The Obama-Phone Is Back - But This Time It's Real

While some saw the clip of the lady [2] implying 'victory for Obama means phones for everyone' as perhaps exaggerated out-of-context right-wing propaganda [3] - as that would be preposterous right? - it appears San Francisco took it a little more serious. As SFGate reports [4], the California Public Utilities Commission is expected to approve (within a couple of weeks) a plan to offer homeless and other poor people in California 'virtually free cell phones and service'. The plan is funded through the federal LifeLine program and is designed to enable these individuals to 'keep in touch with family, potential employers and others crucial to improving their lives'. "This is great - it is transformative for homeless and low-income people," said San Francisco's head of homeless initiatives, adding that, fundamentally, to be in the mainstream of our society you have to have a phone." Setting up the program in California has been no easy task, officials said. "I would prefer it to be free..." said Dufty, and said he would explore other funding sources. Perhaps worth remembering the cost of kidding ourselves once again.
Homeless and other poor people in California are on track to soon get virtually free cell phones and service so they can keep in touch with family, potential employers and others crucial to improving their lives.

The cell phones would be handed out through a federally funded Lifeline program - already operated by service provider Assurance Wireless in 36 other states - that is likely to win final approval in the next couple of weeks from the California Public Utilities Commission.

State PUC officials have been reviewing the Lifeline proposal from Assurance Wireless for three years. Word came Thursday that all but a minor detail had been approved, ending years of effort by advocates for homeless people.

"This is great - it is transformative for homeless and low-income people," said Bevan Dufty, San Francisco's head of homeless initiatives,

"Fundamentally, to be in the mainstream of our society you have to have a phone," he said. "And really, for the homeless population, you need a cell phone because they don't have a home to hard-wire one into. We really need this plan."

The state's decades-old Lifeline program, like those all over the country, pays for all but a few dollars of the monthly phone bill for poor people, generally meaning those whose annual income is below $14,702. Butuntil now, California's PUC rules only authorized Lifeline service for "wireline" phones, meaning traditional phones wired into residences - and those rules didn't authorize anything for free.

More