Lifeline Program

What It Means

Lifeline is the FCC's primary low-income telecommunications affordability program, administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company and funded through the Universal Service Fund at roughly $2 billion annually. Created in 1985 during the Reagan administration in response to rising local telephone rates following the 1984 AT&T breakup, Lifeline originally subsidized landline phone service, then expanded to mobile phone service in 2005, and was extended to broadband service in 2016. Eligible households receive a $9.25 per month discount ($34.25 on qualifying tribal lands) applied to either voice, broadband, or bundled voice-and-broadband service from participating carriers. Eligibility is limited to households at or below 135% of the federal poverty level (roughly $42,000 for a family of four in 2024) or participating in SNAP, Medicaid, SSI, Federal Public Housing Assistance, or Veterans Pension and Survivors Benefit. Only one Lifeline subsidy is allowed per household. As of 2024, Lifeline serves roughly 6 to 7 million households, down from a peak of 18 million in 2012 due to program integrity reforms that reduced fraud. Major Lifeline providers include Assurance Wireless, Safelink Wireless, TruConnect, and Q Link Wireless. Lifeline is a distinct program from the expired Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which offered a larger $30 monthly discount but has since ended. Policy proposals to increase the Lifeline broadband subsidy or merge Lifeline with a revived ACP have been debated but not enacted. Lifeline does not directly affect Broadband Grade scoring.

Frequently Asked Questions