Companies Have Gone Above and Beyond the Call to Keep Americans Connected During Pandemic

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the challenges that many Americans have faced, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced the Keep Americans Connected Initiative on March 13, 2020 and extended it to June 30, 2020, asking service providers to take the "Keep Americans Connected Pledge."

The response from service providers across the nation was resoundingly positive. More than 800 service providers took the pledge.

Chairman Pai also challenged companies to go above and beyond the pledge, urging them to expand existing or develop new low-income broadband programs. He also called on broadband providers to relax their data usage limits in appropriate circumstances and take steps to promote remote learning and telehealth. Companies that are took additional steps at no extra cost to consumers included, but were not limited to:

• 3 Rivers Communications: Provided free Internet service until the end of the school year to new customers in households with students that do not currently have service.
• AcenTek: Offered free Internet service to students and teachers who don’t currently have Internet until the end of May and waived installation fees for new customers.
• Alaska Communications: Increased bandwidth for certain Rural Health Care program participants, offered free Internet service to all K-12 and university students who don’t currently have Internet through the end of the school year, and offered one month of free Internet service to all new home Internet customers through the end of April.
• Alaska Power and Telephone: Provided free high-speed Internet to students and teachers who do not have home Internet, provided free speed upgrades to current customers who are students or teachers through May 31, waived data overage fees through June 30, and established new community hotspots; deferring payments and waiving late fees through Nov. 15 (or earlier, as determined by the state of Alaska) for customers experiencing financial hardship as a result of the pandemic.
• ALLO Communications: Offered 50 Mbps broadband service for free for 60 days to households without internet service, reduced fees for 60 days for existing and new broadband customers in need, and waived service modification fees for businesses and residences.
• All West Communications: Provided free broadband service to K-12 students who do not currently have Internet service and to low-income customers through the end of May.
• AlticeUSA (Optimum and Suddenlink): Offered 30 Mbps broadband service until the end of June to households that have K-12 and/or college students who may be displaced by school closures and do not currently have home broadband and partnered with school districts to provide Wi-Fi access to school-issued devices until the end of June.
• Antietam Broadband: Offered 60 days of free Internet service to new customers that are low-income families with students, and suspended data overage charges through the end of July.
• Armstrong: Eliminated data caps for all residential customers and increased broadband speeds
• Astrea: Offered 60 days of free Internet service for new low-income households with students and established free Wi-Fi hot spots.
• AT&T: Provided all consumer home internet wireline customers, as well as Fixed Wireless internet customers, with unlimited internet data, offered free data plans for certain school-issued tablets for 60 days, waived wireless voice and data overage fees for all customers, expanded eligibility for its low-income internet program and offered new program participants two free months of service, and created a $10 million fund to support distance learning, committed more than $500,000 to organizations focused on connecting young people with meaningful online mentor relationships, offered free telehealth services for 60 days, offered free FirstNet-ready smartphones and reduced monthly service plans for 6 months to first-responder public safety agencies using FirstNet, committed $5.5 million to pay for meals for first responders and medical personnel, introduced a new low-cost prepaid plan for new and existing customers, increased data allotments for new and existing prepaid customers for 60 days, increased hotspot plan data allotments for new and existing prepaid customers through June 30, and offered three free months of free broadband service to all verified and state-licensed nurses and physicians in the U.S.
• ATC Communications: Increased broadband speeds for customers that are working remotely or distance learning and offered free Wi-Fi connections for students for 30 days.
• Atlantic Broadband: Introduced a new low-cost broadband plan for new customers that is free for the first two months.
• Baldwin Lightstream: Offered free Internet service for 30 days to new and existing customers who are teleworking or distance learning.
• BARC Connects: Established free wireless hotspots in school parking lots.
• BBT: Increased the speeds of all customers until May 31, offered two months of free broadband to new customers, suspended data overage charges, provided Wi-Fi to first responders and utility technicians, and established Wi-Fi hotspots for educational purposes.
• BEK Communications: Doubled internet speeds for all customers at no additional charge, offered broadband service for free for four months to new customers with telehealth, education, and work-from-home needs.
• Belmont Telephone Company: Provided unlimited data to all customers.
• Ben Lomand Connect: Established free community Wi-Fi spots.
• BEVCOMM: Introduced a new low-cost broadband service for low-income families that are teleworking or distance learning and donated $3,000 to each public school district in its service area to help them purchase Wi-Fi hotspots.
• Blackfoot Communications: Increased Internet speeds or adding a free voice line for two months for current customers, offered one month of free voice and/or Internet service for new customers, and established new Wi-Fi hotspots.
• Blue Ridge Communications: Suspended data caps through the end of May and extending the sign-up period through Dec. 31 for a low-cost Internet option to families with students who are distance learning that don’t currently have Internet.
• Brandenburg Telecom: Offered free broadband speed upgrades for two months.
• Brazoria Telephone Company: Offered free 90-day upgrades to maximum broadband speeds for current customers, waived installation fees for new customers, offered free Wi-Fi hotspots to local schools, and donating $10,000 in gift cards to employees and customers to support local restaurants.
• Broadband VI: Waived installation fees for new Internet customers and provided discounted 25 Mbps service through May 15 to new customers.
• BullsEye Telecom: Waived certain monthly cloud service charges for 60 days for new and existing business customers to help support teleworking.
• C Spire:  Offered free wireless data to K-12 students for educational purposes.
• CableONE/Sparklight: Introduced a new low-cost broadband plan for low-income consumers for 60 days and allowing unlimited data on all internet services for 30 days; extending through the end of the year access to free public Wi-Fi hotspots and offering low-cost introductory broadband packages to low-income families and other new customers impacted by the pandemic.
• Cal-Ore Telephone Co.: Introduced a new low-cost Internet option for families with students who do not currently have Internet and established free community Wi-Fi hotspots.
• Cellcom: Offered two months of free Internet service to new customers who are students or teleworking.
• CentraCom: Offered new student customers free Internet service until May 31.
• Central Texas Telecommunications: Increased bandwidth at schools to help them provide free wireless hotspots in school parking lots.
• Central Scott Telephone Company: Established new free community Wi-Fi hotspots and provided unlimited data to all customers. 
• CenturyLink: Suspended data usage limits, provided connectivity to the U.S. Naval Hospital Ship Mercy.
• Charter (Spectrum): Extended offer through June 30 of up to 100 Mbps broadband service for free for 60 days to new households with K-12 and/or college students, waived installation fees for such households, provided connectivity upgrades to over two dozen healthcare facilities across the country, and offered a free month of service to new small business customers.
• Cincinnati Bell: Provided free upgrades to high-speed Internet for all new fiber-eligible customers and donating $83,000 to schools in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Hawaii to help ensure students and their families have access to healthy meals, educational materials, and hygiene kits while schools are closed.
• Claro (in Spanish): Eliminated data caps in wireless plans, increased capacity of hotspots, and increased data allotment for Lifeline customers.
• Comcast (Xfinity): Increased broadband speeds for low-income customers from 15 Mbps to 25 Mbps, offered broadband service for free for 60 days to new low-income customers through the end of 2020, established free Wi-Fi hotspots for public use, and offered all customers unlimited data through June 30.
• Community Wireless: Extended customers' free usage periods and increased data speeds for unlimited data that exceeds monthly data plans.
• Comporium: Offered 60 days of free broadband service to households with students that don't currently have broadband and waived installation fees.
• Co-Mo Connect: Upgraded broadband plans for all subscribers through April 30.
• Consolidated Communications: Offered two free months of broadband to K-12 students who don't currently have internet.
• Cordova Telephone Company: Offered new and existing customers who are students or teachers free internet service through the end of the current school year and removed data usage caps for all customers.
• Cox: Offering two free months Connect2Compete for new customers who sign up between July 21 and Sept. 30, offering resources for discounted, refurbished equipment through PCs for People, offering organization and educator tool kits to help families connect to the Internet; increased broadband speeds for Connect2Compete (low-income) and certain other customers up to 50 Mbps temporarily, offered broadband service for free until July 15 to new Connect2Compete customers that enroll by May 15 and fast-tracked the qualification process, and offered remote desktop support for free to Connect2Compete and certain other customers; through June 30th, 2021, waiving late payment fees and working with Connect2Compete customers experiencing hardship to create payment plans.
• Cricket Wireless: Introduced a new low-cost plan for both new and existing customers and increased smartphone and hotspot data allowances.
• Cross Telephone Company: Provided free Internet service and installation to students in low-income households in the Warner, Oklahoma school district through June 30.
• Cruzio Internet: Provided free high-speed wireless Internet for low income households with a student for 3 months; offered free connection upgrades and replaced for free older modems and routers for existing customers; established new community hotspots.
• CS Technologies: Offered free community Wi-Fi hotspots and unlimited data for customers. 
• Cuba City Telephone Exchange Company: Established new free community Wi-Fi hotspots and provided unlimited data for customers. 
• DirectLink: Offered two months of free broadband service to new student customers and increased speeds for two months for existing student customers.
• Dubois Telephone Exchange: Offered free Internet service to students through June 12.
• Ducor Telephone Company: Offered free Internet service for 60 days for new customers in low-income households with students that qualify for Lifeline and offered discounted service for new customers.
• Eastex Telephone Cooperative:  Offered free broadband for two months to certain customers for distance learning, created free Wi-Fi hotspots for students, and waived installation fees.
• Education Networks of America: Offered a free cloud computing service through June 30.
• Emery Telcom: Offered free Internet service to new customers with students in the household through May 31 or the end of summer school for households with an enrolled student.
• Emily Cooperative Telephone Company and Crosslake Communications: Provided two free months of Internet service to new customers with students in the household.
• Farmers Telephone: Offered 60 days of free Internet service and free installation to new customers with students in the home and offered new or existing customers who are first responders or front-line medical staff a discount of up to 25 percent on wireless plans.
• Fidelity Communications: Offering discounted broadband service for first three months of new contracts for qualifying low income families, seniors, and college students through December 31, 2020; introduced a low-cost Internet option for 60 days for new and existing customers, including low-income families, seniors and college students, suspended data overage fees for all customers through June 22, and established new community Wi-Fi hot spots.
• Garden Valley Technologies: Offered free Internet service for students until the current school year concludes or students return to their regular school schedule, offered speed upgrades to families with students and teachers, and offered credits to low-income subscribers.
• GCI: Upgraded broadband plans for existing customers and offered free entry-level plans for new customers through the end of May, including free Wi-Fi equipment for new customers who are students or teachers.
• GeoLinks:  Increased broadband speeds for customers who are working remotely.
• Germantown Telephone: Increased fiber speeds to 500 Mbps or more for all customers and established new Wi-Fi hotspots in public areas.
• Golden West Telecommunications: Offered free Internet service speed upgrades through June and adding long-distance minutes to certain plans through June.
• Gorge Networks: Waived installation fees through June 30 for new residential customers who need service for teleworking or distance learning.
• Gorham Telephone Company: Provided free Internet speed upgrades for current customers and offered free Internet for students and teleworkers who do not currently have service through June 30.
• Great Plains Communications: Waived installation fees for new customers and offered broadband speed upgrades to current customers for 60 days.
• Gunnison Telephone Company: Provided free Wi-Fi hotspots for students.
• H & B Communications: Offered two months of free Internet service to new customers who are teleworking or distance learning.
• Hargray Communications: Offered free Internet service for 60 days to student households that are new customers, offered discounted service to other new customers, and offered discounts on Internet speed upgrades to existing customers for three months.
• Hawaiian Telcom: Offered two months of free Internet and waived installation fees for new customers in households with students or teachers and offered discounted services on either telephone or Internet to low-income customers.
• Hiawatha Telephone Company: Offered 60 days of free Internet service to low-income households.
• Hill Country: Provided free service to new and existing customers in need that are students or teachers through the remainder of the school year and discounting increased speeds for customers who need more bandwidth.
• Hotwire Communications: Offered free 100 Mbps broadband for two months to new customers that are students or in low-income households.
• Hughes: Raised data caps and prioritized educational services.
• ImOn: Working with K-12 schools to provide low-cost broadband service options to low-income households with students.
• Interlakes Wireless: Offered free Internet service and installation for certain families with students or families who live in rural areas where traditional Internet service is unavailable.
• KPU: Increased minimum speeds for customers with fiber and waived data overage charges.
• LEACO Rural Telephone: Provided free Wi-Fi to students who do not have Internet at home and installing Wi-Fi hotspots in school parking lots.
• Lightburst Broadband: Provided free Wi-Fi hotspots for students.
• Lincolnville Telephone: Increased Internet speeds for DSL customers, provided two months of free Internet service to current telephone-only customers, and provided free phone and Internet service for two months to new customers that don’t currently have phone service.
• Manti Telecommunications Company: Provided free Wi-Fi hotspots for students.
• Matanuska Telephone Association: Increased broadband speeds for existing customers, provided unlimited data for students and educators, and established community Wi-Fi hotspots.
• Mediacom: Increased broadband speeds for Connect2Compete (low-income) customers from 10 Mbps to 25 Mbps, offered broadband service for free for 60 days to new Connect2Compete customers; reduced prices for 60 Mbps broadband service for new customers, and suspended data usage limits through May 15.
• Midco: Offered an education assistance credit to low-income households with students who don't currently have Internet at home and offered free Internet service through June 30 to new low-income customers who don’t currently have Internet.
• Mid-Hudson Cable: Offered discounted Internet service and waived installation fees for 60 days to households with students who don’t currently have Internet service.
• Mobile Beacon: Offered unlimited data to all existing customers and certain new customers who are distance learning, teleworking, using telehealth services, and applying for government benefits.
• Molalla Communications Company: Offered free broadband service through June 12 to students and families in need.
• Monitor Telecom: Increased upload speeds on its basic package, made a conference bridge available to organizations and businesses, and waived all service order fees for upgrades and new connections.
• Mosaic Telecom: Upgraded broadband speeds for customers with fiber for 60 days and established public Wi-Fi hotspots.
• Nelson Cable: Increased broadband speeds for customers that need it for distance learning, telecommuting, or telemedicine, and offered 50 Mbps broadband service for free through June 30 to new customers in need.
• New Hope Telephone Cooperative: Established new community Wi-Fi hotspots.
• NewWave Communications: Provided unlimited data to all customers through May 12 and introduced a new low-cost Internet option for 60 days; extending through the end of the year access to free public Wi-Fi hotspots and offering low-cost introductory broadband packages to low-income families and other new customers impacted by the pandemic.
• Nex-Tech: Extending its work with schools through the fall semester to identify and provide service to households with students who don’t currently have Internet, provided hotspot data and offered increased data allowances through May 17, and established free Wi-Fi hotspots.
• Ninestar Connect:  Increased broadband speeds up to 1 Gbps through April 10 for customers on fiber.
• NiTCO: Increased Internet speeds to the maximum available for 90 days, provided free conference call service for 90 days, and made a landline-to-cell call-forwarding app free for 90 days for current customers.
• North Dakota Telephone Company: Provided free Internet service through the end of the school year to students and established free community Wi-Fi hotspots.
• North Texas Telephone Company: Offered free Internet installation for new or existing telephone service-only customer households with students.
• Northern Valley Communications: Established free public Wi-Fi locations.
• Northwest Communications Cooperative: Established free community Wi-Fi hotspots.
• Oklatel: Offered free Internet installation for new or existing customer or existing telephone service-only households with students.
• Optics Communications: Established free community Wi-Fi hotspots for students through June 30.
• OptimERA: Provided free internet to all college students, K-12 students, and teachers, provided 50 per cent more data for all data plans, waived overage fees for broadband accounts, and provided access and upgraded connectivity for healthcare providers.
• OzarksGo: Doubled broadband speeds on certain Internet plans.
• Paladin Wireless: Established free public wireless hotspots.
• Palmetto Rural Telephone Cooperative: Offered free Internet service for 60 or 90 days, depending on the customers' long-term needs, to student customers who don’t currently have Internet and offered free broadband speed upgrades for 90 days to existing customers that are student households or teleworking.
• Phoenix Internet: Offered a discounted increase in upload speeds for existing customers.
• Pioneer Telephone Cooperative: Offered free service for two months for new customers, waived data overages for existing customers, and provided hotspot data to cellular customers who don’t have home broadband.
• PVT Networks: Offered discounted Internet service to low-income households with students who don’t currently have Internet and waived installation fees.
• Q Link:  Provided unlimited minutes and texting to Lifeline subscribers, increased data allotments for Lifeline subscribers, provided some free data to tablets and hot spots for Lifeline subscribers, and rolled over unused data for 60 days.
• Randolph Communications: Established free WI-FI hotspots for students.
• Range Telephone Cooperative: Provided free Internet service to low-income students through June 12.
• RCN: Offering low-cost broadband service options to low-income households with K-12 students while school is in session; deferred payments, waived late fees, and offered affordable payment plans through August 15, 2020 to residential and small business broadband and voice customers financially impacted by the pandemic.
• Red River Communications: Worked with local school districts to identify families of K-12 students that do not have Internet access and provided Internet connections to those families.
• Reserve Telephone Company: Waived installation and service fees.
• RT Communications: Provided free Internet service to low-income students through June 12.
• Sacred Wind Communications: Increased minimum Internet speeds where available.
• Service Electric: Offered free internet service and modems to new customers for 90 days.
• Sierra Telephone Company: Extended offer of free Internet service through Dec. 31 to new low-income customers with students, allowing existing low-income customers who established service in spring 2020 to reapply for free service, established free public Wi-Fi hotspots, and offered free 30-day broadband speed upgrades.
• Sirentel: Established a free community Wi-Fi hotspot. 
• Siskiyou Telephone Company: Offered free Internet service to low-income households with public school students through May.
• Skyline Membership Cooperative: Provided 60 days of free Internet to students in need.
• Smith Bagley: Increased data allotment for Tribal Lifeline customers, offered discounted connectivity for schools for distance learning, and delivered over 1,300 wireless hotspots to schools.
• Socket Telecom: Increased broadband speeds to 1 Gbps for 60 days for residential customers on fiber.
• Solarus: Upgraded Internet speeds for customers with fiber.
• Sonic: Offered three months of free Internet and telephone service to new subscribers in households with students, educators, senior citizens, healthcare providers, delivery persons, and food and safety workers, and all households financially impacted by COVID-19.
• Southwest Minnesota Broadband Service: Provided free Internet service until June 14 for low-income families with students who do not have Internet and prioritized connectivity needs for emergency services, hospitals, and healthcare providers.
• Sparklight: Established new public Wi-Fi hotspots, provided through June 30 a low-cost Internet plan for low-income families and other new customers impacted by the coronavirus, such as seniors and college students, waived data overage fees through June 22, and donated hundreds of Chromebooks as well as $15,000 to “Close the Divide” drive to provide laptops to Idaho students.
• Sprint: Offered unlimited smartphone data and additional mobile hotspot data for 60 days; introduced new low-cost smartphone plans; reduced prices for hotspot devices and doubled the data allotment for those devices; increased data usage limits for high school students without home internet that are supported by the 1Million Project Foundation; and accelerated he delivery of 100,000 devices originally intended for next school year to those students.
• Starry: Forgiving balances accrued by customers from March to July; offered free 30 Mbps broadband service through the end of 2020 for both new and existing customers in affordable housing; donated 21 Chromebooks to families with school-aged children identified by the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles as not having the devices necessary for virtual learning in the home.
• STRATA Networks: Offered broadband speed upgrades where available for 90 days and established community Wi-Fi hotspots.
• Taylor Telecom: Offered free or discounted internet service to new customers that are low-income households with students for 60 days with free installation, and offered other student households discounted plans for 60 days with free installation.
• TDS Telecom:Providing new customers who received 60 days of free internet service a $10 credit off their bill for their next six months of service; offered free broadband to new customers who are low-income and/or families with children or college students for the next 60 days.
• TelNet Worldwide: Offered customers free cloud and conferencing services through June.
• Tidewater Telecom: Increased DSL and fiber Internet speeds for two months for current customers, offered two months of free DSL Internet service to current phone customers, and offered two free months of phone and DSL Internet service to new customers.
• Titonka-Burt Communications: Established free community Wi-Fi hotspots.
• T-Mobile: Offered unlimited smartphone data and additional mobile hotspot data for 60 days, provided additional free data to Lifeline partners’ customers, increased data usage limits for schools and students using EmpowerED digital learning programs, assisted with connectivity solutions for over 500,000 students across more than 820 schools and districts nationwide, offered $15/mo pay-as-you-go plan with 2GB of data, offered free international calling to COVID-19 impacted countries, introduced new low-cost smartphone plans, and reduced prices for hotspot devices and doubled the data allotment for those devices, donated $500,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America COVID-19 Relief Fund, and donated 500,000 medical face masks to help protect healthcare workers on the frontlines.
• ToledoTel: Offered free 100 Mbps Internet service to all families with students for two months.
• TracFone: Provided three free telehealth visits with healthcare professionals per month to Lifeline customers, increased data allotments for Lifeline customers through June, provided unlimited minutes to Lifeline customers through June, and donated mobile phones and provided discounted service for volunteers working at drive-through COVID-19 testing sites at Wal-Mart locations in 40 states.
• TruLeap Technologies: Provided free service to students who don’t currently have internet at home.
• Turtle Mountain Communications: Increased Internet speeds for all customers through June.
• Twin Valley Telephone: Provided free Internet service to homes with pre-existing facilities to help families that need a connection for continual learning and established free community Wi-Fi hotspots.
• United Wireless Communications: Provided free Internet service through June 15 to low-income families with students who do not have Internet service.
• Unitel: Offered free installation and one month of free Internet service through December 31 to new customers and students who do not currently have Internet, and offered free one-month speed upgrades for existing customers through December 31.
• U.S. Cellular: Provided extra hotspot data to certain customers and waived data caps and overage charges on all plans through the end of July.
• Vast Broadband: Offered free broadband for two months for Black Hills State University students who don’t currently have home internet.
• Verizon: Automatically added 15GB of high speed data for wireless consumers and small businesses, and no data caps for DSL and FIOS broadband internet plans, introduced a new broadband option for low-income households available through the end of the year, increased data allotments for wireless customers and allowed that data to be used for hotspots, waived activation and upgrade fees, waived wireless data overage charges for impacted customers, offered discounts to nurses and teachers, provided free international calling to COVID19-impacted countries, tripled the data usage limit for students in Title I schools that are part of the Verizon Innovative Learning Program, and provided $50 million combined to non-profit groups to support students and healthcare first responders, provided connectivity to the U.S. Naval Hospital Ship Comfort, provided free meals from local restaurants to hospital workers in New York City throughout April, and provided free online learning tools to home broadband customers for 60 days, waived internet and voice charges for Lifeline customers for two billing cycles, deployed portable cell sites to COVID-19 testing and quarantine areas, launched new voice services to help healthcare and public sector agencies prioritize and route incoming COVID-19 related calls, and provided an additional $5 million to support small businesses through the #PayItForward initiative.
• Viya: Waived installation fees for new Internet customers through April, offered discounted 25 Mbps Internet service for three months to new customers, and offered discounted mobile Internet service for new customers for three months.
• VTel: Provided free internet service and Wi-Fi equipment to students and teachers that don’t have internet at home until schools re-open.
• VTX1: Offered discounted or free wireless Internet service with free installation and equipment to new customers who are college students affected by the pandemic through June 30 and waived data caps and overage fees for certain existing customers.
• Washington Broadband: Increased broadband speeds for student customers and offered broadband service for free to students who cannot afford it and small business owners who have had to close their businesses.
• Watch Communications: Established public Wi-Fi hotspots and lifting data caps.
• Wave Wireless: Offering low-cost broadband service options to low-income households with K-12 students while school is in session; waived data overage charges for March and April; deferred payments, waived late fees, and offered affordable payment plans through August 15, 2020 to residential and small business broadband and voice customers financially impacted by the pandemic.
• West Carolina Rural Telephone Cooperative: Provided free Internet service for 60 days to new customers who are students or teleworking and don’t currently have Internet and offered a free Internet speed upgrade for 60 days for existing customers who are students or teleworking.
• West Central Wireless: Doubled home coverage area data allotments for all customers and offered free Wi-Fi hotspots.
• Western New Mexico Telephone Company: Introduced a new low-cost Internet option to families with students who don’t currently have Internet, offered unlimited data to all customers, and established community Wi-Fi hotspots.
• Windstream: Offered two months of free service and waived activation fees for new low-income customers and offered free audio and video conferencing for 90 days.
• Yucca Telecom: Offered two months of free Internet service and waived activation fees for new low-income customers, offered two months of free Internet service for student households that don’t currently have Internet, waived installation fees, and provided unlimited data to new customers.

To help keep Americans connected during the coronavirus pandemic, the FCC has temporarily waived recertification, reverification, general de-enrollment, subscriber usage, income documentation, and documentation requirements for Lifeline subscribers residing in rural areas on Tribal lands, and has extended those waivers until Feb. 28, 2021. Six FCC orders, the latest of which was released Nov. 16, 2020 (download PDF: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-20-1357A1_Rcd.pdf), will help ensure that no current Lifeline subscribers are involuntarily removed from the Lifeline program during this time of national crisis. The orders also direct the Lifeline program administrator to pause any involuntary de-enrollment of existing subscribers until that date.

The FCC has also made it easier for individuals who have lost their employment during the coronavirus pandemic and who qualify for Lifeline benefits to enroll in the Lifeline program. On April 29, 2020, the FCC temporarily waived the requirement that consumers seeking to qualify for the program based on their income must provide at least three consecutive months of income documentation. On June 1, the FCC streamlined Lifeline service enrollment for consumers living in rural Tribal areas. These changes will also stay in effect through Feb. 28, 2021.

The FCC is currently developing the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program that Congress created in the recent COVID relief legislation. Program specifics will be available in the coming weeks. Consumers should contact broadband providers that serve their area to learn more about current low cost offerings.

To learn more about other low cost broadband options visit everyone.org.