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.

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:

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.

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