FCC Record, Volume 27, No. 8, Pages 6653 to 6954, Supplement (February-March 2012) Page: 6,723
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151. Relying on both section 254 and the unique trust relationship between the federal
government and American Indian Tribes and Alaska Native Villages,'89 the Commission created a fourth
tier of Lifeline support, providing up to an additional $25 (for a maximum of $35) per month in Lifeline
support to qualifying low-income consumers living on Tribal lands.39 The Commission also expanded
Link Up to allow qualifying residents of Tribal lands to receive up to an additional $70 (for a maximum
of $100) off of the cost of commencing telephone service.39" Moreover, the Commission broadened the
program-based eligibility criteria for Lifeline to include the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) general
assistance program, Tribally-administered Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Head Start, and the
National School Lunch Program's free lunch program.392
152. In the Lifeline and Link Up NPRM, the Commission proposed further changes to the rules
to expand opportunities for eligible households on Tribal lands to receive Lifeline support and to permit
Tribal governments to designate additional areas as Tribal lands eligible for support.393
2. Discussion
153. Income-based eligibility. We first revise sections 54.409(a) and 54.409(c) of our rules to
more clearly reflect that residents of Tribal lands are eligible for Lifeline support based on income.394
Consumers living on Tribal lands may qualify for Tribal lands support if the consumer's household
income is at or below 135 percent of the federal poverty guidelines; consumers may also qualify through
participation in any Tribal-specific federal income assistance program identified in our rules or
participation in any other qualifying income assistance program identified in subsection 54.409(b) of our
rules. The record suggests, and we agree, that this revision will eliminate any perceived confusion about
the availability of income-based eligibility to residents of Tribal lands39s and reduce the uncertainty that
d at 12221-22, para. 22.
390 Id. at 12230-31, para. 42. Such support is commonly referred to as Tier 4, or enhanced. Lifeline support.
"" 3'Id at 12238-39, para. 59. Such support is commonly referred to as enhanced Link Up support.
I92 Id. at 12245, para. 68.
393 Id. at 2810-17, paras. 126-41.
394 In the Lifeline andLink Up NPRIM, the Commission observed that significant confusion exists among ETCs.
USAC and Tribal governments about whether residents of Tribal lands can qualify for enhanced support based on
income. Lifeline and Link Up VPRVL 26 FCC Red at 2811, para. 127. The Commission noted that interpretations
of section 54.409 of the Commission's rules appear to differ despite consistent language in the 2000 Tribal Lifeline
Order and the 2003 Tribal Lifeline Order. Both of those orders stated that the new rules enhancing support
represented an expansion of the low-income program; therefore, income-based eligibility for Tribal Lifeline, which
existed prior to the amendments, remained intact. See, e.g, 2000 Tribal Lifeline Order, 15 FCC Red at 12245, para.
68 ("Specifically, we expand the federal default qualification criteria for eligibility for Lifeline and Link Up
assistance .. .."' (emphasis added)); Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service; Promoting Deployment and
Subscribership in Unserved and Underserved Areas, Including Tribal and Insular Areas, Twenty-Fifth Order on
Reconsideration, Report and Order, Order, and Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making, CC Dkt. No. 96-45, 18
FCC Red 10958, 10970, para. 23 (2003) (2003 Tribal Lifeline Order) ("T]he Commission broadened the federal
default qualification criteria to enable lowv-income individuals living on tribal lands to qualify for this enhanced
support .... We make this clarification to ensure that those otherwise eligible to participate in the enhanced
programs will have the full opportunity to do so." (emphasis added)).
395 As stated in the NPRM, "'The Commission's current rules regarding Tribal eligibility for Lifeline support have
been subject to differing interpretations. Specifically, ETCs, USAC, and Tribal groups have indicated there has been
inconsistency and confusion among federal default and non-default states regarding whether residents of Tribal
lands may qualify for participation in the program based on income, even though there is language in Commission
orders so indicating." See Lifeline and Link Up NPR126 FCC Red at 281 i, para. 127.6723
Federal Communications Commission
FCC 12-11
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United States. Federal Communications Commission. FCC Record, Volume 27, No. 8, Pages 6653 to 6954, Supplement (February-March 2012), book, 2012; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc111169/m1/81/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.