Consumer Groups Address Lifeline Reform at FCC

On June 1, a number of consumer groups spoke with Federal Communications Commission staffers to raise issues about proposed reforms to the FCC's Lifeline and LinkUp programs.

The groups discussed their grave concerns regarding the disparate impact the FCC’s one-per-address limitation for Lifeline would have on certain low-income populations including those in group housing, the homeless, and those in remote rural areas. The groups proposed that the better starting point for Lifeline eligibility determinations is to focus on the household’s eligibility instead of their housing situation. The groups' proposed definition of household (“any individual or group of individuals who are living together as an economic unit” which is derived from the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) definition of household) and their proposed definition of residence which acknowledges that more than one household can reside at an address.