More about the Free Phone Plan

| Monday, December 5, 2011
By Harold Adams


The government free phones plan is now being targeted and attacked by the Right Wing and accused of being a socialist program. But the truth is that the program exists for helping people to get phones and free minutes. Recently, it was announced by Virgin Mobile that they are providing the service through Assurance Wireless which is another such program supplying government free phones along with free airtime and endorsed by the government.

Kyocera Jax phones are given free by Virgin Mobile with 200 minutes of airtime to those who are in a financially bad condition. The service is given to people in various states such as North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and New York. TracFone and Safelink Wireless also offer these government endorsed programs but they give only 60 minutes for a month and in a few states it may also be less.

To avail of this program one should be already availing of other government assistance such as Food Stamps, Medicaid and so on. These types of government free phones were available right from 1987 after the Telecommunications Act which was passed in 1996. During President Bushs time the program underwent some modifications and Safelink started giving off these phones from the years 2005 to 2008. There were several other programs that supplied such phones right from 1985.

In the bills itself the name of Universal Service is mentioned and they are the ones who actually fund the program. Previously, this fund was used to offer discounted phone bill services for those who had some physical disability and this program has been modified these days. It now offers free wireless service along with the phones. There are many people who are homeless and who have to constantly move about from one place to another and live in motels. These people will be greatly aided by such programs in America today.

Virgin Mobile and Safelink both offer the program, but Virgin Mobile is provided in a greater number of states and also their coverage as well as the airtime offered is also more. Being a subsidiary of Sprint, they use its network to provide the government free phones. In some cases, the phones may also be offered at discounted rates.




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