USTelecom Calls for Changes in Lifeline Program

In order to help consumers meet their urgent communications needs during this unprecedented emergency, the Federal Communications Commission should consider the following actions during the COVID-19 pandemic and for a reasonable period thereafter as unemployed and low-income Americans get back on their feet:

• Suspend the prohibition on duplicative support to ensure that all students and adults in a household have access to the broadband connections they need to while limiting interactions outside the home.8 At a minimum, act to allow the program to support one fixed and one mobile broadband connection per household.
• Modeled after its response to Hurricane Katrina, the FCC should establish a temporary emergency Lifeline program separate from the existing Lifeline program. The emergency Lifeline program could support a discount of up to $25 per connection per month up to the total monthly service charge per connection (up to 180 days). A participating carrier could opt to make any fixed or mobile communications service(s) or service package(s) that include voice and/or internet, available for discounts. To participate in the emergency Lifeline program, a carrier would be required to be designated as an Emergency Lifeline ETC subject to expedited procedures and temporary duration.
  • To be eligible, a consumer would need to be unemployed, a gig worker no longer deriving an income, or any person otherwise no longer receiving a paycheck as a result of the COVID-19 emergency. The FCC would determine the documentation sufficient to demonstrate satisfaction of these criteria or eligibility under the existing Lifeline program.