PSC introduces program that keeps seniors connected through phone service
By Democrat Staff Report
The Florida Public Service Commission kicked off the first National Lifeline Awareness Week at the Capital Area Community Action Agency to help residents stay connected through the Link-Up Florida and Lifeline Awareness discounted telephone programs.
“We are pleased to partner with the Capital Area Community Action Agency, whose clients can benefit from these money-saving programs, for National Lifeline Awareness Week,” PSC Chairman Matthew Carter II said. “This year’s national spotlight on Link-Up and Lifeline will bring wide-spread attention to these beneficial programs that help citizens who are struggling to afford a telephone.”
Dorothy Inman-Johnson, executive director of CACAA, said it was important that seniors and the poor are able to maintain communication through the program.
“Some of the most vulnerable residents of Florida, the very poor, elderly, and disabled, depend on agencies like ours for help with very basic services and advocacy on their behalf,” Inman-Johnson said. “They are the ones who can least afford to have phone service and are required to pay a higher premium for what most of us take for granted.”
Under the federal Lifeline program, telephone customers who participate in certain public assistance programs are entitled to receive a basic telephone service discount of at least $13.50 per month or more than $160 per year.
Link-Up Florida provides a 50 percent reduction in the telephone service installation charge, up to a maximum of $30, for qualifying households that do not currently have telephone service.
For more information, visit www.floridapsc.com.