FCC begins tracking Lifeline use

The Federal Communications Commission began to compile a database of subscribers to its phone subsidy program. The database is intended to help the FCC crack down on waste and fraud in the $1.85 billion program for the poor, called Lifeline.

Mark Wigfield, a Federal Communications Commission spokesman, said the agency began collecting data on Lifeline subscribers in five states: Arkansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Oklahoma and Washington. The agency plans to expand the database to include information on all subscribers nationwide by the end of March, Wigfield said. The database will help the FCC ensure that multiple companies are not receiving subsidies to sign up the same subscribers.