PUBLIC NOTICE
Federal Communications Commission
445 12
th
St., S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20554
News Media Information 202 / 418-0500
Internet: http://www.fcc.gov
TTY: 1-888-835-5322
DA 17-1167
Released:  December 1, 2017
WIRELINE COMPETITION BUREAU ANNOUNCES POSTPONEMENT OF INITIAL
LAUNCH DATE OF THE NATIONAL LIFELINE ELIGIBILITY VERIFIER
WC Docket No. 11-42
By this Public Notice, the Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) announces that the launch of 
the National Lifeline Eligibility Verifier (National Verifier), originally scheduled for six initial states in 
December 2017,
1
will be postponed until early 2018.  
The Commission directed the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) to establish 
the National Verifier in the 2016 Lifeline Order to make independent eligibility determinations and 
perform a variety of other functions necessary to enroll subscribers into the Lifeline program.
2
  The 2016 
Lifeline Order set an expectation that USAC would deploy the National Verifier in at least five states by 
December 31, 2017.  The order also noted that the National Verifier must comply with applicable laws 
and federal government guidance on privacy and security, including the Federal Information Security 
Management Act and National Institute of Standards and Technology publications.
3
Recently, as the development of the National Verifier has progressed, USAC advised the Bureau 
that the National Verifier’s systems have unresolved potential vulnerabilities that have not yet been 
completed under the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA).
4
  If the National 
Verifier is launched before its underlying systems have been fully tested and before USAC has 
remediated critical vulnerabilities, the security of personal subscriber information located in the National 
Verifier databases could be compromised.
We take seriously the Commission’s statutory obligation and responsibility under FISMA to 
“provid[e] information security protections commensurate with the risk and magnitude of the harm 
resulting from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction of” 
information collected by an agency and information systems operated by an agency.
5
  To fulfill this 
responsibility and protect the security of Lifeline applicants’ personal information, we expect that a 
postponement until early 2018 will provide USAC with sufficient time to complete all FISMA 
requirements prior to the initial launch of the National Verifier in the six states previously identified by 
                                                     
1
Wireline Competition Bureau Announces Initial Launch of the National Lifeline Eligibility Verifier, Public Notice, 
32 FCC Rcd 6727 (WCB 2017).
2
See Lifeline and Link Up Reform and Modernization et al., Third Report and Order, Further Report and Order, and 
Order on Reconsideration, 31 FCC Rcd 3962, 4006, para. 126 (2016) (2016 Lifeline Order).
3
See id. at 4000, 4017-18, paras. 126, 154-55.
4
See Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002, as amended, 44 U.S.C. § 3551 et seq.
5
44 U.S.C. § 3554(a)(1)(A).
2the Bureau in its August 2017 Public Notice.  We note that the FISMA accreditation necessary for the 
launch in the initial states will also enable future expansion of the system into additional states.
For further information, please contact Allison Jones, Telecommunications Access Policy 
Division, Wireline Competition Bureau, at (202) 418-1571, or at allison.jones@fcc.gov or Allison Baker, 
Telecommunications Access Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau, at (202) 418-8128, or at 
allison.baker@fcc.gov.
– FCC –