T-Mobile was ordered to pay a $200 million fine to the FCC after the company's subsidiary Sprint made claims about providing affordable service to low-income customers, according to The Hill.
The news follows an investigation into allegations made about Sprint before it merged with T-Mobile. Sprint said it was providing monthly subsidies for about 885,000 low-income customers through the company's Lifeline program. But those people weren't actually subscribed to the phone service.
T-Mobile also agreed to enter a compliance program to make sure it follows the FCC rules regarding the Lifeline program.
The rule is ''meant to protect Lifeline from wasting taxpayer funds on a service that isn’t used to benefit individual consumers,'' according to the FCC.
In a statement, T-Mobile distanced itself from Sprint's nonadherence to the Lifeline program.
''While we inherited this issue with our merger, we are glad that it is now resolved,'' T-Mobile wrote in a statement. ''We look forward to continuing to deliver reliable and affordable network connectivity to consumers across the country who depend on it.''
The investigation regarded Sprint’s compliance with the Lifeline program’s ''non-usage'' rule, which reimburses providers of service for a Lifeline subscriber if that subscriber has used the service at least once in the past 30 days. It also requires providers to de-enroll subscribers who don't use their phones after giving them a 15-day notice.
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