I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2638 
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to reform and modernize the 
Universal Service Fund Lifeline Assistance Program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 3, 2015 
Ms. MATSUI (for herself, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE 
of Pennsylvania, Mr. BEN RAY LUJA´N of New Mexico, and Mr. WELCH) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on En-
ergy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to reform and 
modernize the Universal Service Fund Lifeline Assistance 
Program. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Broadband Adoption 
Act of 2015’’. 
SEC. 2. BROADBAND LIFELINE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 
Section 254(j) of the Communications Act of 1934 
(47 U.S.C. 254(j)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(j) LIFELINE ASSISTANCE.— 
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‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Nothing in this section, 
other than paragraph (2) of this subsection, shall af-
fect the collection, distribution, or administration of 
the Lifeline program of the Commission set forth 
under sections 54.400 through 54.417 of title 47, 
Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor there-
to. 
‘‘(2) BROADBAND LIFELINE ASSISTANCE PRO-
GRAM.— 
‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph— 
‘‘(i) the term ‘broadband Internet ac-
cess service’ has the meaning given that 
term under section 8.11(a) of title 47, 
Code of Federal Regulations, or any suc-
cessor thereto; 
‘‘(ii) the terms ‘duplicative support’ 
and ‘qualifying low-income consumer’ have 
the meanings given those terms in section 
54.400 of title 47, Code of Federal Regula-
tions, or any successor thereto; 
‘‘(iii) the term ‘Lifeline program’ 
means the Lifeline program of the Com-
mission set forth under sections 54.400 
through 54.417 of title 47, Code of Fed-
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eral Regulations, or any successor thereto; 
and 
‘‘(iv) the term ‘participating broad-
band Internet access service provider’ 
means a provider of broadband Internet 
access service that elects to participate in 
the Lifeline program to provide broadband 
Internet access service to qualifying low-in-
come consumers under the final rule 
adopted under subparagraph (C)(i). 
‘‘(B) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this para-
graph is to promote the adoption of broadband 
Internet access service by all people of the 
United States while recognizing that the price 
of broadband Internet access service is one of 
the barriers to adoption for low-income house-
holds. 
‘‘(C) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 
270 days after the date of enactment of 
the Broadband Adoption Act of 2015, the 
Commission shall adopt a final rule estab-
lishing Lifeline support under the Lifeline 
program for broadband Internet access 
service to enable qualifying low-income 
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consumers in urban and rural areas to 
purchase broadband Internet access service 
at reduced charges by reimbursing partici-
pating broadband Internet access service 
providers for each such consumer served. 
‘‘(ii) MODEL.—The final rule adopted 
under clause (i) shall provide that a quali-
fying low-income consumer may elect to 
apply Lifeline support under the Lifeline 
program to basic telephone service, voice 
telephony service, or broadband Internet 
access service, regardless of whether the 
service is purchased as a stand-alone serv-
ice or as part of a bundle of services. 
‘‘(iii) DIGITAL LITERACY PROGRAM.— 
The Commission shall consider providing a 
preference to a participating broadband 
Internet access service provider that in-
cludes components involving digital literacy 
programs as part of the offerings of the 
participating broadband Internet access 
service provider. 
‘‘(D) STATE
FUNDS.—The Commission 
shall consult with the Federal-State Joint 
Board instituted under subsection (a)(1) re-
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