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I just dubbed in a spot on our radio station and it was for this... seems virgin mobile and sprint are doing some kind of pro bono deal for people on government assistance. They call it Assurance Wireless, and if you're on some sort of government assistance you probably qualify for a free phone and 250 talk minutes per month (though they'll ding you 10 cents a pop for overages and texts).

http://www.assurancewireless.com

What? No libertarian "I'm not paying for this shit" outrage? That's not just Steinman's thing, ya know.

Doesn't sound like it's a gov't program.

Assurance Wireless is brought to you by Virgin Mobile USA and is a Lifeline Assistance program supported by the Universal Service Fund. Lifeline Assistance is only available on one phone line per household. Assurance Wireless is available in limited geographic areas and is subject to the Assurance Wireless Terms of Service.

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I'm pretty sure helping people in need isn't anathema to libertarianism?

DarkAudit said:

What? No libertarian "I'm not paying for this shit" outrage? That's not just Steinman's thing, ya know.

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The charges for text messages and overages will likely pay for the program, if not bring in a fair amount of money.

figmentPez said:

The charges for text messages and overages will likely pay for the program, if not bring in a fair amount of money.

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That may be, but lack of argl wrgl brgl is disappointing.

Oh fine.

I know one person who was getting cellular service via gov't aid, but it was due to disability, rather than low income.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Service_Fund

That fund is used for a lot of programs.

Chad Sexington said:

Doesn't sound like it's a gov't program.

I'm pretty sure helping people in need isn't anathema to libertarianism?

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I think some of the parties are government. Lifeline Assistance and Universal Service Fund do sound like be government entities.

If I've understood correctly, libertarianism is much about individual choice. I doubt they have anything against a private entity engaging in largesse. The entity will of course pass on the costs to paying customers, but at least individuals have a choice of taking their business elsewhere.
This is not an option with government programs funded by taxes, and if I'm reading this correctly, the USF subsidises this and is funded by mandatory contributions from interstate telecommunication providers. Which in effect constitutes a sort of tax on communications for the purpose of funding this Assurance Wireless business and other pinko socialist feel-good programs like it. Which might rub libertarians up the wrong way.

edit: ninja'd

The USF was used more for padding the profits of telcom companies than anything else.

Shakey said:

The USF was used more for padding the profits of telcom companies than anything else.

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And they want it back. This is why they are advertising this "free" program - so they can profit from the fund. Expect to see them go to great lengths to make someone's application get approval...

The USF really had nothing to do with low income people though. It was used more for expanding service to rural areas. Telcoms used the USF as their main source of money for improving service. So they were able to keep extra profits normally used for expansion and metwork upgrades. Add to that telcoms had a governement sponsored monopoly, it's a cash cow that keeps getting fed with the broadband expansion passed the other year. Allowing more than one company to sell phone service in rural areas would do more good than any government funding.

That was the stated original purpose of the USF, you are correct. It is now used for a wide variety of programs.

There are no overage charges with Assurance Wireless. If an Assurance Wireless user needs more than 250 minutes they can purchase extra minutes on a prepaid basis according to their budget and needs at ten cents per minutes, or they can purchase an additonal 250 minutes for $5 or an additional 750 minutes and 1000 text messages for $20. Purchasing extra minutes and services are not mandatory to recieve the original 250 minutes and again is done on a prepaid basis by the customer.

The FAQ says Jack is right.

I still think that selling text messages for these phones is likely to bring in a lot of money, but seeing that it has to be done on a pre-paid basis, that's not much different than many other pre-paid cellphones.