Acting Chairwoman Rosenworcel's Response to Lawmakers Regarding the GAO Lifeline Report

In the United States, we need to connect 100 percent of our households to broadband. The Lifeline program remains a valuable tool for helping achieve this goal, by making internet access more affordable. However, in recent years a series of FCC decisions limited the reach of this program and led to uneven implementation of the National Verifier. Since the publication of the GAO’s report entitled "FCC Has Implemented the Lifeline National Verifier but Should Improve Consumer Awareness and Experience," the FCC has launched the Emergency Broadband Benefit program. The EBB program leverages the National Verifier system and is administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), and has provided valuable insights that can be applied toward future efforts to educate stakeholders and consumers on the Lifeline program and the National Verifier. In addition to EBB outreach efforts, the FCC and USAC have undertaken a number of new Lifeline-focused initiatives to share information with stakeholders, including quarterly newsletters, Tribal-specific Lifeline webinars, and broader changes to the National Verifier to enhance the consumer experience. I appreciate the opportunity to provide an update on recent actions the FCC and USAC have taken to address the findings in the GAO’s report and would be happy to provide additional updates in the future, as our work in this effort is ongoing.