According to Wave7 Research, Infiniti Mobile under IM Telecom lost 45% of its Lifeline subscription users within a month. This rapid decline occurred at a time when FCC took enforcement action against this second-largest Lifeline service provider, which was alleged to have violated compliance regulations.

According to the latest report on the prepaid wireless market from Wave7 Research, this previously second-ranked Lifeline service provider lost 45% of its Lifeline subscribers between June and July 2026, with the number of users dropping from 1.16 million in June to 635,000 in July.

It seems that the decline in subscribers coincided with the law enforcement actions of FCC. FCC discovered that the company violated the compliance rules related to the low-income telecommunications subsidy program and prohibited Infiniti Mobile ( IM Telecom ) from recruiting new customers through Lifeline benefits.

A press release issued on July 27th, FCC, stated that these violations included: 'Re-directing thousands of former users back to IM Telecom without their consent after they decided to switch service providers'; 'Designing a payment scheme to circumvent the non-use rules of FCC'; 'Registering or transferring users to IM Telecom without their explicit consent'; Changing company control without obtaining the required federal approval; and 'Using robots to bypass the restrictions previously imposed on suspicious applications, registrations, and customer transfers related to IM Telecom.'

The press release also added that FCC will consider "potential further measures in addition to banning new user registrations," and noted that "IM Telecom must cooperate with FCC and USAC to help the existing legitimate customers of IM Telecom migrate to other Lifeline service providers."

FCC also indicates that his concerns about the company 'are not isolated.' FCC stated in a press release in July: 'This month, federal agents executed search warrants against several individuals related to IM Telecom.'

FCC Also mentioned at that time that California and Oregon 'have both issued letters to stop and prohibit IM Telecom from operating in these states due to concerns regarding their activities.'

Wave7 indicates that, according to the latest data available from July, the user loss of Infiniti Mobile caused its ranking in the Lifeline plan to drop from second to fourth, and also led to a significant decrease in the overall number of subscribers for that subsidy program.

In the September report, Wave7 stated: ' Infiniti Mobile ranked fourth with 635,000 subscribers, and as mentioned above, its subscriber base has seen a significant decline. The overall Lifeline market has 6.9 million subscribers, which decreased by about 600,000 in July due to issues related to Infiniti Mobile.'

However, the issue is not limited to Infiniti Mobile. Just last week, FCC announced fines of $10 million against AirVoice Wireless and TAG Mobile, two companies controlled by common owners, on the grounds that they engaged in "fraudulent schemes" and violated project rules.

In its September report, Wave7 indicated that AirVoice (whose Lifeline business operates under the name of AirTalk) was the largest Lifeline service provider as of July, with 1.6 million subscribers. Wave7 stated that the company is "highly focused on Lifeline services" and that "subscriber growth has been strong."

However, whether FCC's recent enforcement actions against AirVoice will have the same impact on its subscriber base as those against IM Telecom remains to be seen. It is worth noting that after FCC announced enforcement actions against IM Telecom in July, AirVoice posted a blog encouraging customers to "see if AirTalk is right for them," and provided instructions on how to transfer Lifeline benefits.

When asked about the possible impact of FCC's law enforcement actions against AirTalk's customer base last week, Jeff Moore stated to Light Reading via email: 'What I am certain of is that as of July, AirTalk had 1.6 million Lifeline customers, and there may also be some non-Lifeline customers. A few years ago, the company mentioned its plans to open stores in 10 states, and relevant pages can still be found on the AirVoice website to this day.'

However, the outside world may also notice signs that the company is facing other troubles. A report from Wave7 states that AirVoice “has long set up booths at the annual industry conferences All Wireless & Prepaid Expo held in Las Vegas.” But the report adds, “This was not the case at the exhibition in August 2026.”