Universal Service Fund — Lifeline — CFDA 32.003

Lifeline obligations at $4.04 billion

USAspending.gov records $4,044,449,350.80 in obligations under CFDA 32.003. Two thousand one hundred thirty-three awards produce that stock. A simple average is about $1.90 million per award. That average is a quotient of two packet totals, not a typical monthly Lifeline credit and not a per-household subsidy.

The assistance-listing title is UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND - LIFELINE. CFDA 32.003 is the identifier. High-cost, schools-and-libraries, and other universal-service listings are separate CFDA numbers and are not mixed into the $4.04 billion. Combining those codes would invent a combined USF total this packet does not contain.

1,173 recipients across 56 states

One thousand one hundred seventy-three recipients share 2,133 awards, or about 1.8 award records per recipient on average. Splitting $4.04 billion evenly would assign about $3.4 million per recipient. That pattern is closer to one or two awards per named carrier or provider than to a dense research portfolio. The packet does not list the 1,173. Recipient count is the organizational headcount, not a census of Lifeline subscribers.

Fifty-six states in the geographic count show nationwide coding, including territories as the source stored them. Support dollars still concentrate where eligible subscribers and participating providers sit. The state count does not flatten those differences. Place-of-performance amounts are on the program table.

Award count is not a subscriber count

Among universal-service listings, 32.003 is a wide-roster file: 2,133 rows against 1,173 recipients. Settlements and periodic support actions can inflate award count relative to unique providers. Award count is therefore a weak proxy for “number of Lifeline households.” Recipients (1,173) tell you how many named organizations sit on the extract; awards (2,133) tell you how many assistance rows were stored.

The packet does not report subscriber counts, line counts, or monthly credit amounts. Citing 2,133 as households or phones would be a unit error. Keep the units straight: dollars, awards, recipients, states.

Obligations versus Lifeline outlays

The $4.04 billion is an obligation total from USAspending.gov. Outlays — cash paid against Lifeline awards — are not in the packet. A provider can show a large obligation stock while subscriber credits follow a monthly calendar. Deobligations and upward adjustments both move the total. A remaining-balance question is an outlay question this extract does not answer.

Use CFDA 32.003 to size the Lifeline listing in the assistance file. Do not use it as a household-connectivity dashboard. Those series live elsewhere. This page reports the obligation book tagged 32.003.

What the 32.003 tables omit

The Universal Service Fund — Lifeline hub lists award-backed obligations from USAspending.gov. It is not a subscriber roster, not a carrier directory, and not a ranking of broadband adoption. Series that never appear as assistance awards will not show up in the $4,044,449,350.80. That omission is definitional rather than a gap in the 2,133 award rows.

Place-of-performance on 56 states is a coding field. A provider coded to one cell can dominate geography while subscribers sit in many counties. Read the program page before treating those cells as equal shares.

Where the 32.003 table lives

The Lifeline program page overlays these four facts. The all-programs index ranks 32.003 among other assistance listings. Agency pages show awarding-agency rollups that may include this CFDA among other universal-service listings. For 32.003 only, start on the program page.

CFDA 32.003’s 2,133 awards spread $4,044,449,350.80 across 1,173 recipients and 56 states. Quote award count as a record count, recipient count as the organizational headcount, and dollars as obligations from USAspending.gov. About 1.8 award records per recipient is the density story on this listing. Outlays remain a separate column. Source: USAspending.gov assistance awards.

CFDA 32.003 is indexed at $4,044,449,350.80 in obligations, 2,133 awards, 1,173 recipients, and 56 states on USAspending.gov. Universal Service Fund should be cited on that CFDA row alone. The $4.04 billion figure sizes the listing in the assistance file. It does not convert obligations into outlays, and it does not convert award count into a service, patient, student, or project census.

Readers who need the overlay tables should start on the program page for CFDA 32.003, then rank the listing on the all-programs index. Agency pages show awarding-agency rollups that may include this CFDA among other listings; they do not replace the $4,044,449,350.80 obligation stock. Keep the four facts together when quoting Universal Service Fund: dollars as obligations from USAspending.gov, award count as a stored-row count, recipient count as the organizational headcount (including 0 when the extract stores none), and the state figure as a geographic coding count.

Questions

How much is obligated for Lifeline on USAspending.gov?

USAspending.gov records $4,044,449,350.80 in obligations for CFDA 32.003. SpendingVault indexes 2,133 awards, 1,173 recipients, and 56 states. The figure is an obligation sum from assistance awards, not an outlay and not a subscriber count. CFDA 32.003’s $4.04 billion is the USAspending obligation stock.

How many awards does CFDA 32.003 carry?

The listing shows 2,133 awards against 1,173 recipients, or about 1.8 award records per recipient. A simple average is about $1.90 million per award. Award count is not a household or line count. Recipient dollars are on the program page.

How many organizations receive Lifeline awards?

The extract lists 1,173 recipients. Those are organizational recipients on assistance awards tagged 32.003. Geographic coding covers 56 states. The packet does not name the 1,173 or publish subscriber rolls. Recipient count is the organizational headcount. CFDA 32.003’s $4.04 billion on 2,133 awards, with 1,173 recipients and 56 states in this aggregate, is the USAspending obligation stock.

Is $4.04 billion already paid as Lifeline credits?

Not necessarily. Obligations are commitments. Outlays are payments. CFDA 32.003’s indexed total is the obligation stock from USAspending.gov. This page does not report cash drawn, remaining balances, or subscriber counts. The $4.04 billion on 2,133 awards is the obligation figure.