 16," TracFone wrote.

This period will most likely overlap with the beginning of the FCC's Emergency Broadband Benefit program, which is modeled after the Lifeline program but can offer about five times the amount of support per household.

Using a congressional appropriation of $3.2 billion, the EBB will subsidize up to $50 of a qualifying household's monthly internet bill, or up to $75 of monthly internet service on tribal lands. The program can additionally cover $100 toward equipment, such as laptops and tablets, if a household purchases the equipment through its internet provider.

Under the rules of the EBB program, Lifeline participants are automatically eligible for the enhanced support under the EBB. If thousands of Lifeline customers who may be interested in participating in the EBB suddenly lose their baseline eligibility, it will "create significant confusion for consumers and administrative inefficiencies," TracFone wrote.

Earlier in April, the National Lifeline Association, which represents carriers and other Lifeline stakeholders, similarly asked the FCC to defer the de-enrollment period until Aug. 1. The period between May and August would allow eligible customers to take part in the EBB program while still ensuring that carriers don't collect subsidies from inactive accounts, the association said.

"Rather than force these eligible Lifeline subscribers to re-enroll in Lifeline or to apply separately for the EBB program, we encouraged the Bureau to consider allowing these subscribers to remain enrolled in Lifeline so that Lifeline and EBB providers can attempt to contact the subscribers to use their Lifeline service and to more easily opt in to a more robust EBB service offering," the association wrote.

--Editing by Rich Mills.

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