The Lifeline Program Just Had A Great Week

The Lifeline Program just had a great week. And that could be great news for a lot of people and for the future of this country. With true leaders like Federal Communications Commission members Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel leading the way, I am very excited to see what the future holds. Commissioner Clyburn, a long-time Lifeline champion, laid out concrete principles that she believes will help guide the transition of Lifeline into the broadband age. Then Commissioner Rosenworcel advocated for modernizing the Lifeline Program. In addressing the “Homework Gap” – or the extreme difficulty and disadvantage that students who lack broadband at home confront when trying to complete homework assignments – she said, “he good news is we can do something about it. We can study innovative broadband adoption programs across the country. I think we can learn more from them. At the same time, we need to take a fresh look at the FCC’s Lifeline program. Because I think we can modernize the Lifeline program and close the Homework Gap.”

Simply put: The time is right. For years, administrative shortcomings have jeopardized the Lifeline Program; leaving it open to abuse and attacks. However, in recent years, the FCC has gone to great lengths to protect and improve the program – and it has been very successful in doing so. Recent reforms have drastically cut the amount of waste, fraud, and abuse, and the FCC has firmly established itself as the “cop on the beat,” signaling to providers that it will take any issues, including issues pertaining to breaches of consumer privacy, very, very seriously. Now that the ship has been righted, it is time to move the program into the 21st century and bring it into the broadband age. But also, we have reached a tipping point when it comes to broadband adoption in this country. Make no mistake, as things stand right now, we are leaving people behind.