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Commissioner Brown: USF assessment to fall nearly 50%; lifeline reimbursement for 2026 predicted at $12,000
Summary
Commissioner Brown highlighted that the Nevada Universal Service Fund assessment on consumer phone bills would drop by nearly half under the staff recommendation and said projected lifeline reimbursement for low-income customers in 2026 is about $12,000 total, implying fewer than 300 wireline lifeline recipients statewide.
Commissioner Brown pulled agenda item 5a for comment and said she strongly supports the staff recommendation. She told the commission the Nevada Universal Service Fund assessment on consumers' telephone bills "is going down by nearly 50% as a result of this recommendation." Brown added that "the lifeline reimbursement for low income customers for calendar year 2026 is predicted to be only $12,000 total," and she explained that because only wireline customers are eligible for that reimbursement, "this results in something less than 300 lifeline customers in the entire state that are receiving this discount," and that most lifeline customers instead receive service via wireless carriers that do not receive the reimbursement.
After Brown's remarks, Chair Hilly Williamson moved to accept staff recommendations and issue the appropriate order for agenda item 5a; Commissioner Brown seconded and the commission voted unanimously to adopt the staff recommendation. The action will reduce the USF assessment and establish the reimbursement level discussed on the record; the commission did not identify additional funding offsets during the meeting.
