Lifeline and Link-Up:
Consumer Advocates & Social Service Agencies

ADDRESSING THE PUBLIC NEED

Residential telephone service furthers many public interest goals – providing access to emergency services (E-911/911) and providing a ready means of communicating with medical providers, social service agencies, schools, family members and friends.

Whether through landline or wireless telephones, it is important that consumers throughout the United States have affordable access to reliable residential telephone service to safeguard the public interest and to improve quality of life.

If you’ve ever worked with a family that didn’t have a home telephone, you appreciate the importance of being able to quickly and easily reach people who need your organization’s assistance.

You can help people get connected and stay connected to local telephone service and/or prevent future service disconnections by giving them the tools they need to apply for the federally funded Lifeline and Link-Up assistance programs, as well as available state-based assistance.

UNDERSTANDING AVAILABLE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS

There are two types of universal service programs for income-eligible telephone consumers.

• Lifeline: Discounts available under this program reduce the monthly cost of local telephone service for eligible residential consumers.

• Link-Up: Discounts available under this program reduce the landline service connection costs or wireless activation fees (excluding handset costs) for eligible consumers, within specified limits.

The federal Lifeline and Link-Up Programs are available to qualifying consumers in every state, territory, and commonwealth. States that provide separate funding for Lifeline and Link-Up discounts are free to adopt state-specific eligibility criteria for both federal and state assistance programs. Accordingly, eligibility for Lifeline and/or Link-Up benefits may vary by state.

In states that rely solely on federal universal service support, a household can qualify in one of 2 ways: (1) by having a total household income that does not exceed 135% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines; or (2) by participating in at least one of the programs listed below:

• Medicaid

• Food Stamps

• Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

• Federal Public Housing Assistance (Section 8)

• Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)

• Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) or

• The National School Lunch “Free Lunch” Program

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) established Enhanced Lifeline and Link-Up Programs for Tribal Lands. For additional information, click here: www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/tribalfactsheet.html.

FACILITATING THE APPLICATION PROCESS

More than 1,500 telephone companies in the United States and its territories participate in the federal Lifeline and Link-Up Programs for income-eligible households.

In addition to traditional telephone service providers, many new competitive local exchange carriers and wireless telephone service providers are now authorized to provide Lifeline and Link-Up discounts to eligible consumers.

Encourage eligible consumers to contact their local telephone service providers or other carriers authorized to provide Lifeline and Link-Up benefits in your area to request an application form and obtain further instructions on how to apply for Lifeline and Link-Up discounts in your state.

The link below provides a partial state-by-state list of landline and wireless carriers authorized to provide Lifeline and Link-Up discounts under the Federal Universal Service Program.
www.universalservice.org/li/low-income/lifelinesupport/default.aspx

Contact your state’s public utility commission or utility consumer advocate office for a more complete list of companies authorized to provide Lifeline and Link-Up discounts in your area.

The following links provide access to those offices:

Link to State Public Utility Commissions: www.naruc.org/commissions.cfm

Link to Certain State Utility Consumer Advocate Offices: www.nasuca.org/about/membdir.php

PUBLICIZING LIFELINE & LINK-UP DISCOUNTS TO
ELIGIBLE HOUSEHOLDS IN YOUR COMMUNITY

To help publicize the availability of Lifeline and Link-Up support in your community, please consider distributing copies of the following outreach materials to eligible consumers and forwarding the following web links to organizations likely to assist them:

www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/universalservice.html
www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/lllu.html

For more detailed information about Lifeline and Link-Up please refer to the FCC orders.

OTHER QUESTIONS?

Further questions can be directed to the Federal Communications Commission, at 1-888-CALLFCC.