Do you live on a federally-recognized
Indian Tribe's Reservation, Pueblo, Colony, or former reservation
in Oklahoma, Indian Allotment, or Alaska Native region established
by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act? Do you take part in
federal or state low income support programs? Is your income at or
below 135% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines?
If so, you may be eligible for telephone
hook-up and service discounts under the Lifeline Assistance and
Link-Up America programs. The Lifeline Assistance program enables
participants living on Tribal lands to receive basic monthly
telephone service for as little as one dollar a month. The Link-Up
America program provides qualified participants with a one-time
initial hook-up discount.
Background
The Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) works to ensure that telecommunications services are
available to "all the people" of the United
States, including low-income consumers and those in rural,
insular, and high-cost areas.
Because American Indian and Alaska
Native communities, on average, have the lowest reported
telephone subscribership levels in the country, the FCC
has adopted enhanced programs, as part of the Universal
Service Fund, to promote telecommunications subscribership
and infrastructure deployment on Tribal lands.
|
The Lifeline and Link-Up Enhanced Support for Tribal Lands
IThe Federal Universal Service Fund includes
the Low-Income Program, which provides discounts on telephone
installation and basic monthly service to qualifying consumers.
There are two components to the Low-Income Program, Lifeline
Assistance ("Lifeline") and Link-Up America
("Link-Up"). Lifeline and Link-Up are available to all
qualifying low-income consumers nationwide. The FCC's enhanced
Lifeline and Link-Up programs, however, which offer additional
discounts, are available only for qualifying consumers living
on Tribal lands.
Lifeline provides certain discounts on
monthly service for qualified telephone subscribers. These
discounts vary from state to state, depending on whether your
state has its own Lifeline program.
Enhanced Lifeline for Tribal Lands
provides qualified consumers living on Tribal lands with
additional discounts on monthly basic telephone service. As a
result, depending on current rates, eligible subscribers on Tribal
lands may receive basic local phone service for as little as $1 a
month.
Link-Up provides eligible consumers with
discounts of up to 50% on initial installation fees, not to exceed
$30 per household. In other words, Link-Up gives a discount of up
to $30 of the first $60 of the cost to initiate telephone service.
For example, a $40 installation fee will cost a Link-Up subscriber
only $20. Link-Up support also includes a deferred payment plan
for these charges.
Enhanced Link-Up support for Tribal Lands
provides qualified subscribers living on Tribal lands with
additional discounts of up to $100 on initial connection charges.
For example, an installation fee of $130 will cost an enhanced
Link-Up subscriber only $30. The enhanced Link-Up program also
includes a deferred payment plan for these charges.
Lifeline and Link-Up discounts apply to the
phone at the primary place of residence. This can be a wireline or
wireless phone.
Lifeline also includes Toll Limitation
Service, which enables a telephone subscriber to limit the
amount of long distance calls that can be made from a phone.
Qualifying for Lifeline and Link-Up Support
The Lifeline and Link-Up programs are
available to qualifying consumers in every state, territory, and
commonwealth. Eligibility for participation in these programs
varies by state. States that have their own state Lifeline program
may have their own criteria. In states that rely solely on the
Federal Low Income Program, a consumer must either have an income
that is at or below 135% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, or
participate in one of the following assistance programs:
-
Medicaid,
-
Food Stamps,
-
Supplemental Security Income (SSI),
-
Federal Public Housing Assistance
(Section 8),
-
Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program
(LIHEAP),
-
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families,
or
-
the National School Lunch Program's Free
Lunch Program.
Estimated income requirements for households
at or below 135% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines are as follows:
Estimated
Income Requirements |
Family Size |
Lower 48 /
DC |
Hawaii |
Alaska |
1 |
$12,123 |
$15,134 |
$13,946 |
2 |
$16,362 |
$20,439 |
$18,819 |
3 |
$20,601 |
$25,745 |
$23,693 |
4 |
$24,840 |
$31,050 |
$28,566 |
5 |
$29,079 |
$36,356 |
$33,440 |
6 |
$33,318 |
$41,661 |
$38,313 |
7 |
$37,557 |
$46,967 |
$43,187 |
8 |
$41,796 |
$52,272 |
$48,060 |
For each additional person, add $4,239 for
persons living in the lower 48 and DC, $5,306 for Alaska, and
$4,874 for Hawaii to the income eligibility requirements.
Qualifying for Enhanced Lifeline and Link-Up Support on Tribal Lands
A consumer living on tribal lands may be
eligible for enhanced Lifeline and Link-Up if he/she has an income
at or below 135% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, participates
in any of the seven qualifying assistance programs for regular
Lifeline and Link-Up, qualifies under the state's Lifeline program
(if the consumer lives in a state with its own Lifeline program),
or participates in any of these three additional qualifying
assistance programs for Enhanced Lifeline and Link-Up:
-
Bureau of Indian Affairs General
Assistance,
-
Tribally-Administered Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TTANF), or
-
Head Start (those meeting its income
qualifying standard).
You should contact your local telephone
company or your state regulatory agency for information about
these programs to determine whether you qualify for discounts
under the Lifeline and Link-Up programs. The telephone number for
your state regulatory agency can be found on the Web site of the
National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners: www.naruc.org.
State qualifying information is also available on the Universal
Service Administrative Company's (USAC) Web site, www.lifelinesupport.org,
in your local phone directory, or you can call USAC toll free at
1-888-641-8722.
|