Database Workshop Provides Technical Details

On August 27, USAC and the FCC held a workshop to provide an in-depth presentation of the technical aspects of how ETCs will be able to connect and interact with the National Lifeline Accountability Database (“NLAD”).  The NLAD is designed to prevent duplicate Lifeline support.  Testing of the NLAD will begin in early September, followed by a period of “data scrubbing” to ensure that all subscriber data is entered in a standard format.  Five states are scheduled to become operational in the fourth quarter of 2013—Arkansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Oklahoma and Washington, with the rest of the states coming online in early 2014.  USAC will provide ETCs with 60 days’ notice before they are expected to submit data to the NLAD.  The loading process is currently projected to begin in November 2013.  Finally, the presentation described the security measures it will include to protect the personally identifiable information (“PII”) of Lifeline subscribers.