FCC Seeks Comment on the State of the Lifeline Marketplace

In the 2016 Lifeline Order, the Federal Communications Commission directed the Wireline Competition Bureau to submit a State of the Lifeline Marketplace Report by June 30, 2021. The FCC directed the Bureau to review the Lifeline marketplace and make a recommendation to the FCC regarding whether the Lifeline program’s transition to chiefly supporting broadband services, as set out in the 2016 Lifeline Order, should be completed. By this Public Notice, the Bureau seeks input on the state of the Lifeline marketplace to inform the Bureau’s review for the report it will submit to the FCC, including the prevalence of subscriptions to various service offerings in the Lifeline program, the affordability of both voice and broadband services, the pace since adoption of the 2016 Lifeline Order at which voice and data usage has changed, minimum service standards, and the net benefits of continuing to support voice service as a standalone option. The Bureau also seeks comment on the intersection between the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program and the Lifeline marketplace.

Interested parties may file comments on or before April 19, 2021 and reply comments on or before May 4, 2021. [WC Docket No. 11-42]