Lifeline/Low-Income Consumers

In meetings with Federal Communications Commission staff, NTCA discussed an issue identified recently related to the phasedown of Lifeline support for voice-only customers and its interplay with cost recovery under the High-Cost universal service program. Specifically, for many eligible telecommunications carriers (“ETCs”), the reduction of the Lifeline subsidy for such customers to $5.25 per month effective December 1, 2020, precludes recovery of the full amount of the Subscriber Line Charge (“SLC”), and it appears that these shortfalls may be unrecoverable through the High-Cost program.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has been extremely popular with the telecom companies he’s regulated for the last four years, but one corner of the industry will not be sad to see the chairman step down. The carriers that provide mobile service to the nation’s neediest citizens say Pai is trampling them on his way out the door while pulling critical service away from those hit hardest by this year’s economic downturn. Lifeline providers say an FCC order that took effect December 1 will force them to stop offering free data service to qualified low-income customers.

The National Lifeline Association and Assist Wireless have asked a federal court to stay the Dec. 1 trigger for the Federal Communications Commission's increase of the mobile broadband minimum service standard in the Lifeline subsidy program from 3 GB to 4.5 GB. The groups first petitioned the FCC for a stay, but that was denied.  The petitioners told the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit that absent the emergency stay, they would suffer irreparable harm.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau announced the full launch of the National Lifeline Eligibility Verifier (National Verifier) in California, effective December 18, 2020.

The Communications Workers of America (CWA) is taking issue with Verizon’s proposed acquisition of Tracfone. The trade union says Tracfone is one of the largest providers of Lifeline services in the United States, and it fears those services could be jeopardized if Tracfone is acquired by Verizon. CWA also says the prospect of the acquisition raises significant antitrust concerns, which could negatively affect consumer prices and workers’ wages in the wireless industry. Verizon is trying to buy the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Tracfone for $6.9 billion.

In response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau has waived certain Lifeline program rules in five previous orders to provide necessary relief for low-income households.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau addresses the petition of the National Lifeline Association (NaLA), seeking a waiver of the FCC’s rules updating the Lifeline program’s minimum service standard for mobile broadband usage, which otherwise would take effect on December 1, 2020. NaLA also seeks to halt the phase-down of the support amount for Lifeline service that does not meet the broadband minimum standard, which will decrease from $7.25/month to $5.25/month on December 1, 2020.

With President-elect Joe Biden and his to-be-determined administration preparing to take office in January, broadband and consumer advocates are optimistic about the prospects of modernization reforms for Lifeline and other federal programs aimed at making internet and phone services more affordable under a potentially Democratic-led Federal Communications Commission.