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Lifeline: 1.4 million Americans recieving free or very cheap mobile service

Categories: Government
By: , IntoMobile
Monday, June 15th, 2009 at 10:06 AM

Lifeline is a service that you would not be proud to tell someone you’re a part of. You need to fit within certain criteria the federal government has set for you to be labeled “low income” or qualify for social services. Around 90% of Americans have a mobile phone according to Nielsen, which may sound like a lot, but penetration rates in many European countries have exceeded 100% (more than one phone per person) for quite a long time. That leaves 32 million Americans without a mobile phone.

No one is questioning the need to stay connected and I hope the people who are against government funded mobile access come to the realization that being connected to the world is just as important as clean water and free education. The number of people using Lifeline has doubled since November 2008 and is now around 1.4 million and it works by operators receiving a $10 per month government subsidy for providing 68 minutes a month of talk time. Tracfone, a company based out of Florida that has a successful prepaid business, provides the handsets and operators like AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile are supporting the Lifeline initiative.

There is currently a debate as to whether or not the government subsidy should be applied for wireless service, which again, is tied to the old line of thinking that a mobile phone is equated to having a luxury item.

[Via: New York Times]

About The Author

Stefan Constantinescu

Stefan Constantinescu (@WhatTheBit on Twitter) has loved technology since as far back as he can remember. It started with computers, but in the past few years his passion has turned to mobile devices. As a mobile phone enthusiast who lives and breathes devices that connect to the internet, he knows he is not alone with this radical fascination of all things wireless. He is strongly opinionated and enjoys a good debate so leave comments in his posts and he’ll get back to you! Stefan began blogging as a hobby in the fall of 2006 and joined IntoMobile in the summer of 2007. Later he got a job at Nokia in March 2008, but as of June 2009 he has rejoined the IntoMobile team. He is currently based out of Helsinki, Finland.

  • Penelopy Clew

    I do not think that a mobile phone is a luxury item but necessary in times since payphones are on the decrease and in the poorer areas they are mostly out of order which means that there are too many people out there without the ability to call for help. Not having a phone also makes it nearly impossible to find a job since where can you receive the call (or are the poor expected to sit next to a pay phone.)I believe that this is a great campaign from Tracfone and hope it assists many people.

  • Pat O’Donell

    I am one of those American’s receiving very cheap wireless from TracFone, just $30 every 30 days, no contracts, no hidden fees, no early termination fee, just $30 dollars. I feel very fortunate in this bad economy to be able to afford one of life’s luxuries, a cell phone. One that I took for grant it, but now I get to have the luxury of affordable wireless with nationwide coverage. I feel truly blessed to be in the position that I am in.