Lifeline/Low-Income Consumers

The Federal Communications Commission notified IM Telecom, one of the nation’s largest recipients of federal Lifeline subsidies, that it will no longer be permitted to enroll new Lifeline subscribers. The FCC has taken this action to ensure the integrity of the Lifeline program, which is paid for by an assessment that appears on Americans’ monthly phone bills, after apparently repeated failures by IM Telecom to correct improper and potentially unlawful behaviors in the program.

If you are a school or library seeking E-Rate discounts, a rural health care provider, a Lifeline provider serving low-income households, or a carrier deploying networks with high-cost support, you deal with the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC)—the private, not-for-profit corporation that administers the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Universal Service Fund (USF).

Every few years, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) tells Congress and the public what it intends to do with its authority. The agency's strategic plan is not a rulemaking and creates no legal obligations, but it is the framework around which the FCC builds its annual performance plan and budget request to Congress. The strategic plan also serves as the yardstick against which the agency's own annual performance reports—and outside overseers like the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)—measure whether the FCC did what it said it would do.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau announced the counties in which conditional forbearance from the obligation to offer Lifeline-supported voice service applies, pursuant to the Commission’s 2016 Lifeline Order. This forbearance applies only to the Lifeline voice obligation of eligible telecommunications carriers that are designated for purposes of receiving both high-cost and Lifeline support, and not to Lifeline-only ETCs. The Appendix lists the counties where the Commission’s conditional forbearance from high-cost/Lifeline ETCs’ Lifeline voice obligation

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) issued a waiver pausing both the phase-out of Lifeline program support for voice-only services and changes to the Lifeline minimum service standards.

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from creating a database of millions of Americans’ private information—including Social Security numbers and citizenship status—saying the administration has fed knowingly inaccurate data to states that are now “actively” and “haphazardly” purging purported non-citizens from voter rolls. “The federal government has knowingly trampled on the privacy rights of American citizens in a manner that threatens the sacred right to vote,” U.S.

The Federal Communications Commission's Office of Managing Director announced that the proposed universal service contribution factor for the third quarter of 2026 will be 0.388 or 38.8 percent. Contributions to the federal universal service support mechanisms are determined using a quarterly contribution factor calculated by the FCC.

The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) submitted the contribution base amount to be used for the third quarter of calendar year 2026 (3Q2026). Upon approval of the universal service support mechanisms quarterly funding requirements, projected administrative costs, and the contribution base, the Federal Communications Commission will establish a quarterly contribution factor and a circularity factor. USAC will then bill contributors monthly for their individual obligations based on the approved contribution factor. The total projected collected interstate and international end-u

On May 29, 2026, the Office of Management and Budget proposes to revise the Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance. The proposals might be among the most consequential changes to federal grant administration in more than a decade, particularly in the breadth of its policy conditions.

On May 28, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel issued a "slip opinion" concluding that the Federal Communications Commission's Lifeline program—which helps low-income consumers pay for phone and broadband internet service—must comply with a 1996 federal welfare law that limits certain government benefits to U.S. citizens and specific categories of lawfully present non-citizens. The opinion also concludes that the FCC's current enrollment process does not adequately verify immigration status.