The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has submitted a report to the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation which summarizes the results of GAO’s examination of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) efforts to reform the universal service Lifeline program. Specifically, the GAO report discusses (1) the status of Lifeline reform efforts and the extent to which the FCC has evaluated the effectiveness of the Lifeline program; (2) how the Lifeline program verifies household eligibility and addresses associated privacy and data security; (3) the extent to which households participate in Lifeline and the challenges, if any, they face in accessing and retaining Lifeline benefits; and (4) how the FCC plans to evaluate the Lifeline broadband pilot program and the extent to which the pilot program will enable the FCC to decide whether and how to include broadband in the Lifeline program. At the conclusion of the report, GAO “recommend[s] that [the] FCC conduct a program evaluation to determine the extent to which the Lifeline program is efficiently and effectively reaching its performance goals of ensuring the availability of voice service for low-income Americans while minimizing the contribution burden on consumers and businesses.”
