The poor economy has made more people eligible for discount telephone...

at the event urged Congress to spread the word about the program to constituents. The event was intended to kick off National Lifeline Awareness Week. The Lifeline and Link-Up programs “are being used now by only about a third of eligible Americans,” but enrollment did increase somewhat after last year’s Lifeline Week campaign, said Gurin. The FCC is reviewing comments on ways to reduce waste, fraud and abuse in the assistance programs, including on a proposal to use a centralized database for online certification and verification, he said. The commission is also looking at ways to address consumer complaints about accessing the low-income services, and expanding the program to support broadband, he said. It’s “unacceptable” that “millions of people remain disconnected to the outside world,” said National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners President David Coen. Members of Congress can help raise awareness by issuing press releases and calling attention to the program in newsletters and other constituent communications, said Charlie Acquard, executive director of the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates. Also, lawmakers should educate caseworkers about the low-income programs and ask carriers about ways to improve Lifeline and Link-Up when the companies’ lobbyists come in for meetings, Acquard said. The name “Lifeline” is “not hyperbole,” said Mark Andersen, social services director of We Are Family in Washington, D.C. “Your telephone is your lifeline.” Senior citizens that Andersen works with on average collect $800 monthly and, after other bills, have little left over for phone service, he said. In 2009, the low-income programs accounted for about $1 billion of the $7.3 billion USF, said Irene Flannery, deputy chief of the FCC Wireline Bureau’s Telecommunications Access Policy Division.