Upcoming Dates

10/14
2026
October 2026 Monthly Webinar
11/18
2026
November 2026 Monthly Webinar

See full calendar

Resources

How It Works

Lifeline is a federal program that offers a monthly benefit of up to $9.25 towards phone or internet services for eligible subscribers (up to $34.25 for those living on Tribal lands).

Eligible Consumers

A consumer can qualify for the Lifeline benefit if their income is 135% or less than the federal poverty guidelines, or if they participate in SNAP, Medicaid, or other federal programs. See the full list of qualifying factors.

Eligible Services

Lifeline subscribers can apply their benefit to home or mobile phone service or to high-speed broadband.

The Process

These steps will help service providers navigate the process to join Lifeline as an eligible telecommunications carrier (ETC).

1

Become an ETC

2

Create a Compliance Plan

3

Obtain a Study Area Code

4

Obtain a 498 ID

Get Started

Announcements

Ad-Hoc System Maintenance on October 10

Oct 1, 2026

USAC will perform an ad-hoc system maintenance on Saturday, October 10, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET.

The production and staging environments of the following systems will be unavailable for an extended period:

  • National Verifier Portal

    • USAC is aware that certain outreach and reporting issues affected the California continued eligibility process.

    • Reminder: Maintain Accurate Designation Orders
    • Review Latest...

    Read More
New! Program Recovery Payments System

Sep 25, 2026

Beginning today, all users will be directed to USAC’s One Portal dashboard when they click the blue...

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Intermittent Issues in Lifeline Systems: Resolved

Sep 23, 2026

USAC is aware that users were experiencing unexpected intermittent issues performing transactions in Lifeline systems, including the...

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Read more announcements