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Over 40,000 social security numbers of applicants to the Lifeline Program in Indiana were posted online and made publicly available. This security breach is being investigated by the attorney general’s office of Indiana.

The state of Indiana apparently has the highest number of Lifeline Program applicants at 17,400. TerraCom Inc, an affiliate of YourTel America is the main mobile provider of the state. Surprisingly, the social security fiasco did not only happen to Indiana residents. Apparently, participants of the Lifeline Program from over 25 other states were victims of the online breach.

Information such as scanned driver’s licenses, tax returns, parole letters and pay stubs were also available online for these unfortunate victims. A company that is based in India called Call Centers India was contracted by TerraCom to hold the clients’ records.

TerraCom officials have kept their mouths shut and have not been able to be reached for comment or for interviews. However, the authorities have been notified and the Federal Communications Commission, the official body that runs the Lifeline Program, has also been notified of the unfortunate situation. The FCC has claimed that security breaches for just a single violation can cost up to $1.5 Million US Dollars in fines.

The Federal Communications Commission, otherwise known as the FCC, created the Lifeline Program during the Reagan Administration in 1985. This program was meant to provide free mobile phones and free text and talk minutes every month for American citizens who were living at or around the poverty line. Other criteria include being a participant of one of the federal or state-run assistance programs, such as Food Stamps or Free School Lunches or disability assistance. Proof of receipt of those programs will also allow one to become eligible for a free government mobile phone.

The Lifeline Program has met a lot of criticism over the past few years, particularly since President Obama came into office. They are often referred to as Obama phones and have landed Obama in a lot of hot water with the budget having increased annually from $800 million to $2.2 Billion US Dollars per year. However, this is more of a political strategy to paint Obama and the Lifeline Program in a bad light.

The fact is, that the Lifeline Program was created during Reagan’s term in office in order to allow lower-income families the opportunity to have access to safety and increase their employment opportunities. Now, with our society moving ever so quickly towards an online-dependent community – with job applications and education opportunities all moving to the online arena, living without cellular or broadband connection makes it next to impossible to be competitive in this market. As such, access to affordable modern day telecommunications is now more important than ever.

The Lifeline Program has been rife with fraud and abuse, resulting in millions of US dollars being wasted since 2008. The FCC has been working hard in order to minimize the amount of fraud and now has a plan in place that is said to save hundreds of millions of US dollars by the year 2015. The plan includes a central database that all of the carriers have access to in order to prevent duplicate accounts. The FCC is also going to keep an eye on carriers that start charging for subsidies above and beyond the $5 Million US Dollar mark, in order to reduce the amount of account approvals that are taking place.

This program is funded through a monthly fee on paying clients’ phone bills, which then goes to the Universal Service Fund, the central agency that hands out the budget for the Lifeline Program. Citizens see this as a tax in order to subsidize the free mobile phone program.

The Lifeline Program provides safety and peace of mind to millions of needy American families.

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Free mobile phones are available to eligible American citizens via the Lifeline Program, which was created during the Reagan Administration by the Federal Communications Commission. This program faces much controversy because of the question as to whether or not providing free mobile phones to the poor actually helps society at large on a financial level.

The annual budget for the Lifeline Program has increased from $800 million US dollars under Bush to $2.2 Billion US dollars under Obama, a fact that has many Obama opposers’ feathers all in a ruffle. In a time of great economic strife, particularly following the credit crash of 2008, which now sees the US debt in the trillion dollar range, where does this extra $2.2 Billion come from?

The answer to that question has conservative media and politicians in a flutter as they all race to demonize the program and find ways to quickly end the Lifeline Program. They state that the Lifeline Program is a waste of taxpayers’ money and far too susceptible to fraud. They cite research showing that subsidies for affordable telecommunications to rural areas, which are traditionally much less connected, is actually rather ineffective. The same research supposedly shows that the Lifeline Program has merely increased the number of poor that have just signed up for telephone services regardless of whether or not they need it, but only because it’s free.

The biggest concern for conservatives is the fact that the Universal Service Fund, the budgetary body that provides the funding for the Lifeline Program as subsidies to all the mobile carriers that are participants, uses taxpayer’s money in order to fund that budget. The fact is, that every paying customer that has a mobile or phone line is charged an extra few dollars per month, which then goes into the Universal Service Fund for the Lifeline Program. The problem is that even the people, who are on the very borderline of poor or lower income and can afford to pay for a landline, are being charged the same amount every month as the rich who have phones. So is this program actually fair? Are we taking money from the poor in order to give to the poor?

Another reason for the concern towards this program, is the idea that handing out free mobile phones to the poor may only make them subscribe to mobile communication when they don’t actually need it. Is a landline sufficient? A recent survey showed that the poor are actually much more dependent on mobile phones. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has data showing that over 50% of the American poor live in wireless only households. This further complicates the issue.

The sympathetic American public would look at that information and think that if the nation’s needy depend on mobile communications in their day to day life, then providing them with free mobile phones and free minutes every month would be a benefit to them. Analysts look at this information and think, if the American needy are already spending their money on mobile communication, then is providing them free mobile communication as useful as many would like to think?

These are questions that cannot be answered through political debates and media wars. They can only really be answered over time, after substantial data has been gathered from the American public who are participants in the Lifeline Program and a significant positive (or negative) impact is seen as a result. The fact remains, that wireless communication is an integral part of our modern society. Access to affordable telecommunications enables everyone to have an equal opportunity at employment, healthcare and safety, and very American citizen has the right to have affordable access to these things.

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 Safelink Wireless, a free government cell phone program provided by TracFone Wireless, Inc., has just announced a new promotion for customers who sign up for their services. New customers will be able to enjoy 500 free minutes of voice time for the first three months of their service following activations. The promotion will run through September 15th of this year.

TracFone Wireless is the largest “no contract” cell service provider in the United States, with more than 18.8 million subscribers. The company’s plans for most subscribers are pretty expensive; for $29.99 per month, you can get 200 minutes of voice time. If however you qualify for a phone through the Lifeline Assistance free government cell phone program, the company will provide you with 250 free minutes of voice time and 1,000 texts free every month.

With the promotion, that amounts to double the free voice time for the first three months of service—so that is a pretty excellent deal, especially compared to the rates paid by standard customers. In order to qualify for a free cell phone and subsidized plan from Safelink Wireless, you need to be living at or below 135% of the federal poverty guidelines, or you need to be receiving assistance through another qualifying government program. Programs vary by state, but typical examples include food stamps, Section 8 housing, and WIC. Safelink Wireless also offers customers the opportunity to purchase additional minutes or international calling time as needed.

Safelink is not available in every state of the country, though it is available throughout most of the United States. To check whether Safelink is offered in your state, navigate to the Safelink Wireless home page and enter in your zip code. If service is available, you will be prompted to enter in some basic personal information, at which point you will be taken to the online application. Otherwise you have the option of printing and filling out an application by hand and then mailing it in to Safelink. You can also print the application and take it to a retailer near you that partners with the company.

If you want to take advantage of the Safelink promotion for 500 free minutes for the first three months of service, make sure that you send in your application in time. It needs to be processed by the 15th of September in order for you to enjoy the extra minutes.

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The number of people who have signed up for and qualified for the Lifeline Program has exploded from about 5800 in 2008 to 500,000 in 2012. That is nearly a 90-fold increase in the number of Maryland residents who are now qualified for a free government mobile phone.

The Federal Communications Commission started the Lifeline Program in the 1980s during the Reagan Administration. The FCC wanted to address the inequality of access to affordable telecommunications between those living in the larger cities and those living in rural communities where there was less connection. In addition, the number of American citizens living at or below the poverty level prevented a large percentage of the population from being able to afford telecommunications such as a landline for the home.

The Lifeline Program provides free mobile phones plus free talk minutes and text messages per month for those Americans who are eligible. The criteria for becoming eligible does vary from state to state very slightly, but in general, if you can prove to the authorities that you are living at poverty levels or are participating in a state or federal run assistance programs (Food Stamps or Free School Lunch program) then you’ll qualify for a free mobile phone courtesy of Lifeline. Proof of income or participation in another federal assistance program can be given in the form of a tax return, pay stub or official documentation stating your involvement in receiving other government assistance.

These Lifeline phones have been incorrectly coined “Obama Phones,’’ which comes as little surprise, given the fact that the American public does view President Obama as a supporter of social services. However, the phones were actually created much earlier during Reagan’s presidency and it was during the Bush Administration that the mobile phones were distributed in far greater numbers in response to Hurricane Katrina, in order to provide telecommunications for the victims of that horrible natural disaster. However, calling them Obama Phones has given them the media attention that they probably deserve, although they have been placed in the negative spotlight as well. One of the main factors is the cost of this program. During the Bush administration, the annual cost of the Lifeline Program was approximately $820 million US Dollars a year. Now, during the Obama Administration, the annual cost of the free government mobile phones has skyrocketed to $2.2 Billion US Dollars.

Many of the supporters of the Lifeline Program state that the free mobile phones provide much-needed safety to the homeless, connection to healthcare providers and emergency services to the elderly and disabled, as well as a second chance at employment for those who are down and out on their luck. In this horrible economic climate, it is no surprise that millions of Americans are now eligible for this program as there are nearly 50% of the American public now living at the poverty line since the credit crunch of 2008.

People and politicians who oppose the Lifeline Program say that this is a free mobile phone for fraudsters and a waste of federal funds and taxpayer’s money. It is true that the level of fraud in this program has been rather staggering, however the FCC is working very hard in order to make sure that the audits are very stringent, going through everything with a fine-toothed comb and that individuals and companies being caught mishandling or taking advantage of this program be fined and punished.

In this modern world where access to telecommunications is actually a human right rather than a luxury, the Lifeline Program is a necessity for those who cannot afford telecommunications. Without access to a mobile phone or broadband, one will fall quickly through the societal cracks of the United States. Most job applications are done online. Many university and post-graduate degrees are offered online, or at the very least, require the use of Internet in order to hand in. Hospitals and emergency services can only be reached for free through a mobile phone, as phone booths are all but obsolete in this age of cellular communication. Without access to these modern forms of communication, people will become increasingly cut off from society. How does that benefit our society as a whole when millions of American families are placed in the dark ages? Please support Lifeline.

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Senator David Vitter has made an amendment to the Farm Bill of 2013 that either renders the Lifeline Program obsolete or reduces funding quite severely. He has vowed that if this does not come to pass on a federal level, he will at least ensure that it is done in his state of Louisiana.

The Lifeline Program offers free mobile phones and free talk minutes and texts per month for eligible Americans. Eligibility does vary slightly from state to state, yet generally, as long as the applicant can prove that they are living in poverty or are a participant in any of the approved state or federal run social assistance programs, such as Food Stamps or School Free Lunches, they can be approved for a free government mobile phone.

Because of the honor system involved during the inception of this program, there have been losses of hundreds of millions of dollars in fraud and waste. People have signed up with more than one mobile carrier in order to qualify for more than one free mobile phone per household. Mobile carriers themselves have approved accounts without discretion because of the government subsidies they are receiving with every account that they approve for the Lifeline Program. The amount of resources spent in order to reverse the frauds and hunt down the fraudsters is another source of money wasted. David Vitter finds this simply an appalling waste of taxpayers’ money.

There was a situation where Senator David Vitter’s complaints towards the program even caught the attention of Carlos Slim, the owner of TracFone. He immediately went on the defense and launched a series of marketing tactics including sending out a mass text to the Lifeline customers warning them of Senator David Vitter’s plans to try to end the program. Vitter responded by saying that there is obviously a lot of money to be lost for large businesses owned by wealthy entrepreneurs if their reactions to the loss of a government subsidized program causes them to react in this way. David Vitter also raises an alarm to those who are suspicious of the intentions of one of the wealthiest men in the world. If he’s looking so nervous, then how much does he stand to lose exactly?

Vitter feels that perhaps the Lifeline Program should be restricted so that those who are truly unemployed can receive a free mobile phone with only 911 access and a restricted menu of limited free talk minutes and text packages. He also proposed that in households where there are some employed individuals, the applicants for the Lifeline Program could just buy renewed old mobile phones with the free 911 function activated, thereby restricting the free mobile phones with free minutes to the absolute needy.

Vitter has issue with the fact that TracFone, a participant in a government subsidized program, is using that very government subsidized medium in order to spread propaganda or opinions that are political in nature. Senator David Vitter plans on addressing this blatant abuse of government programs in order to take a political stance and wants to pass a bill that prevents a government contractor from abusing this advantage.

It has not come to be fruition yet, however if Vitter gets his way, he could perhaps make TracFone’s actions illegal in the state of Louisiana, which would prevent the future use of tax payer’s money in order to publically spread a political view while using a government contracted medium.

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Three US senators want to see the Lifeline Program finally put to rest, once and for all.  The Lifeline Program provides free telecommunications access to those who are unable to afford telephone lines. There are currently millions of American families who are dependent upon the Lifeline Program in order to stay connected to society.

The Lifeline Program was created in 1985 during the Reagan Administration in order to address the increasing gap between the haves and have-nots in the US when it came to telecommunications access. The Telecommunications Act was created and then amended in 1986, stating that there is an ever-increasing importance in access to telecommunications across the nation for all Americans, regardless of race, ethnicity, financial status and particularly for those living in rural areas that are much less connected.

The Lifeline Program has seen an increase in the amount of fraud and people taking advantage of this program. One can apply for eligibility of this program and receive a free mobile phone with free minutes and texts per month. Any additional talk time or minutes above and beyond the free ones given can be added onto the account for a nominal fee. There are fraudsters claiming more than one free mobile phone even though the rules clearly outline that there is to be no more than one phone per household.

Individuals are not the only ones to be blamed. Mobile carrier companies are also guilty of the fraud. Because of the huge subsidies that they receive for every account they approve for a free mobile phone, carriers are known to be very lackadaisical with their screening process and some have even been caught handing out free mobile phones to people on the street. This not only takes advantage of the funds that are dedicated to this worthy cause, but this also exploits those living at the poverty line.

Access to affordable telecommunications is something that is a very different reality to those living at or below the poverty line in the US. For the unemployed, the elderly and the injured or disabled, depending on a set amount of assistance from state or federal run social programs does not allow for much room in one’s monthly budget. Being able to afford something as basic as a landline, falls down on the list of priorities for those who are living with very few financial resources. Without a mobile phone or Internet access, those populations tend to fall behind even more. Receiving callbacks for interviews becomes next to impossible. Contacting healthcare workers or pharmacists for the disabled and elderly is dependent on access to telecommunications. And, more importantly, safety becomes a huge issue, when people are no longer able to dial a free emergency number in the case of a dangerous or life-threatening situation.

Senators David Vitter (R-La), Jim Inhofe  (R-Okla) and Dan Coats (R-Ind) are teaming up in order to see that the Lifeline Program is abolished. The three of them are quite open, publically about their opposition to this program, stating that it is a blatant abuse of federal funds, especially during a time where the national debt is at an all time high. They have put forth amendments into the Farm Bill proposing that either the budget for the Lifeline Program be reduced drastically or that federal funding be discontinued for good. This has been met with a lot of opposition from the more socially conscious political groups and public.

The Federal Communications Commission, which is the entity that created the Lifeline Program, has been working very hard to ensure that the level of fraud decreases so as to save money for this Lifeline Program. They are currently creating a huge central database that will keep a lifetime record of every single person that has been approved for the free government cell phones. This will allow all mobile carriers to have access to the same information so as to cut down on the number of individuals being approved for the Lifeline Program through several different mobile carriers and thus receiving more than one free mobile phone with free minutes and texts. The FCC is also working very hard with auditing current suspicious accounts and has found over 150,000 counts of duplicate Lifeline accounts. The carriers are also being investigated so as to reduce the amount of account approvals. If any mobile carrier bills over $5 Millions US Dollars to the FCC, it will automatically be flagged as suspicious activity and followed up with immediately.

This comes as no comfort to Vitter, Inhofe and Coats. The three of them intend to reduce Lifeline to the point where it no longer a drain on taxpayer’s funds and want to see this through to the end.

The Lifeline Program brings safety and security to millions of American citizens. This program was designed to keep all Americans safe and with equal access to telecommunications in order to increase their quality of life. If the Lifeline Program is taken away, millions of Americans will be left in the technological dark. Please contact your local authorities and tell them that you support the Lifeline Program.

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There will be a public hearing on the 15^th of May by the California Public Utilities Commission on the nation’s Lifeline Program, a government run free mobile phone distribution system.

They will be discussing California’s own Lifeline Program, which is being proposed in order to supplement the currently running Federal Lifeline Program. There have been many complaints that the current Federal Lifeline system is very restrictive for the participants in the state of California. The following are some of the main points that are going to be brought up at the hearing:

Unlimited Minutes

Many of the Lifeline users are disabled or dependent on some sort of healthcare service. 250 minutes a month may seem like quite a bit but to those who need to be in daily contact with doctors, hospitals, pharmacists and healthcare workers, 250 minutes a month, which is equivalent to 8 minutes a day, can get eaten up by simply being placed on hold. For those who are desperately in need of staying connected for the sake of their health, this program does not take into consideration their extended minute needs.

The Low-Income community feels that the 250 minutes is just a strategy for them to have to be locked in to pay for extra minutes every month if/when they do go over the 250-minute a month limit.

Monthly Plans to Fit Budgets Realistically

Many of those eligible for Lifeline have a very tight monthly budget. With monthly mobile plans of $10-$20 those extra costs are actually quite high for those depending on social assistance for food. Having monthly packages that address their target audience would be most helpful.

More Customer Choice

Many of the customers feel as though they are being treated like second-class citizens with their fixed fees and their limited monthly packages. They want to feel like they have a bit more control over whether they get a landline or a mobile line or whether they can ask for a family package or get broadband with cable. They feel they are being jilted just by the fact that they are qualifying for a government assistance program. They want the mobile carriers to have training or at least have the pressure to treat their Lifeline customers like human beings. Is that too much to ask?

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Senator Tim Griffins is making headlines with his obvious anti-Lifeline stance. Started in the 1980s, the Lifeline Program was created in order to provide affordable access to telecommunications for the Americans in need who could not afford it. Without access to mobile phones or broadband, it is evident that one can fall behind rather quickly in our current society. Advancements in technology, education and health are moving at lightning speeds thanks to the Internet and without access to it, one will be at a serious disadvantage (especially if looking for jobs or applying for further education). For millions of Americans who are living at or below the poverty line, being able to afford mobile phones is most definitely something that is far out of their reach. Their priorities include paying for medications, rent or placing food on the table to feed hungry mouths; not to have a mobile phone.

The sad thing is, without mobile phones, one is suddenly less safe than the average American citizen. Without as many phone booths around, one is hard-pressed to be able to dial  911 if the situation should arise that one needed emergency services. Safety is an issue, as is accessibility – particularly for those who are elderly or disabled and cannot move about as easily. These are things that we all take for granted, until we don’t have on or all of them anymore are also the very same reasons why Lifeline is an invaluable system set in place for the American public.

Senator Tim Griffins seems to believe that the poor do not need mobile phones, as they are a luxury. If he thinks safety is a luxury, then perhaps someone needs to set the record straight with what a human right is for Mr. Tim Griffins. This is a man who wants to build hundreds of miles of aquifers in order to bring tar sands down into this country to line the pockets of his rich colleagues, the Koch Brothers. It seems that whatever decision Senator Tim Griffins stands behind, someone profits enormously on the negative effects to the environment or to those who are less able to help themselves. He represents the greed that has run rampant in the political arena, so it is of no surprise that he wants to stop a program that actually helps those who live in lower income brackets than he does.

He proposes to restrict or even prevent Americans living at the poverty line from benefiting from the Lifeline Program. He would rather spill oil in the Bay of Mexico than spend one cent to provide a second chance to a war veteran or a single mother who is depending on the school lunches program to feed her children. If these are the people we are entrusting to make decisions on the social structure of our country, it is no wonder that we are seeing almost 50% of the population of the USA being dependent on social assistance. There is something wrong with the system when almost half of a population of an absurdly rich and advanced country is living at the poverty line.

The Lifeline Program is here to help those in need. It is here to give those without a job a chance at employment. It is here to provide safety and security to the elderly and infirm that would otherwise be disconnected from society and healthcare services without it. This program is here to provide peace of mind to the single mother who has to walk late at night through a dark parking lot from her second job to get home to feed her children in a bad neighborhood. The American public needs the Lifeline Program. Tell Senator Tim Griffins your true feelings about him and his philosophy and support the Lifeline Program.

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Senator Dan Coats, Representative of Indiana, has now publicly declared his support of discontinuing the Lifeline Program in the amendments that were put forth by Senator David Vitter, Rep Louisiana.

Coats has stated that, although he believes that the country’s government does their best to create programs that benefit those who are in need, they often end up putting forth assistance that only increases the country’s debt and does little to really improve the social standing of anyone in the country, especially the tax-payers.

The Lifeline Program provides free government mobile phones to Americans who cannot otherwise afford them. One can prove eligibility by either showing documentation that they live at or around the poverty line or that they are a participant in a state or federal-run assistance program, such as Food Stamps or School Free Lunches programs.

The unfortunate truth with this program is the amount of fraud that has so far occurred. There have been over 100,000 accounts uncovered with participants holding more than one free mobile phone when the rules clearly stipulate that there is only one per household permitted. Companies have been guilty of fraud as well as they are receiving huge subsidies from the government for every account they open, so approval rates are very high amongst those just wanting to hit a quota. The Federal Communications Commission has worked very hard with their audits and opening of a new central database so that the creation of duplicate accounts is prevented and fraudsters can be caught and punished appropriately. Let us hope that rules are being put into place that put the responsibility onto the mobile carriers as well and penalize them for handing out free mobile phone accounts like candy. Perhaps that will help to decrease the amount of fraud once and for all and bring back a good name back for the Lifeline Program.

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FreedomPop, a start-up mobile carrier company that started only a couple of years ago, has set radio waves abuzz with their plans to launch a free mobile phone package using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). They will be the very first wireless carrier company to transfer calls through VoIP.

The package includes 200 free minutes, unlimited texts and 500MG of 4G data for free every month. For a nominal fee, additional voice minutes and data can be purchased every month. They will be making use of Sprint’s 3G and 4G networks.

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