Do You Qualify for This Free Government Cell Phone Benefit Program?

• Author: Mikko Rocco
• Posted: 2024-02-27

If you're like most people, chances are that you value staying connected with your friends, family, work, and community. For those on a budget, staying connected can pose challenges. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to stay in contact remotely with others skyrocketed, and issues related to wealth inequalities and their correlation with a lesser ability to communicate came into the public eye.
 

What Is LifeLine?

LifeLine is a government-run program designed to help the less wealthy members of the population obtain cell service. Before the pandemic, LifeLine benefits were capped at a value of just under $10 per month. There is a list of LifeLine providers, those mobile service providers who host communications for those who receive LifeLine benefits.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, LifeLine's benefits varied by state, though in general, they allowed for 4.5GB of high-speed data, 1000 minutes, and unlimited text messages. These benefits were scattered over a plethora of Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs). An MVNO is a company that contracts with a major cell service provider and offers its own services under its own business name. However, in the end, the services are provided from the cell towers owned by the major provider who allows the LifeLine provider to "rent" its towers.
 

What Communications Challenges Are Overcome with LifeLine?

Given that LifeLine doesn't provide unlimited data, you may be wondering what challenges it helps the less fortunate overcome. First, it provides enough data to do most everyday tasks. It may not be enough to stream all of your favorite movies, but it certainly goes a long way. In fact, it is required by federal law to be comparable to the amount of data on an "average" cell plan.

With 1000 minutes, it may not provide unlimited talking time. However, 1000 minutes is widely recognized as "enough" talking time for most people monthly. However, this was before COVID-19 happened. Once COVID-19 was in full swing, people were largely required to stay at home, mandating that they contact one another through means like the phone. This, of course, made it so that people needed an affordable way to connect.
 

The EBB: Precursor to the ACP

You may be familiar with the now-discontinued Electronic Broadband Benefit (EBB). The EBB was passed at the height of COVID with the goal of facilitating connection among people. This was a $50 benefit provided monthly towards either fixed broadband or a cellular plan. Most providers for the EBB gave an unlimited data plan. The EBB replaced LifeLine with a much more lucrative option.

However, now that social distancing mandates are largely called off in the United States, the EBB is no longer in effect. Lawmakers noted that the EBB exposed a huge disparity in the ability to connect between the rich and the poor. That's where the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) comes in.
 

What Is the ACP?

The Affordable Connectivity Program is the modern version of the EBB. This program allows the less fortunate to connect with the world. It is a smaller subsidy than the EBB, however. The ACP comes in at $30 per month, and it is the post-COVID answer to a LifeLine enhancement.

Interestingly, users can have both LifeLine connections and ACP connections. This allows users to have the traditional, 1000-minute and 4.5GB data plan that LifeLine has always offered. In addition to this, they can have the ACP benefit applied. Just like with the EBB, the ACP can be applied to a fixed broadband connection as well as a cell plan connection.

The ACP is less than the EBB because of a less intense need for connection than there was during the COVID-19 pandemic.
 

How Do I Qualify for the ACP?

There are a few ways to qualify for the ACP. You can qualify for it by being in one of many government programs. For example, those who qualify for the Medicaid program of low-income health insurance and those who qualify for the SNAP program (also known as "food stamps") will automatically qualify for the ACP. Those whose income is double the federal poverty line or less can qualify on income alone if they are not enrolled in other government assistance programs.