Low Income
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Low Income Tools:
Frequently Asked Questions - Lifeline Link Up Order
- Is my state a federal default state?
- Delaware
- Hawaii
- Iowa
- Indiana
- Louisiana
- New Hampshire
- American Samoa
- Northern Mariana Islands
- I am a service provider with Lifeline customers. What is the deadline for filing the statistically valid sampling of Lifeline customers for purposes of verification?
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If I am a service provider in a federal default state, and I have not received replies from all of my verification sample recipients by June 22, what should I do?
By June 22, 2005, ETCs in federal default states should file with USAC the results that they have obtained from their sampling and should note the number of outstanding replies. ETCs should update their filing upon completing the survey.Note that in federal default states, customers have sixty days to verify compliance. After sixty days, if a customer has not verified their continued eligibility, ETCs should discontinue the customer's Lifeline support.3
- My state mandates state-based Lifeline assistance and is therefore not a federal default state. My state has a different verification deadline for submission of verification samples which is after the upcoming June 22 deadline. Will I be violating FCC rules if I submit my verification sample in compliance with the state deadline?
- I am a service provider with Lifeline customers. In creating the statistically valid sample for verification purposes, what area should the sample be taken from, e.g., from my Lifeline customers in each study area, from my Lifeline customers within a state, or from my Lifeline customers across the nation?
- I am a service provider. Some customers seeking Lifeline and Link-Up based on income indicate that they have zero annual income on their application. May I reject their applications?
- The Federal poverty guidelines are not defined for Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. What amounts should I use to determine whether applicants qualify under an income-based approach?
Below is a list of states that have identified themselves as federal default states. If your state is not listed below, you should contact the state commission for its certification and verification procedures. If a state changes its designation, the state commission should contact the Federal Communications Commission.
For federal default states, all verification sampling must be submitted by June 22, 2005.1
Eligible telecommunications providers (ETCs) in federal default states should submit their results vie e-mail to pgallant@universalservice.org. If you wish, you may also mail a paper copy of your response to:
Pamela Gallant
Director of Low Income Programs
USAC
2000 L Street, NW
Suite 200
Washington, DC 20036
ETCs in states that mandate state Lifeline assistance should comply with the state verification procedures, including any deadlines set by those states.2
States that mandate a state-based Lifeline assistance have discretion to set up their own verification procedures, including timing of reports and to whom the report should be submitted. On June 22, 2005, states that mandate state-based Lifeline support must have their procedures in place, but those procedures may establish deadlines and requirements that are different from the federal default requirements.4
The Lifeline Order contemplates program eligibility requirements on a state-by-state basis. Therefore, in federal default states, the verification sample should be drawn from the company's Lifeline customers on a state-wide basis. ETCs in states that mandate their own state-based Lifeline support should consult the state verification procedures.
The Commission has stated its intent to do more to make telephone service affordable to more low-income households.5
Applicants seeking Lifeline/Link-Up assistance may not understand that for federal default states, income is defined to include all income actually received by members of the applicant's household, including public assistance benefits, social security payments, and unemployment compensation.6
ETCs/service providers should work with applicants in explaining what is considered income for purposes of Lifeline/Link-Up assistance. In many cases, applicants receiving public assistance will most likely be able to qualify based on their participation in the public assistance programs. We encourage companies to work with applicants to understand our Lifeline rules. This guidance does not absolve applicants their responsibility to demonstrate their eligibility when they certify.7
Territories should use the Federal Poverty Guidelines established for the contiguous states and the District of Columbia.8
1 Id. at 8323, para. 35 and 8324, para. 37; Erratum, DA 05-262 (Apr. 29, 2004).
2 Lifeline Order, 19 FCC Rcd at 8322, para. 34.
3 Id. at 8316-17, para. 22. Under the federal default procedures, ETCs that have a reasonable basis to believe that a consumer no longer qualifies for Lifeline support are required to notify the consumer of the potential termination of Lifeline support before the 60-day period begins to toll. Id.
4 Id. at 8322, para. 33, and at 8324, para. 37; Erratum, DA 05-262 (Apr. 29, 2004).
5 Lifeline Order, 19 FCC Rcd. at 8302, para. 1.
6 Id. at 8308-09, para. 10 and n.31.
7 See id. at 8319-21, paras. 28-32.
8 See id. at 8311, para. 12. We note that the federal government updates the Federal Poverty Guidelines annually.
