re: Trump's Obamaphone plan

quote:

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This program needs to be scaled back. WAY back. Actually, discontinued, but we all know that won't happen.

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The opposite is happening, the program was scaled up this month and will continue to grow over the next few years.

Some facts about the program (from www.obamaphone.com):

-U.S. citizenship is not a requirement to receive an Obamaphone.

-The largest company, Safelink Wireless, has 3.6 million customers, and is owned by Tracfone, a company owned by the richest man in the world, Mexico’s Carlos Slim.

-Most companies offer 250 minutes of talk and text a month, but recently more minutes and 1,000 texts to even unlimited texts are being offered.

-Some California companies offer has the best deal in the country — unlimited talk and unlimited texting.

-The Lifeline program is not taxpayer-funded. It is funded by the Universal Service Fund fees that are required by law to be collected by telecommunications companies. The fund is used for various telecommunication projects, including Lifeline Assistance.

-Far from being killed, the Obama Phone program is getting bigger and more robust. Obama Broadband will be here on December 1, 2016 and it will deliver newer, better, smarter cell phones, more minutes, more texts and broadband service.

-Within the next 30 days, every Obama Phone customer will receive a minimum of 500 minutes. On December 1, 2017 that minimum will increase to 750 minutes, and on December 1, 2018 it will increase to 1000 minutes.

-But in place of voice-only service, the Lifeline program will morph into a new Obama Broadband program that offers you free government cell phones and high-speed broadband service that come bundled together.

-These opinions were prompted by a Georgetown University study and quoted in a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. According to the study, “…in the absence of the subsidy, only one in eight Lifeline households would not have phone service.