An eligible telecommunications carrier shall annually provide written notification of the availability of the federal lifeline and link-up assistance programs to each of its existing customers residing in the carrier's designated service area by written notification in either print or electronic form provided directly to the existing customers. A carrier shall provide written notification, in either print or electronic form, of lifeline and link-up assistance programs to any new customer residing in the carrier's designated service area within thirty days after the customer receives telecommunications services. A carrier shall annually advertise the availability of lifeline and link-up services in media of general distribution throughout its service areas. As part of its annual certification filing, a carrier shall submit a report to the commission on the carrier's outreach efforts designed to increase participation in the lifeline and link-up assistance programs. The carrier shall file by July first of each year its report on the carrier's outreach activities for the previous calendar year.

A Lifeline-only wireless company that has been designated as an eligible telecommunications carrier is exempt from this section.

Source: 32 SDR 231, effective July 10, 2006; 34 SDR 67, effective September 11, 2007 ; 52 SDR 32, effective September 29, 2025 .

General Authority: SDCL 49-31-76 , 49-31-77 , 49-31-81 .

Law Implemented: SDCL 49-31-3 , 49-31-76 , 49-31-78 .

Prior versions effective: 2007-09-11.