WASHINGTON, Sept. 2, 2025 – California is testing whether its long-running LifeLine phone subsidy can help low-income households pay for broadband too.
In an announcement Thursday, the California Public Utilities Commission detailed a new three-year pilot that expands the state’s LifeLine program beyond voice.
The pilot offers participants a $20 monthly subsidy for standalone broadband service, $30 for broadband bundled with a phone line from the same provider, and up to $39 once a year to cover the cost of a new connection.
To qualify, broadband service must meet minimum standards of 100 * 20 Megabits per second (Mbps) and offer at least 1,280 GB of data each month, unless such service isn’t technically feasible or the plan qualifies as a low-cost option.
“Broadband is essential for work, school, health, and safety,” said CPUC President Alice Reynolds, in a release. “This pilot program will play a key role in achieving the goal of connecting Californians.”
According to data from a recently expired federal broadband affordability subsidy, the Affordable Connectivity Program, a total of 5,844,797 California households with incomes at or below 200 percent of federal poverty guidelines were eligible for broadband assistance. That threshold equates to an annual income of about $31,300 for a single person and $64,300 for a family of four in 2025.
That affordability gap has fueled policymakers to expand subsidies and lower broadband prices.
During the 2025 legislative session in Sacramento, Assemblymember Tasha Boerner, D-Encinitas, floated the California Affordable Home Internet Act, which would’ve required large internet providers to offer 100 * 20 Mbps broadband plans for just $15/month to low-income households that receive public assistance – modeling New York’s successful effort.
The bill passed the Assembly 52–17 in June but then ran into pushback, and was ultimately gutted in committee following heavy telecom industry lobbying.
Boerner eventually abandoned the bill, citing federal warnings that regulating rates could jeopardize California’s eligibility for nearly $1.9 billion through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program. That left the LifeLine pilot as the state’s most concrete affordability initiative for now.
In contrast to the federal ACP, California’s LifeLine sets its income threshold at 150 percent of poverty, meaning fewer households may qualify for the state subsidy, unless they are enrolled in certain public-assistance programs, such as CalFresh, Medi-Cal, or SSI.
California’s state regulators have operated LifeLine since 1985, when the Moore Universal Telephone Service Act established discounted residential phone service for low-income households. The program is funded through a surcharge on phone bills collected by carriers and overseen by the CPUC.