Title: The Federal Lifeline and Link Up Telephone Discount Programs
1The Federal Lifeline and Link Up Telephone
Discount Programs
- South Carolina Training Presentation
- Universal Service Administrative Company
- January 16, 2009
2Overview Of USAC
- USAC overview
- USACs role in administering Lifeline and Link Up
- Lifeline and Link Up
- South Carolina participation rate
- Advertising guidelines and best practices
- New resources
- Q A
3USAC and the Universal Service Fund
- USAC is an independent, not-for-profit
corporation designated as the administrator of
the federal Universal Service Fund by the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) - The Universal Service Fund (USF) is one fund with
four programs - USAC administers support programs for
- High cost companies serving remote and rural
areas - Low-income consumers
- Schools libraries
- Rural health care providers
- Through USAC, the USF provides communities across
the country with affordable telecommunications
services - In 2007, USAC disbursed an estimated 822.7
million Low Income Support
4One Fund Four Programs
5USACs Role
- USACs functions and responsibilities include
- Administering each of the universal service
programs - Billing contributors, collecting contributions,
and disbursing universal service support - Reporting quarterly to the FCC on disbursement of
universal service support - USAC may not
- Make policy
- Interpret unclear provisions of the statute or
rules - Interpret the intent of Congress
- Advocate policy positions before the FCC or its
staff, but may advocate positions on
administrative issues relating to the programs
6USACs Role Low Income
- Process support claims
- Disburse Lifeline, Link Up and TLS Support
- Promote awareness of FCC USF rules and
regulations - Provide information to stakeholders
- ETCs
- Consumers
- FCC
- State Commissions
7Low Income Program
- The Low Income Program, commonly known as
Lifeline and Link Up, provides discounts that
make basic, local telephone service affordable to
help over 7 million low-income consumers stay
connected
8Low Income Components
- Lifeline
- Reduces eligible consumers' monthly charges for
basic telephone service - The maximum federal support available for
customers in South Carolina is 10.00 - The maximum discount a consumer may receive in
South Carolina is 13.50
9Low Income Components
- Lifeline support is broken down into four tiers
of support - Tier 1 support available to all eligible
Lifeline subscribers, is equal to the incumbent
eligible telecommunications carrier's (ETC's)
actual federal tariffed subscriber line charge
(SLC). The SLC rate, and therefore Tier 1
support, is capped at 6.50 - Tier 2 support an additional 1.75 per month of
federal Lifeline support, is available if the
carrier certifies that it will pass through the
full amount of Tier 2 support to its qualifying
low-income consumers and if the carrier has
received any non-federal regulatory approvals
necessary to implement the required rate
reduction
10Low Income Components
- Lifeline (continued)
- Tier 3 support an additional amount of federal
Lifeline support equal to one-half the amount of
any state-mandated Lifeline support, or one half
of any Lifeline support provided by the carrier,
up to a maximum of 1.75 per month - Tier 4 support additional federal Lifeline
support of up to 25 per month available to
eligible residents of tribal lands, as defined in
47 C.F.R. 54.400(e), as long as that amount
does not bring the basic local residential rate
below 1 per month per qualifying low-income
subscriber
11Low Income Components
- Link Up
- Reduces the cost of initiating new telephone
service - 1/2 of the customary telephone connection charge,
up to a maximum of 30.00 - A deferred schedule for payment of the charges
assessed for initiating telephone service, for
which the consumer does not pay interest - Interest charges not assessed to the consumer
must be for connection charges up to 200 that
are deferred for a period not to exceed one year
12Low Income Components
- Toll Limitation Service
- Allows eligible consumers to subscribe to toll
blocking or toll control at no cost - Consumers must voluntarily elect toll blocking
- Carriers may only claim their incremental cost of
providing TLS - Carriers may NOT claim their tariffed rate
13Consumer Eligibility
- States that mandate their own Lifeline program
can create their own eligibility criteria based
on income or factors directly related to income - In South Carolina, a consumer must participate in
one of the following programs - Food Stamps
- Medicaid
- Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
- Meeting the 125 Federal Poverty Guideline
(ATT/Bell South)
14South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff
- The Office of Regulatory Staff (ORS) regulates
incumbent and competitive local exchange carriers
(ILECS and CLECS) and intrastate long distance
carriers in South Carolina. - ORS provides oversight and governance for local
telephone service in South Carolina. - The SC Universal Service Fund and Interim LEC
Fund provide funding to bring telecommunications
services to rural areas. - Consumers may contact the ORS to obtain a
Lifeline and Link Up application.
15South Carolina Low Income Statistics
- In 2008
- There were 29 Eligible Telecommunications
Carriers (ETCs) - All 29 ETCs received Low Income support
- 5,043,890 in Lifeline support was disbursed
- 822,495 in Link Up support was disbursed
- Approximately 45,634 households received Lifeline
support
16South Carolina Low Income Participation
- South Carolinas participation rate is relatively
low - Participation rate for South Carolina is
approximately 11.97 (based on July 2007 data
when there were 228,015 eligible households for
support) - USAC estimates that in 2007 there were 200,728
eligible, non-participating households, in South
Carolina
17South Carolina Low Income Participation
- Possible reasons why participation is low in the
State of South Carolina - Low awareness of programs
- Low awareness of enrollment procedures
- Unsuccessful advertising
- Limited eligibility criteria
- Limitations on Lifeline service
18Outreach
- FCC rule on outreach requires carriers to
publicize the availability of Lifeline service
in a manner reasonably designed to reach those
likely to qualify for the service. (47 C.F.R.
54.405(b)) - The Lifeline and Link Up order released in April
2004 offers guidelines for effective outreach - Requirement to publicize Lifeline is mandatory
- Guidelines are recommended, rather than mandatory
- States and carriers have flexibility to determine
most appropriate outreach mechanisms
19Outreach Guidelines
- Recommended Guidelines
- States and carriers should utilize outreach
materials and methods designed to reach
households that do not currently have telephone
service - Notices at public transportation, shelters, soup
kitchens, public assistance agencies - Public service announcements
- Bill inserts and advertising in telephone books
are not likely to attract individuals who do not
have phone service - Internet notice should not be the primary means
of outreach
20Outreach Guidelines
- Recommended Guidelines (continued)
- States and carriers should develop advertising
that can be read by members of any sizeable
non-English speaking populations - Offer toll-free number in other languages
- Make available applications in other languages
21Outreach Guidelines
- Recommended Guidelines (continued)
- States and carriers should coordinate their
outreach efforts with governmental agencies that
administer any of the relevant government
assistance programs - Social service agencies
- Tribal organizations
- Community centers
- Organizations such as AARP, United Way
22Outreach Guidelines
- Recommended Guidelines (continued)
- States and carriers should utilize USAC as a
resource - Carriers can post information on USACs
consumer-oriented web site, http//www.lifelinesup
port.org - USAC works with carriers, associations, tribal
organizations and consumers
23Best Practices
- Traditional methods
- Word of mouth
- Third party agencies
- Brochures
- Bill Inserts
- Television advertisements
- Radio advertisements
24Best Practices
- Traditional methods (continued)
- Newspapers
- Local newspapers
- Press releases
- Traditional advertisements
- Newspapers geared towards non-English speakers
- Widely utilized in some minority communities
- PennySavers
- Free to customers
25Best Practices
- Non-traditional Methods
- Enroll customers as they enter or leave social
service agencies - Canvas neighborhoods that may have a high
population of eligible consumers - Establish relationships with community schools
and public housing directors - Cash incentives for employees and social service
agencies
26Best Practices
- Non-traditional methods (continued)
- Provide applications at municipal events, fairs
and other venues where there are activities
targeted towards lower income individuals - Allow Lifeline and Link Up applicants to enroll
at targeted retail outlets - Carrier retail locations or business offices
- Western Union locations
- Check cashing stores
- Rent to own stores
27DTV Transition
- As of April 30, 2008, all ETCs must advertise the
February 2009 television broadcasting transition
from analog to digital service DTV transition. - All outreach materials must convey at least the
following information - After February 17, 2009, a television receiver
with only an analog broadcast tuner will require
a converter box to receive over-the-air
broadcasts with an antenna because of the
Nations transition to digital broadcasting.
Analog-only TVs should continue to work as before
with cable and satellite TV services, gaming
consoles, VCRs, DVD players, and similar
products. - Information about the DTV transition is available
from http//www.dtv.gov and from
http//www.dtv2009.gov or 1-888-DTV-2009 for
information about subsidized coupons for
digital-to-analog converter boxes.
28DTV Transition
- All Lifeline and Link Up outreach materials must
contain DTV transition language - ETCs must send monthly notifications to their
Lifeline and Link Up customers from April 2008
through March 2009 - Bill inserts
- Language on a monthly bill
- Brochures
- Postcards
- Any other medium used to communicate with
Lifeline and Link Up consumers
29USAC Resources
- Lifelinesupport.org
- Carriers can post customized information on
USACs consumer oriented website - Brochures
- Non-tribal and tribal
- Includes federal default criteria
- Consumer Outreach letter
- Can be customized for specific telephone company
- Federal default state and non-default state
versions available - Spanish language overviews outreach letters are
available on USACs website.
30 Low Income Program Initiatives
- USACs online disbursement tool
- Allows ETCs to view disbursement amounts several
days before payments are made - Allows ETCs to track historical disbursements
dating back to 2004 - Shows how a disbursement amount is calculated
(i.e., based on projection or true-up)
31Improving Communication
- Website Revitalization
- Newsletters
- Training
- Fund Facts
- Annual Report
- Site Visits
32Question and Answer Session
33Thank You
Visit us on the Web at www.usac.org
Pamela Gallant Director, Low Income
Program pgallant_at_usac.org Tanea Davis Program
Manager, Low Income Program tdavis_at_usac.org Fades
ola Adetosoye Asst. Program Manager, Low Income
Program fadetosoye_at_usac.org