Over the USA, there are many mobile phone operators who are successfully providing federal lifeline services to eligible households. Most of these phone providers have permission to operate in specific geographical locations to serve the customers but their mobile network covers the whole nation, even the foreign territories like Mexico and Canada. In this article, we are presenting a list of the best government phone providers in the USA based on some basic criteria and our expert analysis.
Choosing the best government phone providers
The basic features covered by any free Government phone provider are talk time and text messages. However, there are a few services that may vary from one operator to another. You should discuss those issues clearly with your Lifeline service provider before choosing one. These issues include:
- International voice call and talk time
- Mobile data
- Network technologies such as 3G, 4G, or 5G technologies
- Network coverage
- Customer care
- Smartphones model
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List of the best government phone providers
Since every state has its own rules and regulations, the offers of those Lifeline service providers are not the same. However, based on some basic criteria, here is a list of the best government phone providers as well as federal Lifeline service providers in the USA.
1. Assist Wireless
Assist Wireless is the newest member of the company that offers inexpensive Lifeline wireless phone service for low-income individuals and households and for those who qualify for government assistance or veterans programs.
Actually, Assist Wireless is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), and to provide a nationwide, super-fast, and very reliable mobile network service, it leases Sprint and T-Mobile’s network towers as backbone networks. In Oklahoma, there are more than 29 store locations of Assist Wireless where you can go in person to enroll in the Lifeline program.
Assist Wireless offers lifeline plans for the residents of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Maryland, and Missouri. In Oklahoma, the two main categories of lifeline plans would be OK Tribal Lifeline Plans and OK Non-tribal Lifeline Plans. Assist Wireless also provides the cheapest data, talk, and text refill plans for its customers.
Coverage
At present, Assist Wireless operates in Arkansas, Missouri, Maryland, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin. In these regions, all eligible participants have a chance to get a free gov cell device and free airtime at no cost at all.
Contact info
Webpage for Lifeline program: Assist Wireless
Customer Care: 1-855-392-7747. #677 (from your lifeline phone for toll-free service)
E-mail: [email protected]
2. Verizon
In 2021, the revenue generated by Verizon was $133.6 billion, and that is enough to substantiate the claim that Verizon is one of the largest communication service providers in the world.
Verizon ranks 20 among Fortune 500 companies and it is awarded “Best Customer Satisfaction with Small Business Wireless and Wireline Service” by J. D. Power and “Best Overall network performance in the US” by RootMetrics 16 times in a row. Its headquarter is in New York City.
The core service of Verizon includes voice, data, and video services and they offer technical services to federal agencies, State and Local authorities, Public services, and Education sectors. Verizon network utilizes 4G LTE, 5G, Fibre Optics, and MEC (Multi-Access Edge Compute) technologies.
The 5G ultra wideband service is the new addition to the Verizon network which promises extremely fast, low lag communication. Verizon service is available in 2,770 cities via an IP network.
Verizon Lifeline has two basic plans: the $25.00 Lifeline Plan for mobile phones and the $19.99 Home Phone Connect Plan for landlines. The first plan requires a discounted monthly charge of $15.75 and you will get unlimited local calls and texts. The Verizon lifeline program eligibility differs from state to state as well as the offer.
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Coverage
The network coverage of Verizon is not only extended to the US territory but also to around 150 international locations.
Contact Info
Webpage: Verizon Lifeline Discount Program
Call: (For eligible customers) 1-800-Verizon.
3. Assurance Wireless
This program is dedicated to telephone service subsidized by the federal Lifeline Assistance program. From April 2020, Assurance Wireless belongs to T-Mobile.
Customers eligible for federal lifeline assistance will get free phone free monthly data, unlimited texting, and free monthly minutes from the Assurance Wireless program which offers free 911 emergency service calls and customer service calls, free call on 221, 3 GB data per month, 350 minutes talk time per month, and unlimited text. T-Mobile has promised to support the Lifeline service indefinitely in the coming days.
The top-up rate is minimum in case you reach the above-mentioned call time or data limit. For $5, an additional 250 minutes of talk time is available. There are also affordable bundle plans for $15/month, $20/month, $30/month, and $40/month.
The participant of this program has to reevaluate eligibility every year to verify that the applicant still qualifies for federal Lifeline assistance. The network coverage of Assurance Wireless is spread throughout the whole country using the Sprint network.
Coverage
Assurance Wireless service is accessible to those who are living in the following states:
Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.
Contact info
Website: Assurance Wireless
Service Center: 1-888-898-4888.
4. Access Wireless
Another great lifeline service provider will update its network by 31st March 2022 by enforcing GSM LTE service. Existing customers will have to update their phones by then.
Access Wireless is owned by i-wireless LLC and they provide free gadgets, no monthly bills or long-term contracts, and no additional or hidden costs or fees. i–wireless changed its name to Kroger Wireless and on 10/01/2018, T-Mobile acquired i-wireless and it was deactivated.
But Access Wireless California’s free phone plan offers more talk time and 6 GB of open data to use. The free devices offered by the company have no options to choose as you like at the application stage.
Access Wireless will send a device to the successful candidate at its discretion. But by paying a little extra money, you may get the device you prefer. For example, an additional $59 will cover the Motorola Photon Q or Nokia 6300 4G smartphone.
Coverage
The regions that are covered by Access Wireless would be Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and West Virginia. In the state of California, Texas, and Oregon. The applicant must be qualified with the National Verifier before enrolling with Access Wireless.
Contact Info
Website: Access Wireless
Customer care contact number: 1-888-900-5899
Monday – Friday: 8 am – Midnight EST
Saturday: 9 am – Midnight EST
Sunday: 10 am – 7 pm EST.
5. American Assistance
The plans brought by American Assistance include free talk time, free text messages, and free data. You will get the service without any bills, long-term contracts, or activation fees if you are a qualified Lifeline customer. It uses AT&T carrier for providing mobile service to the eligible applicants of the lifeline program.
American Assistance has a premium lifeline plan for the residents of California which offers unlimited voice, text, and 6 GB of data free each month along with a free phone.
For those who are living in Kentucky, the American Assistance Lifeline plan will provide free devices and 500 minutes of talk time, unlimited text messaging and 4.5 GB of internet data for a month without any cost.
For the rest of the states mentioned above, the Lifeline plan offers free phone, unlimited talk time, and text with 4.5 GB of data. You don’t have to pay any extra fees or sign any type of contract for the American Assistance Lifeline program.
Coverage
As the lifeline program is confined to a restricted geographical area, the American Assistance service is available in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin.
Contact Info
Website: https://www.americanassistance.com/lifeline-program/lifeline-plans.
Customer care: 1-877-266-7212.
6. Safelink Wireless
It’s one of the best Government Phone Providers in the USA under the federal Lifeline services program owned by TracFone Wireless. TracFone Wireless is supposed to be the 9th largest phone company in the world primarily focused on “No-Contract” cellular service.
It has 250 million subscribers all over America. TracFone Wireless allows its customers to get prepaid cell phones and services without any prior contracts or monthly bills. The subscribers only have to pay for the talk time or data they use.
Safelink Wireless also provides prepaid SIM or smartphones to eligible households. The smartphones offered by Safelink Wireless have lots of varieties ranging from basic devices to the upper echelon and advanced devices.
This is because Safelink Wireless has close collaboration with large numbers of device manufacturers. You can also keep your own device if it is compatible with Safelink Wireless carrier and if it supports a SIM card. To check the compatibility of your phone, text the word BYOP to 611611 from your phone.
The free government phone plan from Safelink Wireless offers great benefits, for example, The residents of California will get free talk times, free text messages, and 2 GB of free data each month.
The offers may vary from state to state and apart from talk time, text message and data, free calls to emergency services and customer care, and voice SMS are also available. For further queries, go to SafeLink Wireless and you can upload your necessary documents to prove your eligibility for Lifeline support there.
Coverage
Whole USA territory
Contact Info
Website: Safelink Wireless
Customer Care & Technical Support: 1-800-SafeLink (1-800-723-3546)
7. Cintex Wireless
One of the nation’s leading Lifeline and ACP (Affordable connectivity program) service providers utilize the T-Mobile network as a backbone network that covers 63% population of the US. This MVNO offers mobile broadband Internet access service using its Underlying Carrier’s LTE and 3G networks to its customers.
The application process for the Cintex Wireless Lifeline program is quite simple and requires no contractual agreements, hidden fees or credit checks. Cintex Wireless is available in all the states of the US. There is no shipping cost for the free device they offer.
If you don’t like the device the default device Cintex Wireless offers, you can get high-end smartphones with very little additional cash for the first time. You will be able to purchase new smartphones from their store at a heavily discounted price tag.
You also have options for bringing your own device if it’s compatible with the Cintex Wireless network. You can check your device compatibility by entering the 14-16 digit ESN number of your smartphone on the Check your phone field of the webpage.
Compatibil Device List:
| Brand | Device |
|---|---|
| Apple | iPhone X 64GB, iPhone XR 64GB, |
| Samsung | Galaxy S8 Plus 64GB, Samsung Galaxy S7 32GB |
| LG | LG X220PM 16GB, LG Q710AL, Q Stylo 4 |
| ANS | L51, Rapidz Plus 8GB |
| Unimax | U683CL 8G |
The Lifeline plan offers free unlimited talk time, text, and internet data. There are a number of refill plans in case you reach the limit of the talk time:
| Cost | Talk Time |
|---|---|
| $05 | 500 Minutes |
| $10 | 1000 Minutes |
| $15 | 2000 Minutes |
| $20 | Unlimited Minutes |
You will get unlimited international talk time for 30 days to Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guadeloupe, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela for $5 per month.
And for internet data:
| Cost | Data | Validity |
|---|---|---|
| $05 | 500MB Data | 30 Days |
| $10 | 1GB Data | 30 Days |
| $20 | 2GB Data | 30 Days |
| $25 | 5GB Data | 30 Days |
| $30 | 4GB Data | 30 Days |
| $35 | 5GB Data | 30 Days |
Also, bundle plans are available.
Coverage
Cintex Wireless proudly announce that 1 million lifeline and ACP service procurers are being served by them and they have been operating for 10 years in over 46 states. Here is the coverage map of Cintex Wireless.
Contact Info
Website: Cintex Wireless
Hotline: 1-855-655-3097
E-mail: [email protected]
8. Copper Valley Wireless
Copper Valley Telecom is a regional telecoms operator serving customers within a 15,000 square-mile region of south-central Alaska. It joined the “Long Term Evolution (LTE) in Rural America” of Verizon Wireless.
If you are thinking to apply for federal Lifeline telephone assistance through Copper Valley Wireless, you will find five basic options:
- Voice-only landline costing $1/month,
- Voice and broadband (DSL) with a discount of $34.25 towards voice and DSL,
- Voice only: wireless for $1/month,
- Voice and data wireless with a discount of $34.25 towards the voice and data plan,
- Data only: wireless with a discount of $34.25 from data plans 500 MB or higher.
The internet data provided by Copper Valley Wireless has no higher caps and they are truly unlimited in nature.
For lifeline assistance through Copper Valley, you must meet the Federal poverty guideline. You have to submit proper documents and only one applicant per household will be selected for receiving these federal benefits.
Coverage
Copper Valley Telecom has been providing advanced telephone, long-distance, high-speed internet connectivity, wireless voice, and LTE data over state-of-the-art networks in Valdez and Copper River Basin areas. Coverage Map.
Contact Info
Webpage: Copper Valley Lifeline
Hotline: 1-800-235-5414
E-mail/Massage: Contact
9. Easy Wireless
The service of Easy Wireless really chimes in with the name of the company as it strives to make its customers’ wireless services as easy and uncomplicated as possible by avoiding long-term, confusing contracts, and penalty fees.
Easy Wireless provides four different plans:
- Standalone Lifeline plan,
- ACP (Affordable Connectivity Program) plan,
- Tribal Lifeline and ACP plan, and
- Lifeline and ACP plan.
The benefits of Easy Wireless Lifeline services include a free or highly discounted smartphone, unlimited voice and text time, free internet data, Voicemail, Caller ID, Call Waiting, Call Forwarding, 3 Way Calling, Text & Picture Messaging, free 911 emergency services, free 411 directory assistance, free 611 customer care support, and free domestic roaming.
International call service and roaming facilities are not available yet and upon receiving international calls you will be charged from your Easy Wireless account.
As mentioned earlier, the application process for the Easy Wireless Lifeline program is quite simple. You have to provide some supporting documents to prove your eligibility for the Lifeline program. You can also visit the Easy Wireless store nearby and complete the application process physically. There is a store locator option on their website. In Oklahoma, Easy Wireless has 30+ stores in different locations.
Coverage
The service of this company is available to the inhabitants of Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Easy Wireless has been operating for over 20 years.
Contact Info
On their website How to Sign Up - Easy Wireless you will get a form to enter your email and zip code to find the availability of Easy Wireless in your geographical location.
Hotline: +1-877-476-3451
E-mail: [email protected]
10. enTouch Wireless
Not all the free government phone service providers have international call facilities, but enTouch Wireless will let you stay connected to your loved one living in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, India, China, Vietnam, and South Korea without any charge. It’s part of the Lifeline program service from InTouch Wireless.
Over 34 states of the United States of America, enTouch Wireless spreads its services to eligible households. It also includes the federal ACP (Affordable Connectivity Program) program. enTouch Wireless also promises the best and brand new Android smartphone with large touch screens for free.
You don’t have to worry if you don’t like the device they offer as you can shop for your favorite device from BYOP (Bring Your Own Phone) partners.
enTouch Wireless comes with two basic Lifeline plans: one for California residents and another for other states. Those plans have further distinctions based on the tribal ground. For both CA tribal and non-tribal Lifeline plans, unlimited text, talk time, and internet data are provided without any cost along with international calls.
Coverage
enTouch Wireless is available in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Contact Info:
Webpage: Easy Wireless Lifeline Program
Hotline: 1-866- 488-8719.
