Additional Support for Tribal Lands

Lifeline customers can receive an additional $25 per month discount, and up to $100 reduction for first-time connection charges.

Enhanced Monthly Support

Lifeline consumers can receive up to $25 per month in addition to the standard Lifeline benefit amount if they live on federally-recognized Tribal lands.

Link Up

Link Up can reimburse the full cost of initiating service with certain phone/internet companies at your primary residence, up to $100. If the cost of initiating service is more than $100, the company will provide a no-interest payment plan for up to $200 for up to one year.

Lifeline customers residing on Tribal lands are eligible for Link Up. Link Up is a one-time benefit per address; you can request Link Up each time you change your primary residential address.

Coming Soon: Changes to Lifeline on Tribal Lands

The rules for enhanced Lifeline support and Link Up on Tribal lands are changing in August 2018. To receive enhanced Lifeline support, customers will need to live on federally-recognized Tribal lands that are rural, and will only be able to use the additional benefits with “facilities-based” service providers (companies that build and maintain their own networks). Link Up will be available only for customers residing on rural Tribal lands.

Existing customers that live in non-rural Tribal areas will continue to receive the regular Lifeline support amount of $9.25 per month, but not the additional $25 per month. Customers that use a non-facilities-based service provider can switch to a facilities-based company to continue receiving the additional $25 per month. If not, they will continue receiving the $9.25 benefit per month, but not the additional $25 per month.

Which Tribal Lands?

Federally-recognized Tribal lands for the Lifeline Program include:

• Any federally recognized Indian tribe’s reservation, pueblo, or colony (view reference map: Indian Lands of Federally Recognized Tribes or download the official ShapeFile: 2016 AIANNH boundary file)
• Former reservations in Oklahoma (view maps: FCC Oklahoma Enhanced Lifeline Support Maps)
• Alaska Native regions established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (view maps: 2010 U.S. Census American Indians and Alaska Natives Map – Alaska, State of Alaska ANCSA Boundaries Map)
• Indian allotments
• Hawaiian Home Lands (view map: 2010 U.S. Census Hawaiian Homelands)
• Any land approved as Tribal for the purposes of the Lifeline Program by the FCC’s Office of Native Affairs and Policy or Wireline Competition Bureau

Your Lifeline company can help determine whether your address is on Tribal lands.