TDI Editor’s Note: The Lifeline and Link-Up Programs are administered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to help Americans have access to the telephone network using voice phones, TTYs, fax machines and CapTel® phones. TDI and other consumer groups have asked the FCC to expand these programs to include access to broadband technologies that support users who need high-speed Internet connections in order to use video phones.
National Lifeline and Link-Up Telephone Discount Awareness Week
In these times with so many struggling to get by, it is important that
everyone understand all of the assistance that is available to help people
stay afloat. “Lifeline” and “Link-Up” are programs that ensure that all
Americans can get basic telephone service by providing limited discounts to
consumers who might not otherwise be able to afford service. Lifeline
involves discounts on the cost of monthly telephone service, and Link-Up
involves a discount on the cost of initiating telephone service. The
discount is available for the primary residential telephone, even if that
phone is wireless.
The programs have been in place since the 1980s, administered by the federal
government and the state public utility commissions, but, nationally, only
about a third of low-income consumers who are eligible for the programs
participate. To find out about how the discount works in your state and how
to apply, go to http://www.lifelinesupport.org.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), National Association of
Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), and National Association of State
Utility Consumer Advocates have adopted the first full week after Labor Day
as “National Lifeline and Link Up Telephone Discount Awareness Week.”
During the week of September 13 – 19, 2010, federal and state agencies and
consumer advocates will be calling attention to the availability of these
programs to ensure that more eligible consumers understand that this
assistance is available. Several outreach tools to assist you are available
at http://www.naruc.org/lifeline/.
We ask you to join us in raising awareness of these important programs by
posting information about the programs in your offices, distributing
information on the programs to your staff and consumers you serve,
forwarding this information to other organizations in your community,
writing an article for a local paper that reaches consumers, or linking to
http://www.lifeline.gov, a website dedicated to these programs.
Information on telephone subscribers in your state is available in the FCC’s
recently released Telephone Subscribership Report at
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-301241A1.pdf (PDF format)
You may be particularly interested in the state-by-state information
available in Table 4 (Percentage of Households with a Telephone by Income)
and Table 7 (Percentage of Adults with a Telephone by Labor Force Status).
For more information, please contact the FCC at 1-888-CALL-FCC or on TTY at
1-888-TELL-FCC.
Thank you for helping improve consumer access to these programs.