Upcoming Dates

11/13
2024
November 2024 Monthly Webinar

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

Nov 12, 2024

USAC will perform an ad-hoc system maintenance starting on Thursday, November 14, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. ET.

The staging environments of the following systems will be impacted:

  • National Lifeline Accountability Database (NLAD) 
  • National Verifier Carrier...

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October Lifeline Newsletter

Oct 31, 2024

  • FCC Response to Recent Disasters
  • Reminder: Continued Eligibility...

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Ad-hoc System Maintenance

Oct 29, 2024

USAC will perform an ad-hoc system maintenance starting on Wednesday, October 30 from 5 p.m. to 7...

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Delays in Lifeline Application Document Reviews Resolved

Oct 24, 2024

USAC is aware that consumers may have been experiencing longer than usual document review times for their...

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Continued Eligibility for SCA Benefit and Upcoming System Changes to NLAD

Oct 22, 2024

On November 12, USAC will implement system changes to the National Lifeline Accountability Database (NLAD) production environment...

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Read more announcements