Virgin Extends Government’s Free Cell Phone Program
Currently the free government cell phones might be the target of all of the rage from the right wing but the fact is that they are real and they are out there and they are getting some more free minutes.
Just recently Virgin Mobile announced that Assurance Wireless which is one of the programs funded by the government to provide free cell phones. Virgin is going to be offering free Kyocera Jax phones along with 200 minutes every month to those that are poor or disabled in the following states:
• New York
• Virginia
• North Carolina
• Tennessee
That’s a significant bump from their major competitor which is the TracFone from Safelink Wireless. Safelink currently only offers 60 minutes a month and there is some variance when you go state to state.
The free services and phones are available to those people that are on Food Stamps, Medicaid or some type of temporary assistance for families in need.
Free phones are nothing new. The free phones are part of something that’s called LifeLine which began back in 1997. This followed the 1996 Telecommunications Act. The program was then enhanced a little more during the Bush years in 2005 and then SafeLink went to disburse their free phones 3 years later in 2008. There are some programs that are similar that have ran all the way since 1985.
The Universal Service Fund provides the funding to the program. This is what you see as the phone bill surcharge. The Universal Service Fund has been used for landline service subsidization for both disabled and low income people. It’s now transitioned into wireless service subsidization now too. This is something that helps those people that frequently move or who have to live out of motels, bunk with their family or are even homeless in a lot of the cases. These are the folks that are having the most struggles in America.
Up until very recently the most service for a lifeline was provided by SafeLink. SafeLink currently operates in 19 states. Their service will provide less minutes than that of Virgin but their phones could have a lot better coverage. Virgin Mobile is a Sprint subsidiary and makes exclusive use of the Sprint network to let the user make their call. Dependant on where you’re living TracFone could be a able to use many networks to provide the user with better coverage.
There are other big cell phones companies that are all participating in the LifeLine program but they just provide discounts, not free services.
Related posts:
- The Lifeline Free Government Cell Phone Program
- Free Government Cell Phone Programs
- Free Government Cell Phones, Millions of Americans Unaware Of Free Cell Phone Options
- Getting a Free Cell Phone Plan from the Government
- Free Cell Phones, If You’re on Government Assistance
- The Fight for Free Government Cell Phones: Could This Important Service Be at Risk?
- Free Government Cell Phones for Those in Need – Safelink
- Free Government Cell Phones through ReachOut Wireless
- Safelink Wireless Applies To Offer Free Government Cell Phones in Idaho
- How to Get Your Free or Discounted Cell Phone from the United States Government