FCC Order Gives Evacuees Free Cell Phones

WAFB ^ | 10/27/2005

[LA Woman3]

About 300-thousand Hurricane Katrina evacuees can get free cell phones and 300 free minutes of calls under a plan approved by the Federal Communications Commission.

The FCC says the offer is open to every household approved for housing assistance by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The participating wireless carriers will be reimbursed $130 for each household taking advantage of the program.

The $39 million will come from the Universal Service Fund. The FCC says wireless carriers cannot require consumers to enter into long-term contracts. It also permits consumers to choose not to receive a new telephone handset in exchange for more minutes.

The FCC action is called a disaster recovery order, but it does not require companies to participate. The FCC specifically mentioned TRACFONE Wireless and Cingular in its order.

For more information consumers can contact the FCC at 1-888-225-5322, or they can contact the wireless company of their choice to determine if the company is participating.

[mlc9852]

You have got to be kidding!

[mamalujo]

'sounds' like someone has stock in the cell phone company

[billorites]

"Hi, yeah so like what are you wearing?"

[LA Woman3]

You have got to be kidding!

Sadly, no. What are we going to give them next??

[mnehring]

The FCC says wireless carriers cannot require consumers to enter into long-term contracts...

Oh great, cell phone companies will have to eat $200-$300 (actual wholesale cost of these 'free' phones..) per phone, and I'm sure those costs aren't reimbursed to the companies through the USF.

[mamalujo]

I'll Play.......

an SUV, or tickets to Disney land while the taxpayers rebuild your home (if it below sea-level)

[EagleUSA]

Holy jumping crud! What else can we add to the welfare roster courtesy of the American taxpayer?

[GeorgiaDawg32]

I'll play too..how about a job helping to rebuild N'awlins so they can learn the value of work..oh wait, I just woke up..musta still been dreamin..

[LA Woman3]

For more information consumers can contact the FCC at 1-888-225-5322, or they can contact the wireless company of their choice to determine if the company is participating.

Looks like they have to find a phone to get one....

[irishlass]

I am not surprised. I have a friend who just returned from volunteering in New Orleans with the Red Cross. He said the govt. waste was unbelievable. As far as he is concerned, FEMA is in no way organized enough to handle any kind of disaster. He said there was hardly a hint of efficiency. Of course, this is no secret to us anti-big govt. types.

[isthisnickcool]

What's next? Cadillacs?

I had a friend that lives in Houston tell me today that she noticed that her mortgage company did not take a payment out of their account this month. They are supposed to take out two payments a month for their mortgage (they double up payments).

Their mortgage company, Bank of America, decided not to take any payments out if they thought the person lived in an area possibly damaged by a hurricane. They would start taking payment our again in Jan. of next year.

Apparently Bank of America did this all over the place. I suppose that there are a lot of people like my friend who's house was nowhere near being damaged that are scratching their heads, wondering why this was done.

[tobyhill]

I thought the $2000 debit cards were supposed to go to things like this?

[mlc9852]

Now the Floridians will be wanting the same treatment!

[Cliff Dweller]

Granted this can be abused, but I have family in the region that has no phone (landline) anymore due to storm damage to what was my family home and has to rely on cell service only... without the right plan that can get expensive. Especially since the lack of towers has placed a lot of folks on Roaming...

[mamalujo]

what I cannot believe is that people still want to live in Florida

[LA Woman3]

I thought the $2000 debit cards were supposed to go to things like this?

I did too....

[mlc9852]

Well, during winter I can understand but summer hurricane season, I don't know.

[CajunConservative]

Good Heavens, I got hit by the wrong hurricane!

I want to know where all of the monies that have been donated to various Katrina Relief funds are being used? Everywhere you look millions are being donated so are any of the evacuees actually getting any help from those folks?

[LA Woman3]

http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/102705/new_phones001.shtml

It sounded simple, but a program to give out free wireless phones and free minutes of calling time to hurricane victims is fraught with confusion. The main problem is that many cell-phone companies had not heard of the program until evacuees started asking for their free phones, officials with three of the companies that service south Louisiana said Wednesday.

Officials with three companies say that, while aware of the program, they're still trying to figure out the mechanics.

Officials with the cell-phone trade association and the Federal Communications Commission met Wednesday in Washington, D.C., to hammer out details of the program, three company officials said.

In an Oct. 14 order, the Federal Communications Commission asked wireless phone companies to provide free cell phones and 300 free minutes to about 300,000 evacuees.

The offer is open to every household approved for housing assistance by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to the FCC order.

Participating wireless carriers will be reimbursed $130 for each household taking advantage of the program, the FCC order states. The estimated $39 million in costs will come from the Universal Service Fund, a federal pool of money to which all wireless companies contribute.

Hurricane victims must use the plan by March 1, according to the FCC order.

But few of the officials with cellular firms contacted Wednesday knew of the program or whether their companies would participate.

Rosemary Kimball with the FCC consumer and governmental affairs unit in Washington said she was unsure why so many cellular companies were unaware of the order.

"We had a big meeting in Atlanta. They were there when we announced it," Kimball said. "We are confident the wireless companies will participate."

Perry Vincent of LRC Wireless in Lake Charles is a local retailer whose company would hand out some of the phones for Cingular Wireless and Sprint Nextel. Vincent said Wednesday that he needs instructions from the corporate levels before he can participate.

"We haven't heard word one from our regional managers," Vincent said Wednesday.

Dawn Benton, spokeswoman for Cingular Wireless in Atlanta, said company officials were participating in the meeting with the FCC in Washington.

"Right now Cingular is determining if and how we will participate in the program, and we hope to make a final decision very soon," Benton said Wednesday.

Sprint Nextel Corp. also is studying the order to determine if it will participate, said corporate spokesman Tim O'Regan of Reston, Va.

"We'll probably know something in the next few days, but right now it's under discussion," said Patrick Kimball of Houston, whose Verizon Wireless office covers the Gulf Coast.

"The logistics of this are formidable," Kimball said.

William L. Roughton of Centennial Wireless in Wall, N.J., said he spent Wednesday trying to come up with procedures to participate in the program.

For instance, Roughton said, the FCC requires the head of a household seeking the free phone to be eligible for FEMA housing. But how does the clerk in the shopping mall know that, he asked.

"FEMA must give them a card or something. I've been trying to find out just what it is and what do we need to do for the FCC -- make a copy?" Roughton asked. He says those details are important because the program will be audited in the future.

"We're going to participate. We're not sure how yet," Roughton said.