A plan to bring a phone subsidy program for poor people into the broadband age is setting up a battle between Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler and Republicans in Congress.
Wheeler yesterday announced his plan to overhaul Lifeline, which was founded in 1985 to provide discounts on phone service to low-income Americans. Lifeline is one of four programs paid for out of the Universal Service Fund, which is paid for by Americans through fees imposed on phone bills.
Wheeler wants LifeLine to pay for both phone service and broadband while enacting "additional protections against waste, fraud and abuse." But Republicans in Congress said not enough is being done to counter abuse of the $1.7 billion-per-year program.
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