FCC Announces Results of the 2012 Annual Lifeline Recertification Process

The Federal Communications Commission’s Wireline Competition Bureau hereby announces the results of the 2012 Lifeline annual recertification process.

In the Lifeline Reform Order, the FCC required that each eligible telecommunications carrier (ETC) and, where applicable, state Lifeline administrators, a state agency or an agent of the state (collectively, “state agency”) recertify the eligibility of each ETC’s subscriber base as of June 1, 2012 by the end of 2012, and report the results to the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) on FCC Form 555 by January 31, 2013.2 Subscribers that are no longer eligible or who do not respond to attempts to recertify their eligibility must be de-enrolled from the program. Based on results from the FCC Forms 555 submitted by ETCs, and analysis from USAC, the Bureau reports that 29 percent of all subscribers that were enrolled in the program in June 2012 have been de-enrolled from the program.