Low-Income Broadband Pilot Program

In 2012, the Commission launched a pilot program to collect data on what policies might overcome the key broadband adoption barriers --- cost, relevance and digital literacy --- for low-income consumers and how the Lifeline program could be best be structured to provide support for broadband. On the one hand, the 14 pilot projects shared a set of common elements that reflect the current model of the Lifeline program — e.g., all relied on existing ETCs to provide service, and the ETCs had to confirm that individuals participating in the pilot were eligible and qualified to receive Lifeline benefits — but on the other hand, each project tested different subsidy amounts, conditions to receiving service, and different outreach and marketing strategies. The result was a highly diverse set of 14 funded pilot projects that implemented different strategies and provided a range of services across varying geographies. The Wireline Competition Bureau has prepared a STAFF REPORT to assist the Commission in considering reforms to the Lifeline Program. The Staff Report summarizes each of the 14 pilot projects and the data collected during the course of the projects.

As part of the Low-Income Broadband Pilot Program, participating providers were required to collect and submit anonymized data to enable both the Commission and outside parties to conduct independent studies and provide observations about the pilot program. The data collected during each project in calendar years 2013 and 2014 is provided below, along with final reports filed by pilot participants that include their own analysis and lessons learned from the projects. To facilitate use by outside parties, the Bureau also is providing instructions on how to read the data sets: Guide to Datasets

1. Frontier (OH, WV)
2. Gila River (AZ – Tribal)
3. Hopi Telecommunications (AZ – Tribal)
4. Nexus (OH, MI, IA, NV, CA, LA, MS, NJ)
5. National Telecommunications Cooperative Association (NTCA) (IA, NM)
6. Partnership for Connected Illinois (PCI) (IL)
7. PR Wireless (Puerto Rico)
8. Puerto Rico Telephone Company (PRT) (Puerto Rico)
9. T-Mobile Puerto Rico LLC (T-Mobile) (Puerto Rico)
10. TracFone Smartphone Project (FL, MD, TX, WA, WI, MA)
11. Troy Cablevision (Troy Cable) (AL)
12. Vermont Telephone (VT)
13. Virgin Mobile (MA, OH)
14. XChange Telecom (XChange) (Brooklyn, NY)