Upcoming Dates

09/08
2026
Q3 Tribal Teleconference
09/09
2026
September 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

August System Maintenance

Aug 19, 2026

Monthly System Maintenance, August 21

USAC will perform monthly scheduled system maintenance on Friday, August 21, from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. ET on Saturday, August 22.

The production environments of the following systems are impacted:

    ...

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USAC Postpones Transition to SAM.gov Banking Information

Aug 10, 2026

USAC will postpone the transition to SAM.gov banking information to perform additional testing and validation for a...

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California Subscribers Continued Eligibility Starts Today, August 6

Aug 6, 2026

Under direction of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and pursuant to the FCC OIG Advisory Regarding...

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Lifeline Newsletter – July 2026

Jul 30, 2026

  • Improved Representative ID Retrieval in RAD
  • California...

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Ad-Hoc System Maintenance on 7/30

Jul 27, 2026

USAC will perform an ad-hoc system maintenance on Thursday, July 30, from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m....

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Read more announcements