2. Background
On May 3, 2007, the Commission approved Decision (D.) 07-05-030 adopting strategies to improve the California LifeLine certification and verification processes. That decision followed six months of intensive study by Commission staff, telephone carriers, consumer groups, and Solix (Certifying Agent or CertA) to determine the reasons behind a low response rate the program had experienced following the implementation of new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) eligibility requirements. As part of that intensive process, Commission staff prepared its "Report on Strategies to Improve the California LifeLine Certification and Verification Processes" (Strategies Report), which formed the cornerstone of D.07-05-030.
In the Strategies Report, staff recognized that not all changes to the LifeLine program could be implemented in the short term and identified several longer-term strategies to improve LifeLine program efficiency and effectiveness. In D.07-05-030 we gave staff the latitude, in conjunction with two Working Groups2 to develop creative and successful solutions. Additionally, we directed staff to continue to identify and implement longer-term strategies. To the extent that any of those elements required Commission authorization, staff was directed to bring those issues to us for resolution. The proceeding was kept open, and the assigned Commissioner was to issue the directives needed to staff and carriers to ensure further pursuit of longer-term strategies. The assigned Commissioner waited to initiate this second phase of the proceeding in order to allow adequate time to evaluate the effectiveness of the steps we took in D.07-05-030, and to determine if we needed to revisit any of the steps taken in that decision.
At the end of 2006, the response rate for certifications was 46%.3 As of May 2008, the CertA and the Communications Division (CD) reported the certification rate had increased to 63%. We are pleased with this significant improvement, but we believe that we can improve the certification response rate still further.
2 D.07-05-030 required that the Implementation Working Group (IWG) and Marketing Working Group, which were established to resolve the problems with the verification and certification processes and found to be an invaluable tool, continue to develop strategies that improve the LifeLine processes.
3 D.07-05-030 at 5.
