Support grows for ACP to replace Lifeline Program

In comments filed with the Senate Working Group on the future of the Universal Service Fund (USF), many organizations underscored the issue of redundant government expenditure in their submissions, with a notable focus on whether the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) should be integrated into the USF framework. The USF includes four programs targeting different vulnerable portions of the broadband market: the Connect America Fund, Lifeline, Schools and Libraries (E-Rate) and Rural Health Care. Many organizations called for the FCC to consolidate ACP with the Lifeline program, the latter of which provides a $9.25 broadband subsidy for low-income households – less than a third of the $30 benefit households get through the ACP. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) argued the Lifeline program has become redundant because it provides a smaller benefit to fewer people, as it applies to consumers with an income at or below 135% of the federal poverty line (compared to 200% or below to qualify for the ACP). Because eligibility for Lifeline is one of the ways to qualify for ACP, “there is no one covered by Lifeline who could not get the ACP."  The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), also in favor of replacing the Lifeline program with ACP, told the USF Working Group that with hundreds of billions of dollars now available for broadband deployment across the country, it is “difficult to continue to justify keeping the USF program at its current level.” The USF should eliminate duplicative programs while supporting those that are operating “effectively and efficiently” such as the ACP, said CCAGW.