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 Federal  Communications  Commission  FCC  05-  165 
 STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  KATHLEEN  Q.  ABERNATHY 
 Re:  Federal-  State  Joint  Board  on  Universal  Service;  Petition  of  TracFone  Wireless,  Inc.  for  Forbearance  from  47  U.  S.  C.  §  214(  e)(  1)(  A)  and  47  C.  F.  R.  §  54.  201(  i)  (CC  Docket 
 No.  96-  45). 
 I  am  very  pleased  to  join  in  today’s  decision,  which  will  help  expand  the  availability  of  Lifeline  subsidies  to  low-  income  users  of  resold  wireless  telecommunications  services.  In  the 
 1996  Act,  Congress  directed  the  Commission  to  ensure  that  all  Americans,  “including  low-income  consumers,”  have  access  to  telecommunications  services  and  information  services.  One 
 critical  component  of  the  Commission’s  effort  to  guarantee  such  access  is  the  Lifeline  program,  which  provides  discounts  to  monthly  telephone  service  for  the  less  fortunate  among  us. 
 Unfortunately,  however,  a  2004  analysis  performed  by  Commission  staff  indicated  that  only  about  a  third  of  households  eligible  for  Lifeline  support  actually  subscribe  to  the  program. 


 While  it  is  clear  that  today’s  action  will  not  close  that  gap  on  its  own,  I  believe  it  is  essential  that  we  take  all  possible  steps  to  ensure  that  low-  income  users  are  not  barred  from 
 utilizing  available  support  on  the  basis  of  the  specific  technologies  they  wish  to  use  or  the  specific  business  plans  pursued  by  their  service  providers.  By  providing  support  to  resold  wireless 
 services,  we  are  indeed  extending  a  “line”  to  customers  who  might  not  otherwise  make  use  of  the  Lifeline  program,  and  thus  are  helping  to  fulfill  Congress’s  vision  of  truly  universal  service. 
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