(a) Scope and purpose. Through this section, the commission seeks to identify and make available Lifeline Service to all qualifying customers and households, establish a procedure for Lifeline Automatic Enrollment and Lifeline Self-Enrollment, and define the responsibilities of all providers of local exchange telephone service that provide Lifeline Service, qualified customers, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), and the Low-Income Discount Administrator (LIDA) Program.
(b) Applicability. This section applies to the following providers of local exchange telephone service collectively referred to in this section as Lifeline providers:
(1) ETC--A carrier designated as such by a state commission pursuant to 47 C.F.R. §54.201 and §26.418 of this title (relating to Designation of Common Carriers as Eligible Telecommunications Carriers to Receive Federal Universal Service Funds) or a carrier designated as an ETC by the FCC pursuant to 47 C.F.R. §54.201.
(2) ETP--A provider designated as an ETP as defined by §26.417 of this title (relating to Designation as Eligible Telecommunications Providers to Receive Texas Universal Service Funds (TUSF)).
(3) Resale ETP (R-ETP)--A certificated provider that provides local exchange telephone service solely through the resale of an incumbent local exchange carrier's service and that has been designated as a R-ETP as defined by §26.419 of this title (relating to Telecommunication Resale Providers Designation as Eligible Telecommunications Providers to Receive Texas Universal Service Funds (TUSF) for Lifeline Service).
(4) Non-ETP/ETC Certificated Provider--Any certificated provider of local exchange telephone service that chooses not to become an ETP or an ETC as defined by §§26.417, 26.418, or 26.419 of this title.
(c) Definitions.
(1) Qualifying low-income customer--A customer who meets the qualifications for Lifeline Service, as specified in subsection (d) of this section.
(2) Toll blocking--A service provided by Lifeline providers that let customers elect not to allow the completion of outgoing toll calls from their telephone.
(3) Toll control--A service provided by Lifeline providers that allow customers to specify a certain amount of toll usage that may be incurred on their telephone account per month or per billing cycle.
(4) Toll limitation--Denotes either toll blocking or toll control for Lifeline providers that are incapable of providing both services. For Lifeline providers that are capable of providing both services, "toll limitation" denotes both toll blocking as defined in paragraph (2) of this subsection and toll control as defined in paragraph (3) of this subsection.
(5) Eligible resident of Tribal lands--A "qualifying low-income customer," as defined in paragraph (1) of this subsection, living on Tribal lands, as defined in 47 C.F.R. §54.400.
(6) Income--As defined in 47 C.F.R. §54.400 includes all income actually received by all members of the household. This includes salary before deductions for taxes, public assistance benefits, social security payments, pensions, unemployment compensation, veteran's benefits, inheritances, alimony, child support payments, worker's compensation benefits, gifts, lottery winnings, and the like. The only exceptions are student financial aid, military housing and cost-of-living allowances, irregular income from occasional small jobs such as baby-sitting or lawn mowing, and the like.
(d) Customer Eligibility Requirements. A customer is eligible for Lifeline Service if they meet one of the criteria of paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of this subsection as determined by the Low-Income Discount Administrator (LIDA). Nothing in this section shall prohibit a customer otherwise eligible to receive Lifeline Service from obtaining and using telecommunications equipment or services designed to aid such customer in utilizing qualifying telecommunications services.
(1) The customer's household income is at or below 150% of the federal poverty guidelines as published by the United States Department of Health and Human Services and updated annually;
(2) A customer who receives benefits from or has a child that resides in the customer's household who receives benefits from any of the following programs qualifies for Lifeline Services: Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Federal Public Housing Assistance, Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), or health benefits coverage under the State Child Health Plan (CHIP) under Chapter 62, Health and Safety Code, National School Lunch Program--Free Lunch Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); or
(3) A customer is an eligible resident of Tribal lands as defined in subsection (c)(5) of this section. In addition to the programs listed in paragraph (2) of this subsection, residents of Tribal lands may qualify if they are in one of the programs listed in 47 C.F.R. §54.409(b).
(e) Lifeline Service Program. Each Lifeline provider shall provide Lifeline Service as provided by this section. Lifeline Service is a non-transferable retail local exchange telephone service offering available to qualifying low-income customers. Lifeline Service shall be provided according to the following requirements:
(1) Designated Lifeline services. Lifeline providers shall offer the services or functionalities enumerated in 47 C.F.R. §54.101 (relating to Supported Services for Rural, Insular and High Cost Areas).
(2) Toll limitation. Lifeline providers shall offer toll limitation to all qualifying low-income customers at the time the customer subscribes to Lifeline Service. If the customer elects to receive toll limitation that service shall become part of the customer's Lifeline Service and the customer's monthly bill will not be increased by otherwise applicable toll limitation charges.
(3) Disconnection of service.
(4) Number Portability. Consistent with 47 C.F.R. §52.33, Lifeline providers may not charge Lifeline customers a monthly number-portability charge.
(5) Service deposit prohibition. If the qualifying low-income customer voluntarily elects toll limitation from the Lifeline provider, the Lifeline provider may not collect a service deposit pursuant to §26.24 of this title (relating to Credit Requirements and Deposits) in order to initiate Lifeline Service.
(6) Ancillary services. A Lifeline provider shall provide customers who apply for or receive Lifeline Service access to available vertical services or custom calling features, including caller ID, call waiting, and call blocking, at the same price as other consumers. Lifeline discounts shall only apply to that portion of the bill that is for basic network services.
(7) Bundled packages. A Lifeline provider shall provide customers who apply to receive Lifeline Service access to bundled packages at the same price as other consumers less the Lifeline discount that shall only apply to that portion of the bundled package bill that is for basic network service.
(f) Lifeline support and recovery of support amounts.
(1) Lifeline discount amounts. All Lifeline providers shall provide the following Lifeline discounts to all eligible Lifeline customers so long as the total of all the Lifeline discounts combined does not result in a rate of less than zero for a customer's basic local service. Should the total of all Lifeline discounts result in a rate of less than zero on a customer's bill, the Lifeline provider shall only provide a Lifeline discount amount up to the price a customer is charged for basic local service.
(2) Lifeline support amounts. The following Lifeline providers shall receive support amounts for the Lifeline discounts outlined in paragraph (1) of this subsection. Note: A Lifeline provider shall not receive a support amount greater than the amount it provided to each qualifying Lifeline customer.