The Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC”) 2016 Lifeline Order1 established various timeframes for updates to certain Lifeline service standards and phase-out of certain Lifeline support. The FCC recently announced updates to certain Lifeline service standards consistent with the 2016 Lifeline Order, as well as extensions of waivers that paused certain updates to Lifeline service standards and that paused the phase-out of certain Lifeline support,2 as follows:

Mobile Broadband Minimum Service Standard – The Wireline Competition Bureau (“Bureau”) extended for an additional year the waiver pausing the increase in the Lifeline minimum service standard for mobile broadband data capacity, such that the standard will remain at 4.5 GB per month until December 1, 2026. Absent the extension of this waiver, the minimum service standard would have risen to 29 GB per month beginning December 1, 2025. This waiver is time-limited while the FCC considers revisions recommended in the Future of USF Report and options for deregulatory initiatives in the Delete, Delete, Delete proceeding.3

Fixed Broadband Minimum Service Standard for Data Usage Allowance – Pursuant to the 2016 Lifeline Order, the Lifeline minimum service standard for fixed broadband data usage will increase to 1280 GB per month beginning on December 1, 2025, based on the 2025 Urban Rate Survey data.4

Mobile Voice Telephone Minimum Service Standard – Pursuant to the 2016 Lifeline Order, the Lifeline minimum service standard for mobile voice will remain unchanged at 1,000 minutes per month.

Lifeline Support for Voice-Only Service – The Bureau extended for an additional year the waiver pausing the phase-out of Lifeline support for voice-only services, which extends the current Lifeline support of $5.25 per month until December 1, 2026. Absent the extension of this waiver, the Lifeline support for voice-only services would have been eliminated in most areas beginning December 1, 2025. This waiver is time-limited while the FCC considers revisions recommended in the Future of USF Report and options for deregulatory initiatives in the Delete, Delete, Delete proceeding.

Lifeline Annual Budget – The Lifeline budget beginning January 1, 2026 will be $2,976,503,538, which is indexed to inflation according to the Consumer Price Index for all items from the Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. The 2026 budget is an increase from the 2025 budget of $2,892,617,627.

Please contact Robin Tuttle at [email protected] or Dee Herman at [email protected] if you have any questions regarding these Lifeline updates and extensions.
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[1] See Lifeline and Link Up Reform and Modernization et al., WC Docket No. 11-42 et al., Third Report and Order, Further Report and Order, and Order on Reconsideration, 31 FCC Rcd 3962, 3989-97, paras. 73-98 (2016) (“2016 Lifeline Order”); 47 CFR § 54.403(a)(2)(iv)-(v) and § 54.408(c).
[2] See Lifeline and Link Up Reform and Modernization et al., WC Docket No. 11-42 et al., DA 25-567, Order (rel. July 1, 2025); see also Public Notice, Wireline Competition Bureau Announces Updated Lifeline Minimum Service Standards and Indexed Budget Amount, WC Docket No. 11-42, DA 25-619 (rel. July 14, 2025).
[3] See Report on the Future of the Universal Service Fund, WC Docket No. 21-476, Report, 37 FCC Rcd 10041 (2022) (Future of USF Report); see also In Re: Delete, Delete, Delete, GN Docket No. 25-133, Public Notice, DA 25-219 (rel. Mar, 12, 2025) (Delete, Delete, Delete Notice).
[4] See FCC, Urban Rate Survey Data & Resources, https://www.fcc.gov/economics-analytics/industry-analysis-division/urban-rate-survey-data-resources.

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