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Essential Services Home | Lifeline Benefit | Affordable Connectivity Program
Lifeline is a federal program that provides monthly assistance for qualifying households on residential telephone or broadband service.
The monthly Lifeline benefit is currently $5.25 for phone service or $9.25 for broadband service.
Eligible Telecommunication Carriers (ETC) or Lifeline Broadband Providers (LBP) offer the service types listed below to qualified consumers. The Lifeline benefit is limited to one per household and may be applied to one of the following services:
- Fixed Voice
- Mobile Voice
- Fixed Broadband
- Mobile Broadband
- Voice and Broadband Bundle
You may qualify for Lifeline if you or your household participates in any of the following programs:
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
- Medicaid
- Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
- Federal Public Housing Assistance (Section 8)
- Veterans and Survivors Pension Benefit
OR
Your total household income is at or below 135% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines.
Note: Additional assistance is available for eligible residents living on tribal lands.
| Household Size | 48 Contiguous States, DC, & Territories | Alaska | Hawaii |
| 1 person | $18,347 | $22,937 | $21,101 |
| 2 people | $24,719 | $30,902 | $28,431 |
| 3 people | $31,091 | $38,867 | $35,762 |
| 4 people | $37,463 | $46,832 | $43,092 |
| 5 people | $43,835 | $54,797 | $50,423 |
| 6 people | $50,207 | $62,762 | $57,753 |
| 7 people | $56,579 | $70,727 | $65,084 |
| 8 people | $62,951 | $78,692 | $72,414 |
| For each additional person, add | $6,372 | $7,965 | $7,331 |
Note: The Federal Poverty Guidelines are adjusted annually, and the above chart reflects guidelines for 2022.
Lifeline customers are also eligible to participate in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).
NATIONAL VERIFIER:
The FCC’s 2016 Lifeline Modernization Order directed USAC to develop a National Lifeline Eligibility Verifier (National Verifier) to determine all subscriber eligibility. The implementation of the National Verifier will shift the obligation of determining subscriber eligibility – for both initial certification and the annual recertification –from service providers to the National Verifier upon deployment in each state.
The National Verifier became mandatory on November 2, 2018. Service providers and consumers may check eligibility using the National Verifier portal.
NOTICE:
Lifeline is a federal benefit; only one Lifeline service is available per household; a household cannot receive benefits from multiple providers such as broadband, wireline, and wireless services; a household is defined for Lifeline eligibility as any individual or group of individuals who live together at the same address and share their income and expenses (economic unit); and Lifeline is a non-transferable benefit. Violation of the one per household rule requirement would constitute a violation of the Federal Communications Commission's rules and would result in the consumer's de-enrollment from the program, and potentially, prosecution by the United States government.