BACKGROUND California LifeLine Program Requirements The purpose of the California LifeLine Program is to provide high quality, residential telephone service at affordable rates to low-income citizens of California. The California Legislature directed the CPUC to ensure that the program has essential consumer protections and is competitively neutral. A carrier seeking to be a California LifeLine provider must comply with the CPUC’s LifeLine rules and requirements set forth in Public Utilities Code § 871 et seq., General Order (GO) 153 and various CPUC decisions including D.14-01-036 and D.10-11-033. The carrier must also comply with all applicable CPUC rules, orders, decisions, resolutions, the Public Utilities Code and federal Lifeline rules. In order to become a California LifeLine provider, a carrier must generally demonstrate the following: It has a valid, active operating authority issued by the CPUC; It is current in its remittance of CPUC User Fees and public purpose program surcharges; Its proposed offerings meet the CPUC’s California LifeLine service elements; Its disclosures, schedule of rates and charges, and terms and conditions are thorough and consistent with state and federal rules; Its marketing and selling methods are consistent with D.14-01-036 and 47 C.F.R. § 54.405(b); and Its provisioning process is consistent with and in compliance with the California LifeLine Administrator’s enrollment process, validation checks, transmission requirements, and efforts to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. If a carrier is seeking to offer LifeLine wireless services in California, the carrier must demonstrate that its proposed offerings meet the CPUC’s LifeLine wireless service elements. The CPUC adopted the California LifeLine wireless service elements in set forth in GO 153, Appendix A-2. Some of the key service elements are as follows: The provider must offer participants the ability to place and receive voice-grade calls over all distances using the public switched telephone network or successor network; The provider must offer free, unlimited access to public safety N11s (211, 311, 511, 711, and 811) for California LifeLine eligible plans with 1,000 or more voice minutes, and to 911 emergency services for all California LifeLine eligible plans;
BACKGROUND California LifeLine Program Requirements The purpose of the California LifeLine Program is to provide high quality, residential telephone service at affordable rates to low-income citizens of California. The California Legislature directed the CPUC to ensure that the program has essential consumer protections and is competitively neutral. A carrier seeking to be a California LifeLine provider must comply with the CPUC’s LifeLine rules and requirements set forth in Public Utilities Code § 871 et seq., General Order (GO) 153 and various CPUC decisions including D.14-01-036 and D.10-11-033. The carrier must also comply with all applicable CPUC rules, orders, decisions, resolutions, the Public Utilities Code and federal Lifeline rules. In order to become a California LifeLine provider, a carrier must generally demonstrate the following: It has a valid, active operating authority issued by the CPUC; It is current in its remittance of CPUC User Fees and public purpose program surcharges; Its proposed offerings meet the CPUC’s California LifeLine service elements; Its disclosures, schedule of rates and charges, and terms and conditions are thorough and consistent with state and federal rules; Its marketing and selling methods are consistent with D.14-01-036 and 47 C.F.R. § 54.405(b); and Its provisioning process is consistent with and in compliance with the California LifeLine Administrator’s enrollment process, validation checks, transmission requirements, and efforts to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. If a carrier is seeking to offer LifeLine wireless services in California, the carrier must demonstrate that its proposed offerings meet the CPUC’s LifeLine wireless service elements. The CPUC adopted the California LifeLine wireless service elements in set forth in GO 153, Appendix A-2. Some of the key service elements are as follows: The provider must offer participants the ability to place and receive voice-grade calls over all distances using the public switched telephone network or successor network; The provider must offer free, unlimited access to public safety N11s (211, 311, 511, 711, and 811) for California LifeLine eligible plans with 1,000 or more voice minutes, and to 911 emergency services for all California LifeLine eligible plans;
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