November 3, 200916 yr Apparently cell phones are a necessity in life. Your tax dollars at work. https://www.safelinkwireless.com/EnrollmentPublic/home.aspx
November 3, 200916 yr How to Qualify The process to qualify for Lifeline Service depends on the State you live in. In general, you may qualify if... 1. You already participate in other State or Federal assistance program such as Federal Public Housing Assistance, Food Stamps and Medicaid. OR 2. Your total household income is at or below 135% of the poverty guidelines set by your State and/or the Federal Government. AND 3. No one in your household currently receives Lifeline Service through another phone carrier. 4. You have a valid United States Postal Address. In order for us to ship you your free phone you must live at a residence that can receive mail from the US Post Office. Sorry, but P.O. Boxes cannot be accepted.
November 3, 200916 yr If you dig further into this, you can find out that this company, for instance, doesn't serve Kentucky. If you go to the linked site to find out about programs in Kentucky, you will see a list of carriers in the state. From there, you need to click on each one to find out the benefits. For instance, AT&T Mobility: Lifeline is a government program that offers qualified low income households a discount on their monthly local telephone bill. Each state has its own guidelines to qualify. The application and qualification process differs by state and sometimes by individual phone company. How much can I save? You will save up to $8.25 on your basic monthly bill. These benefits apply to your local telephone service charges that you purchase as part of a service, or 600 Anytime Minutes 1000 Night and Weekend Minutes including Nationwide Long Distance . These benefits will also cover your subscriber line charge. It doesn't seem to be free, but discounted.
November 3, 200916 yr Program has been around since 1984 in some form. I read that in Ohio its limited to 68 minutes per month for one year. Logic is that people need phones for job interviews and to have in case of emergencies. http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS180932+04-Aug-2009+BW20090804
November 3, 200916 yr I personally see cell phones as just as much of a necessity as I do home phones, and Lifeline is nothing new for the home phone. I believe the federal credit is $10.00, and the Kentucky state credit is $3.50, but don't quote me on those. In preparation for the argument that a home phone is a necessity during an emergency, so is a cell phone.
November 3, 200916 yr Author I personally see cell phones as just as much of a necessity as I do home phones, and Lifeline is nothing new for the home phone. I believe the federal credit is $10.00, and the Kentucky state credit is $3.50, but don't quote me on those. In preparation for the argument that a home phone is a necessity during an emergency, so is a cell phone. Sorry, but I don't think people are entitled to cell phones.
November 3, 200916 yr Sorry, but I don't think people are entitled to cell phones. What makes some entitled and others not?
November 3, 200916 yr What makes some entitled and others not? I don't want to put words in coldweather's mouth, but my answer is; the people entitled to cell phones are the ones that can pay for them. What's next? Freakin laptops??
November 3, 200916 yr Sorry, but I don't think people are entitled to cell phones. So are they entitled to home phones? If so, why?
November 3, 200916 yr If you dig further into this, you can find out that this company, for instance, doesn't serve Kentucky. If you go to the linked site to find out about programs in Kentucky, you will see a list of carriers in the state. From there, you need to click on each one to find out the benefits. For instance, AT&T Mobility: It doesn't seem to be free, but discounted. Dig a little deeper and you will see how it is paid for. Who Pays for the Lifeline and Link-Up Programs? All telecommunications service providers and certain other providers of telecommunications must contribute to the federal USF based on a percentage of their interstate and international end-user telecommunications revenues. These companies include wireline phone companies, wireless phone companies, paging service companies, and certain Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers. Some consumers may notice a “Universal Service” line item on their telephone bills. This line item appears when a company chooses to recover its USF contributions directly from its customers by billing them this charge. The FCC does not require this charge to be passed on to customers. Each company makes a business decision about whether and how to assess charges to recover its Universal Service costs. These charges usually appear as a percentage of the consumer’s phone bill. Companies that choose to collect Universal Service fees from their customers cannot collect an amount that exceeds their contribution to the USF. They also cannot collect any fees from a Lifeline program participant. http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/lllu.html
November 4, 200916 yr Is there a public interest served in providing these phones? I guess that depends on how you look at it. But, let's just take one scenario, aside from public safety: These days, no one walks in, applies, interviews and is given a job "on the spot". However, in order to be called back, one needs a contact phone number. I highly doubt an emplyoyer is going to snail-mail you a request for a second interview, or a job offer. So, in this one single scenario, if you want someone to get to the point where they aren't eligible for such benefits, it would seem that the public's financial interest in getting said person a phone so they can get a job. There are many others.
November 4, 200916 yr Author I don't want to put words in coldweather's mouth, but my answer is; the people entitled to cell phones are the ones that can pay for them. What's next? Freakin laptops?? Exactly
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