One in 11 Fla. households in Lifeline plan
Federal program paid $92 million in discounts, free phones to Floridians in 12 months, PSC report shows.
Roughly one out of every 11 Florida households — or 852,255 eligible telecommunications customers — participates in the federal Lifeline Assistance discount telephone program, the Florida Public Service Commission said in an annual report released Friday.
That amounted to $92 million in discounts and free phones for the 12 months ended June 30. The number of subscribers rose 2.3 percent from the year before due to an increased demand for wireless service.
Par t i c i pants who qu a l i f i e d through certain public assistance programs received either a $9.25 per month discount on a landline or a free cellphone with 250 minutes per month.
“Lifeline provides the assistance many Floridians need to afford phone service to connect with family, friends, doctors and employers,” PSC Chairwoman Julie Brown said Friday. “With the Federal Communications Commission’s new Lifeline rules, effective this month, consumers can now apply their monthly Lifeline benefit toward broadband service, connecting them to voice and broadband services.”
Starting this year, participants can receive 500 free minutes of mobile voice service or 500 megabytes of mobile broadband service, but not both, per household.
The program was not started by President Barack Obama, and actually dates back to 1985. But Lifeline became a political issue in the 2012 election when opponents tagged it as the “Obamaphone program” after a video featuring an Ohio backer of Obama touting the availability of the phones for low-income residents went viral.
All telephone customers pay for the program through the Universal Service Fund fee on their bills.
The Universal Service Fund costs the average U.S. household between $2.88 and $3.52 a month, and $1.75 of that goes to Lifeline. The telecommunications providers collect the fees and turn them over to the federal government.
Enrollment in the program in Florida peaked at 1.04 million households in 2012. That was before a new Federal Communications Commission mandate that each customer be re-certified to determine whether he or she still qualified for benefits.
In Florida, 19 telecommunication companies participate in the federal Lifeline program.
As in past years, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is the largest qualifying program for Lifeline Assistance in Florida. Based upon June 2016 SNAP participants, eligible households in need of Lifeline decreased by 14.8 percent compared to last year’s data.
Eligibility requirements and application access are highlighted at monthly PSC outreach events to increase Lifeline program awareness. The new FCC broadband rules and its existing rules limit benefits to one Lifeline discount per eligible household and require annual recertification. The PSC encourages Lifeline customers seeking broadband discounts to contact their carrier for availability.
Officials said applying for Lifeline is easy. Florida residents can call their local phone company, the PSC at 1-800-342-3552, or the Office of Public Counsel at 1-800540-7039 for assistance.