Discounted phones, service offered via Lifeline program

Question: Can you give us more information about the "Obama phones" — free cellphones given out by cellphone companies? I filled out an application from Bluebird Wireless, emailed it in two months ago and got no reply. Are there companies in Hawaii where I can walk in and get a phone?

Answer: There are companies that you can apply to for the phones, but it’s not as simple as just walking in and asking for one.

And whether it’s free depends on the provider.

Ten Hawaii companies are listed as participating in Lifeline — the official name of the program — on the Universal Service Administrative website provided by the Federal Communications Commission: www.lifelinesupport.org.

The providers listed are Mobi PCS, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile, Pa Makani (trade name Sandwich Isles Wireless), Safelink Wireless, Blue Jay Wireless, Total Call Mobile, Budget Mobile, Hawaiian Telcom and Sandwich Isles Communications.

We should explain first what "Obama phones" are.

Although the phones are labeled that, the FCC implemented the two-part Lifeline program during the Reagan administration in 1984: Lifeline Assistance, to provide discounts on basic landline telephone service (not necessarily free), and Lifeline Link-Up, to provide discounts on the initial installation fee for landlines.

With the advent of cellphones, the program eventually expanded to include wireless phones.

Funding comes from the federal Universal Service Fund. All telecommunications service providers contribute to the fund, and some pass on the charge directly to customers as the USF fee.

There is a lot of misinformation about the phones, according to the website snopes.com, which describes itself as the "definitive Internet reference source for urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors and misinformation."

It says it’s true that Lifeline is a federal program that subsidizes providers who supply telephone services to low-income consumers and that it’s false that the Obama administration created a program to provide free cellphones and service to welfare recipients.

(Read more by going to bit.ly/1wn1RwR.)

The FCC explains that Lifeline is "a government benefit program" providing discounts on telephone service for eligible low-income people to help them in finding jobs, accessing health care, connecting to family and schools, and calling for help in an emergency.

Discounts currently are set at $9.25 a month.

To qualify one must either have an income at or below 135 percent of the federal poverty guidelines or participate in one government assistance program, such as Medicaid, food stamps, federal public housing assistance (Section 8), Head Start, free school lunch program and applicable state assistance programs.

However, the state Department of Human Service’s Financial Assistance Program does not issue or promote "Obama phones," said spokeswoman Kayla Rosenfeld. "We understand that it is a (legitimate) offer, but through the various phone carriers."

Interested individuals should inquire through their phone carrier, she said.

Rosenfeld advises people to be careful and alert: There have been reports of scams using the catchphrase "Obama phone."

Individuals should never give out their credit card or EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) information, she said.

More Information

Go to the website lifelinesupport.org, call the Universal Service Administrative toll-free number (888-641-8722), call the FCC’s toll-free customer service number (888-CALL-FCC) or contact a Lifeline provider.

Mahalo

To AC of Kaneohe. Seeing a grandmother with a flat tire at the entry to the Wilson Tunnel, he drove all the way to Kaneohe, turned around and returned to fix her flat tire. He regularly helps people with roadside assistance, usually on Likelike Highway, and has taught his boys to do the same. God bless you and your family, AC. — Grateful Grandma

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