at their broadband costs are not higher than for those in urban areas. Cutbacks in Lifeline Funds The FCC, beginning in 2016, noted that the program had a great deal of waste and abuse. The Government Accounting Office completed a study showing $137 million of benefits went to fake accounts or dead people. Subsidies are paid for by fees on subscribers' phone bills, which telephone companies collect and pay to the FCC. In cutting back on waste, and slimming down the program, by 2018, many people that actually need the benefits were deprived of them. In addition to cutting back on waste, the FCC narrowed the eligibility requirements for Lifeline. The new rules specified that only facility-based telecommunications, cellular, and broadband providers were permitted to participate in Lifeline www.TechnicalPDF.com subsidies. The rulings eliminated resellers such as TracFone Wireless and Consumer Cellular from the Lifeline program. This is problematic because many facility-based providers such as Verizon and AT&T that own networks backed out of providing Lifeline subsidies. This created rural areas where people formerly on Lifeline lost their subsidies because there were no facility-based fixed line and cellular providers, only resellers. The facility- based providers in their area had stopped providing services because their revenues were SO low. This occurred in areas where the only providers left were resellers who don't own network infrastructure. They are not facility-based providers. E-Rate Subsidies for Schools and Libraries A portion of the Lifeline Fund is used for libraries and schools. E-rate subsidies are used to make broadband and Wi-Fi more affordable to these institutions. The subsidies include basic maintenance as well as discounts on Wi-Fi equipment and broadband. Discounts range from 20 percent to 90 percent. The higher discounts are available for higher poverty areas and rural schools and libraries. Eligible schools and libraries submit requests to the Universal Service Administration Company (USAC). U