Low Income
About Low Income:
- Overview of the Program
- Overview of the Process
- Individual Outreach
- Understanding Audits
- Filing Appeals
- HCLI Training Events
- Video Tutorials
Low Income Tools:
Understand the Benefits
Lifeline, Link Up, and Toll Limitation Service (TLS) support provide discounts that make basic, local telephone service more affordable for more than 7 million Americans. Approximately 1,700 telephone companies are eligible to provide these discounts. Consumers apply for the discounts through their local telephone company. These companies are then reimbursed through the Low Income Program of the Universal Service Fund for the revenue they forgo by providing discounted service to eligible consumers.
Consumer Notification: Important News About the Federal Lifeline Program
Lifeline is a federal program that helps qualified individuals pay for wireless or home telephone service. Most telephone companies lower the phone bill each month. Some companies provide free wireless minutes each month.
The federal rules allow you to have a Lifeline discount on one home telephone OR one wireless telephone. You may not get Lifeline discounts on two telephones.
USAC, the company that watches over the Lifeline program, may contact you if you have Lifeline discounts on more than one telephone. USAC will ask you to choose one Lifeline discount to keep. The FCC has provided a tip sheet to help you understand what will happen if you are contacted.
