Lifeline Discount Phone Services

The Lifeline Discount Phone Services program is designed to increase the availability of telecommunications services to low income subscribers by providing a discount of up to $9.25 per month off the cost of wireline or wireless telephone service. Enhanced benefits are available to low-income subscribers who live on federally recognized Indian Tribal lands, with monthly discounts of up to $34.25.

Lifeline is supported by the federally-mandated Universal Service Fund. Federal rules prohibit eligible consumers from receiving more than one Lifeline discount per household, and the discount is available for either a wireline or a wireless service, but not both.

Program Eligibility

To be eligible to receive the Lifeline discount phone services, a consumer must be a current recipient of any one of the following low income assistance programs:

• Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
• Medicaid
• Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
• Federal Public Housing Assistance/Section 8
• National School Lunch Program’s free lunch program
• Head Start Program (if eligibility criteria are met)
• Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance
• Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TTANF)
• Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR)

Consumers whose total gross annual income does not exceed one hundred and thirty-five percent (135%) of the Federal Poverty Guidelines are also eligible for Lifeline.

How to Apply

• If you are eligible, contact a telephone company that serves your area and ask them to mail you a Lifeline Discount Phone Services application form.
• Complete the form and mail it to the telephone company. Your discount begins when the telephone company gets the approved form.

Note: Proof of eligibility is required, and subscribers must recertify their eligibility each year.

We Can Help

If you have a consumer complaint, contact us for help or call toll free within North Carolina at 1-877-5-NO-SCAM.