New FCC Telephone Report Focused on Income

FCC RELEASES TELEPHONE PENETRATION BY INCOME REPORT
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission press release]
On Friday the Federal Communications Commission released a report presenting data on telephone penetration levels on a state-by-state basis for various income categories. The report presents penetration statistics based on individual household data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) conducted by the Census Bureau in March 2005. This report, which is updated annually, provides more detailed information on telephone penetration to complement the information available in Telephone Subscribership in the United States, which is published three times a year. Specifically, this report is designed to track the effects of federal and state Universal Service Fund Lifeline and Linkup support mechanisms that defray the cost of telephone service for low-income consumers. In March 2005, penetration among low-income households nationwide was 86.4%. This contrasts with an overall nationwide penetration rate of 92.6% in March 2005. Since 1985, when the FCC first established Lifeline to help low-income households afford the monthly cost of telephone service, penetration rates among the lowest income households (under $10,000 annual income in 1984 dollars) have grown from 80.0% to 86.4%. States that have provided a high level of lifeline support for telephone service for low-income consumers experienced an average growth in penetration for low-income households from March 1997 to March 2005. In contrast, states that provided a low level of lifeline support experienced an average decline in telephone penetration rates for low-income households between March 1997 and March 2005. Penetration rates among low-income households ranged from a high of 95.2% in Vermont to a low of 78.4% in Mississippi in March 2005.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-265357A1.doc
Full report: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-265358A1.pdf