free cell phone for low income

[ZacLee]

The US government is offering free cell phone service under their lifeline program for those whose income is below their thresholds.  Eligibility in some states is 2x federal poverty level or about 26K/year.  Since there is a prohibition against posting links for new members such as myself, simply search for "lifeline cell phone" on google.

 

[akrvbob]

Thanks so much for sharing this info. I had a very low-income friend who did get what he called an "Obamaphone" It was the only phone he had or could afford (free).

 

[ZacLee]

The nice thing is one can qualify even with income of up to 26K/year in some states including California. Keep in mind that there are now numerous cell phone providers offering lifeline cell service and the plans they offer vary a lot. In California, the better ones will provide a free android phone (usually a cheapo model from BLU or OJJI) and the plan includes unlimited minutes, unlimited text, and 1GB of data. Most of the free android phones they provide are limited to 3G though their service includes 4G/LTE if your phone supports it. It is possible to move the sim card to a 4G phone if desired. Also, the different service providers use different networks, something a particular service provider will even assign a different network depending on the address provided. TAG mobile mostly uses T-mobile and Feelsafewireless (airvoice wireless) uses AT&T.

 

[ZacLee]

I've had the opportunity to try several lifeline cell service providers.  The best I've found are Feelsafewireless (airvoice wireless) using AT&T and Safelink (Tracphone) using T-mobile.  I was surprised to find all providers even using the same network are not equal.  For example, a TAG mobile phone using T-mobile would not work in a particular location while a Safelink (Tracphone) phone also using T-mobile would work in that same location.