OK, before we get our panties totally in a wad, bear in mind the “lifeline” LANDLINE services have been the law for years.
Thousands and thousands of old fashioned Bell Telephone 1FR land lines, subsidized by other paying customers, are in the homes of the indigent already.
If you have a phone and cannot pay your bill, the phone company call cut off your LD and calling, but cannot cut off your 911 “lifeline” access. These landlines cost “us” a lot more to keep lit up than providing these folks with a few minutes of air time.
First I pay for their food, then their homes, then their medical costs and drugs and now cell phones...
General Eligibility Programs
Federal Public Housing Assistance / Section 8
Food Stamps
Medicaid
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
National School Lunch (free program only)
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
Person #1: "Yo yo, what up Holmes?"
Person #2: Nuthin, just cold kickin' it with my free cell phone provided by the taxpayers, yo".
Person #1: "Werd, that's dope!"
Person #2: "Indeed, the dopeness of this program knows no earthly bounds."
Person #1: "Upon primary analysis, I must concur with that assessment."
This is mostly a marketing scam to get people in the door though very few qualify. The Lifeline/Linkup program goes back to the Clinton administration (albeit, Obama reauthorized it this year). This is (and has been) subsidized by all those little fees you see on your cell phone bill.
All cell phone companies must offer this. What Safelink is doing is using this program to get people in the door, even though 99 out of 100 don’t qualify for it.