The Federal Communications Commission just demonstrated everything that’s wrong with government when it announced that it is killing its own Lifeline Broadband program. Of course, it didn’t actually say it was killing the program, but that’s clearly the direction things are headed.
This incredibly important program has been the victim of government waste, dithering, and incompetence since the day it was first conceived.
Here’s how CheapInternet.com described the latest lunacy:
Lifeline Broadband, a program patterned after the very successful Lifeline Assistance free government cell phone program, was designed to bring inexpensive, subsidized internet to America’s neediest residents, and to simplify the process required of companies who wanted to provide that inexpensive internet access. Oddly enough, it has been decimated by the Federal Communications Commission — the very same governmental body that conceived it, introduced it, tested it, and approved it.
All we can say is, what a mess.
“What a mess” doesn’t begin to describe the huge clusterf**k surrounding Lifeline Broadband since the day it was first conceived. Just look at this sad, yet comical, series of headlines.
December 19, 2012: “14 Projects Chosen for Lifeline Broadband Pilot Program Competition. Using a competitive selection process, the Wireline Competition Bureau has chosen the highest quality pilot projects that will provide data about and rigorous analysis of approaches to increasing broadband adoption and retention among low-income consumers.”
July 28, 2014: “Lifeline Broadband will be here in 2014. Broadband Pilot Trial Period. The Pilot Program is an 18-month trial period, which will begin February 1, 2013, with 3 months for ETCs to implement necessary back-office functions, up to 12 months of subsidized service, and 3 months for finalization of data collection and analysis.” … “We predict that a nationwide roll-out will be announced before the end of 2014 (we are tempted to predict that it will be announced “within a matter of days”, but we are factoring in how slowly the wheels of government can turn) … “Please allow us to do the math: February 1, 2013 plus eighteen months gets us to August 1, 2014.”
That prediction was clearly far too optimistic. Lifeline Broadband creaked along slower than an arthritic tortoise.
May 10, 2015: Is the FCC finally ready to announce its long-awaited Lifeline Broadband program?
Well, no, it wasn’t ready. Despite several years of testing, analyzing and fine tuning, it turns out the FCC was nowhere close to bringing this program to the people.
JUNE 28, 2016: “Major announcement: FCC introduces Lifeline Broadband. This is the news that millions of low-income Americans have wanted to hear for years: The Federal Communications Commission just expanded the Lifeline Assistance free government cell phone program and it now includes internet service. In fact, the FCC is changing the whole emphasis of the Lifeline program from free government cell phones to Lifeline Broadband.”
Well, here we go, everyone thought. The Lifeline Broadband program is getting ready to blast off, getting ready to help millions of Americans get jobs, getting ready to help millions of poor kids keep up in school.
December 7, 2016: Cheap internet is here: 22 companies to offer Lifeline Broadband. It’s taken a while. It’s been a long wait. But twenty-two companies have now petitioned the FCC to become Lifeline Broadband service providers and are currently in various stages of approval.
Some of them are well-known names from the Lifeline Assistance free government cell phone business, such as Access Wireless, Assist Wireless, Blue Jay Wireless, enTouch Wireless, Life Wireless, Safelink Wireless, TruConnect, and Q Link Wireless.”
Buckle up, folks. Here we go. Surely this was the moment millions of America’s neediest had been waiting for. Lifeline Broadband would soon be theirs.
Not so fast, needy Americans. The FCC was just getting ready to yank back the carrot they’d been dangling in front of you for years.
February 3, 2017: “FCC removes nine companies from Lifeline program. The Federal Communications Commission dealt a blow to a program intended to provide subsidized internet to the poor, announcing that nine companies would no longer be able to participate in the plan.”
Say what? Nine companies spent thousands of hours and millions of dollars to do what the government wanted them to do, yet the rug was abruptly pulled out from beneath hem? No, not even the federal government could be that devious or incompetent, could it?
Well, yes, it could. And it quickly got even worse.
March 30, 2017: “FCC Takes a Hatchet to Program Providing Broadband Internet for the Poor. FCC chairman Ajit Pai announced that he would direct the agency to eliminate the federal approval process for broadband providers who want to provide service through the LifeLine program, which administers subsidies for phone and internet service. That means any new broadband provider that wants to participate in the program will need to get approval state-by-state, which experts say will likely be an incredibly long and burdensome process. To make matters a whole lot worse, according to an FCC spokesperson, no states even have an approval process in place for broadband-only providers.”
What a sad, pathetic indictment of big government. The elephantine federal bureaucracy took a great idea, took far too long to figure out how to structure it, dithered when they should have taken action, and after frittering away thousands of hours and millions of dollars, ended up aborting its own brainchild.
In a statement that proves the Federal Communications Commission is completely fluent in governmental doublespeak, FCC Chairman Pai said the latest changes will “strengthen the Lifeline program and put the implementation of last year’s order on a solid legal footing.”
We’re tempted to call this a sick, sick joke, but there’s absolutely nothing funny about it. Not the the millions of needy Americans who desperately need Lifeline Broadband. Not to the twenty-two companies that applied to be Lifeline Broadband Providers. Not to the nine companies that had been approved. And certainly not to the American taxpayers who saw their tax dollars wasted on this treadmill to oblivion.
What will the future bring? Will the FCC relent and bring the Lifeline Broadband program back to life? Will low-income Americans ever receive the help they need so much?
Don’t hold your breath.
cheryl says
I am going to play devils advocate here and post this and please do not get too angry with me I am 63 have worked hard read where one person could not get fresh fruits and veggies on income could we not spend less time on net a grow some veggies in the summer and spring I know some are disabled I my self had back trouble and hard to get around but raised gardens where you can stand you can grow lots of fresh and save money that way and get some free vitamin D also I am guilty of needing more of that we have become a nation where we go to the grocery store to get all the fresh stuff but really how fresh is it??? I know this is way off the mark of life line service I use it and appreciate having it as the lady said saving the money helps me to pay for my utilitiy bills as it get either very cold her or hot.
Free Government Cell Phones says
Sorry, Cheryl. We know almost everything about the free government cell phone program, but we have never heard of a free government fruit and vegetable program.
Ms. Lynn Smith says
I somehow squeaked under the wire and started on the Access program from AT&T in April, 2017. Prior to that I had been using Sonic, which provides internet and land line phone (Fusion-and you can’t get just internet). The first year it came to $37/mo. (The “free” phone service comes w/$13/mo in taxes and fees-unlimited calling U.S.) The second yr -$47/mo. After 9 mos., though, it went to over $60. Luckily a social worker told me about Access-which took only a few weeks to get switched. I changed my land line to a voice over internet-$9/mo.
That is a savings pf over $40/mo.! My yearly income is $11,000. This savings is for me, an enormous boon. I am spending that extra income on fresh fruit and vegetables-something I was really missing. If critics of Lifeline programs think that is frivolous spending for a disabled senior-they should try doing without fresh fruit and vegies for a few months-or whatever their favorite foods are.
The quality of my internet has improved greatly. While the download speeds might not be fast enough for a gamer, they are great for me, and better than what I was getting from Sonic. I can only hope for a change in government that will extend the life of the program I’m on beyond 2020 and expand it so more very low-income people qualify.
Cynthia says
So, by reading everything on this page about the lifeline broadband program that the goverment offers is worthless? I didnt even know theat internet for low income families was offered until recently. My child and I have had circumstances that came about, not due to our choices, cause us to have to live without cable or internet for the last two years. Yes, it has affected my childs grades, being that we live in a world of technology. Not haveing access to th internet has kept us bound to not being able to prosper inmany different aresas of ojur lifes. Living in such a small isolated town with no libreary or any other place to ccess internet. Wo what is wrong with the programs the government offers for internet service to low income families? I would like to know due to the fact that I just applied for low income internet service. I woild like facts please and thank you. Cynthia
Free Government Cell Phones says
The low-income plans referred to in this article were part of the Lifeline Broadband program. While that program may be kaput, there are a number of other low-income plans you should look into, Cynthia. We have a feeling that at least one of them will work for you and your kids. Check this link to see them all:
http://www.cheapinternet.com/low-income-internet
LSCOTT says
SO, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR AT&T BROADBAND FOR THE POOR. WILL IT GO AWAY ALSO??
Free Government Cell Phones says
The delay (or perhaps the death) of the Lifeline Broadband program does NOT impact any of the plans listed on CheapInternet.con’s Low-Income Internet page (we also operate CheapInternet.com) Numerous low-income internet plans are all still available and there is nothing to indicate that they will not continue being available. You can check them all out here:
http://www.cheapinternet.com/low-income-internet
Steve says
Now on the chopping block is your benefit to Net Neutrality.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has proposed to reverse that 2015 decision and put Broadband back under the regime and classification for “Information Services” – the same regime and classification that we already know won’t support real Net Neutrality rules in the Courts.
By abandoning Title II stature of Broadband, now is to mean the end of meaningful, enforceable Net Neutrality protections by the FCC, paving the way for companies like Comcast, Verizon, Time Warner Cable, AT&T and many others to slice up your Internet experience into favored, disfavored, and “premium” content, or slow, fast and in choosing which websites you can and can’t access and how fast those websites will load.
Those of you who knew what a throttled internet meant – please read on.
What’s more in a Title II Broadband status, it offers more regulatory limits than the alternative of treating Broadband as an Information Service, at least when it comes to Net Neutrality. Where Title II grants specific, clear, and bounded powers that can protect Net Neutrality, theories proposed that do not rely on Title II provisions have to infer powers that aren’t clearly granted to the FCC. As proponents of limited regulation, these theories concern the Electronic Frontier Foundation (The leading nonprofit defending digital privacy, free speech, and innovation).
The proper way to protect Net Neutrality is not to expand FCC discretion by stretching the general provisions of the Telecommunications Act (an approach already rejected in judicial court), but to use a limited subset of the clear authorities laid out in Title II provisions of the Communications Act of 1934.
Tell the FCC to Keep Title II and Not Undermine Net Neutrality !
But before FCC Chairman Ajit Pai can enact this terrible plan, he has to make the proposal publicly available and accept comments from regular people about how it would affect them.
That’s where all of you come in.
The FCC has asked for public comment on new rules about net neutrality. Use this form to submit your comment to the FCC.
https://dearfcc.org/
Steve
PS: I have and hope you will to – as one voice is only a yell, but many together becomes a trumpet in a penetrating tone.
Thanks : )
End-
Free Government Cell Phones says
And congratulations on figuring out a way around the system, Steve. You leave longer comments than any other reader (always jampacked with good info) so we never realized there was a limit.
Steve says
I was determined to post this and see if anybody here would write/comment to the FCC in the link I’ve supplied, while time still permits to save the Net Neutrality provision.
I really wasn’t trying to beat the system in place as I’m a rule follower. But, yes it does appear, to copy and paste has a limit on the sites (both of yours) for this approach, even typing some and C&P the rest gets the 404.
If I’d been smart I’d of reversed the posting order of them shown. Sorry for my gift of important gab.
Steve
Steve says
Under this current law, the FCC has the power and can put either label on Broadband Internet service – but that choice does have it’s consequences. (To the subscriber base of ISP’s)
The legal mandate was clear (the Courts decision): if FCC wanted meaningful open Internet rules to pass judicial scrutiny (in the Courts favor), the FCC had to reclassify broadband service under Title II provisions.
This was also clear to neutral observers that reclassification of Broadband just made sense. Broadband looks a lot more like a “Telecommunications Service” than that of an “Information Service.” Broadband Internet service entails delivering information of the subscriber’s choosing, not information curated or altered by the service provider.
It took an Internet uprising (Peoples Voices) to persuade the FCC that reclassification made practical and legal sense. In the end, the cry’s of many people had succeeded, in 2015 at the end of a lengthy rulemaking process, the FCC reclassified Broadband as a Title II Telecommunications Service and issued Net Neutrality Rules on that basis. Resting at last on a proper legal foundation in the Courts, and those rules finally passed all the judicial scrutiny of the Courts.
Read more here-
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/05/why-losing-title-ii-means-losing-net-neutrality-and-privacy
cont.-
Steve says
As it stands Now in regards to Broadband with the FCC’s powers:
Under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, a service (as in Broadband Internet) can be labeled either a “TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE,” like telephone service, that lets the SUBSCRIBER choose the content they receive and send without INTERENCE from the SERVICE PROVIDER, or it can be an “INFORMATION SERVICE,” like cable television or an old Prodigy service, that curates and selects what content channels will be available to subscribers.
In the 1996 law, it’s provided that “Telecommunications Services” are governed by “Title II” of the Communications Act of 1934, which includes nondiscrimination requirements of/by/to the service provider.
On the other hand “Information Services” are not subject to Title II’s requirements. (In other words FCC current Rules for Information Services are not protected by the 1996 law and have no Courts support or judicial scrutiny). ISP’s can fight any enforcement to FCC rules or the rules themselves, which most like they will – if Broadband is to be labeled as an Informational service once again.
cont.-
Steve says
Well after this came the FCC’s reversal to rules on ISP’s privacy for broadband subscribers. Moving down the line now, FCC under it’s current administrator hopes to eliminate (gut) all of the prior advances that low-income Americans and all Americans had seen of benefits and/or advantages of the broadband industry in general to them in 2015.
Listen up Low-Income, Disadvantaged, Disabled, and Older Americans.
You have a small window to tell FCC your opinions to the further cuts their going to undertake just Next Week. Your Voice could make a Big difference and reprieve these harms to us by the Broadband industry, if the FCC is to succeed or not is up to YOU.
cont.-
Steve says
I see now it’s when you try and copy and paste something here , you get the 404 error popup thingy.
Steve says
Anyone else getting a 404 error when trying to post here?
S Barbee says
I have a SafeLink Wireless smartphone. I’m trying to add data to my smartphone and use Tracfone app to track my usage. when I try to sign up it automatically puts in a email address from SafeLink Wireless and asks me for a password but I have never accessed this email, I don’t know how to, and I dont have a password for it. When i hit forgot password it says it sent the password to safelink3.com email. what is this safelink3.com email and how do I access it.
Free Government Cell Phones says
Not a clue, Barbee. We’d suggest that you call 6-1-1 on your free government cell phone. That will connect you directly to customer service and they should be able to answer your question.
robert morrison says
Hi, Barbee, since your post is over a year old at this point, I don’t know if you ever figured out the answer to your question about the @safelink3.com email.
Just wanted to provide my experience with the exact same question as you in case it will help someone else reading this with the same problem.
I contacted Safelink at 611 as FGCP suggested, and was told that since we have a Safelink phone, we cannot login at Tracfone’s website for anything. We must go through the Safelink website for any questions and/or concerns. The Tracfone website is for those who have actual prepaid Tracfone service, not Safelink. The @safelink3.com is not a working email for us.
If you want to track your data usage, you can login to Safelink’s website https://www.safelinkwireless.com/Enrollment/Safelink/en/NewPublic/index.html. Just hit the Support button at the top of the page, on the drop down menu click on ‘Get Pending Minutes’. This will show you a new screen with a picture of two phones side by side on the right. Just underneath that picture, you will see where it says ” If you have a Smartphone, click here to check your balance online.” Click on the link and it will take you to a login screen for your phone.
Enter your phone number and the last four numbers of your serial number from your phone, and it will show you your info on talk, text and data remaining.
Hope this helps! Cheers!
Free Government Cell Phones says
Great advice, Robert. Thanks.
Sharon Tinman says
I lost my safe link phone.. I don’t know if I’m allowed to have another 1 or not. I’m disabled & on food stamps..But I don’t know how the program works..
Free Government Cell Phones says
Yes, you should be able to get a replacement phone. Depending on how long you had your previous phone, you may be required to pay a reasonably affordable fee.
Tom F says
Yes You Are Allowed To Switch Company’s / Providers Jus Look Up Who Is Available & Call Them Or Do It Online ~ Your Old Lifeline Phone will Be Disconnected & Only One Lin ed Is Allowed Per Household With very Few Exceptions = Read The Fine Print 😉 ….
Free Government Cell Phones says
Keep in mind that you are only allowed to switch providers once every 12 months.
GERARD F. GAUDIN says
I am in the process of changing to TAG Mobile whom is one of the Broadband providers under Lifeline in Louisiana. I got their information from USAF.gov.; and it is included in the free phone package.
I had been with COX(suckers) Communication for many years on Broadband until they priced me out of the market. They went from $15.00/mo. to 45.00/mo; and actually throttled my speed to 1 mbps. COX is an approved Lifeline provider; but only give reduced Broadband to those with a teenage or younger child in the house.
There are several organizations whom are petitioning right now to save our internet: Electronic Freedom Foundation and Net Neutrality are 2 of them. I urge everyone to join them fight to save our net.
miss independent says
they try to keep people oppressed. not everyone is able to get up on their own 2 feet. some people have absolutely no family support or any kind of support whatsoever and they have to do what they can just to survive. just like the states like south carolina do not want to expand the medicaid program for the poor because of the expense…. did it occur to them if some people were able to obtain the much needed medical care they could possibly go work a job which provided insurance and therefore being a tax paying productive member of the community? I have a friend who moved to a state that expanded medicaid and guess what they are doing now that they have some medical issues addressed? Yep working jobs…. sometimes some of the smartest people in our government make the worst decisions….. I suppose because they just don’t get it. anyway you look at it……. everyone pays for people who are not insured so how do we come out ahead by not providing insurance to every citizen in our country? There is so much medical waste and doctors that do tests that are completely unnecessary just to pad the bills. people who take advantage and go to the doctor every time they have a common cold those are the issues to be addressed fraud waste and unnecessary medical procedures.
Jen says
I was approved for one of these programs. I still have the letter.
Too bad I live one half mile too far to get the service.
Free Government Cell Phones says
Ouch. That’s gotta hurt.
l says
Nothing surprises me about what the government will or will not do.
Free Government Cell Phones says
Join the club, L.
miss independent says
I personally have high speed internet and I have helped my kids on here and helped them apply for schools and jobs and there is no way in today’s world that the average person can go without it… we use it to stream movies for free therefore eliminating cable and satellite bills. That step alone more than pays for the internet but there are some people who are really down on their luck and they can’t stand without a hand up and sometimes you have to give a hand out in order to help someone up. Isn’t that what we are suppose to be doing for our people helping them improve their quality of life? Maybe there is just no way they could get the money out with everything else going on in our country and world… money does not just appear……