UTAC Board helps spread the word of Lifeline Program for telephone access
Telephones may be available for those who cannot afford them

[September 15, 2017]   September 11-17, 2017, is Lifeline Awareness Week and the UTAC board, which administers the program in Illinois, wants Illinois residents to know they do not need to go without a phone due to cost.

The Lifeline program is a federally-funded program that subsidizes the cost of one telephone per household, either a cell phone or a landline phone. Internet service as part of the cost of the phone is also being phased in and may be available.

Participants in Medicaid, SNAP, SSI, Federal Public Housing Assistance, or Veterans Pension and Survivors Benefits programs or someone making 135% or less of federal poverty guideline are eligible. If you believe you may be eligible, contact your phone company.

In Illinois, a program funded entirely through voluntary donations also subsidizes the cost of landline phone installation for Lifeline participants. Donations can be made at www.linkupillinois.org or by contacting your landline phone provider.

“Telephones are truly a lifeline,” said UTAC Board Chairman Allen Cherry. “With affordable access to this basic service, our friends, family members, and neighbors are only a call away from help in an emergency.”

Eligible families can enroll by calling their local telephone service provider or a participating cell phone provider and asking to be enrolled in Lifeline. The contact information for the two largest providers in Illinois is AT&T: 1-888-256-5378 Frontier Communications: 1-800-921-8101

More information about the programs is available at www.linkupillinois.org.

[Allen Cherry, President
Universal Telephone Assistance Corp.]