FCC Starts Reforms at Controversial Lifeline Phone Program

The Federal Communications Commission has started to reform the controversial Lifeline low-income subsidy program, a move applauded by U.S. Sen. James Lankford who had pushed for reforms for years.

The FCC voted recently 3-2 to redefine who is eligible for the additional tribal subsidy through the Lifeline Program. The project helps low-income Americans including Native Americans in obtaining telephone, wireless and broadband services.

Here’s why it’s important in Oklahoma. Funded through the Universal Service Fund tax which is on every American’s phone bill, it was originally intended to provide additional subsidy to low-income tribal members who live on tribal land and don’t have access to an emergency telephone.

Oklahoma receives the second-largest allocation of Lifeline funds in the nation. It totals more than $128 million as the state accounts for more than half of the 417,000 tribal subsidy recipients in the nation.

Sen. Lankford contends one of the largest areas of waste is in Oklahoma because of the FCC’s broad parameters for tribal land boundaries. He said historically, the FCC classified most of the state as tribal land which means all but 451 of the state’s 265,961 Lifeline recipients qualify for more than $400 each in tribal subsidies every year, though most of the recipients are not tribal members.

Lankford says what the FCC did was “real reform”.

“This action will reduce fraud and waste in the program and make it more efficient for those who truly need it,” said the Senator. “Unfortunately, the program became like many other federal programs, inefficient and fraudulently abused by those who do not qualify.”

Lankford says the reforms should bring an end to the “pop-up tents” where free cell phones were provided to those who didn’t actually qualify. Under the Lifeline program, subscribers were given a $9.25 monthly discount on phone service and an extra $25 monthly discount for subscribers on tribal lands.