2016 Called. It Wants to Know How Lifeline is Doing

In 2016, the Federal Communications Commission adopted a comprehensive reform and modernization of its Lifeline program. For the first time, the FCC included broadband as a supported service in the program, allowing support for stand-alone mobile (think cell phone) or fixed broadband Internet access service (think home broadband service delivered over a wire), as well as bundles including fixed or mobile voice and broadband. But the 2016 decision also set out to zero-out support for voice-only services. With such major changes to the program, the FCC's 2016 Lifeline decision included two mechanisms to review the impact of the reforms. As we noted back in March, the FCC directed its Wireline Competition Bureau, by June 30, 2021, to review the Lifeline program and submit a report to the full FCC recommending whether action should be taken to adjust course. To help inform that report, the FCC also mandated that the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), which administers the FCC's universal service programs (including Lifeline), obtain an independent program evaluation of the Lifeline program’s design, function, and administration by December 31, 2020 so that the evaluation’s findings could be incorporated, as appropriate, into the State of the Lifeline Marketplace Report. Both of these reports became available last week.


2016 Called. It Wants to Know How Lifeline is Doing