PUC makes cellphones eligible for low-cost LifeLine program
Low-income Californians will be soon eligible for what has become to many an essential part of daily life: a cellphone.
Participants in the state’s LifeLine program for low-income consumers will soon have access to reduced-cost smartphone service with voice, data and text capabilities, state regulators decided Thursday.
After two years of deliberations, the five members of the California Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously to include wireless phones among the kinds of handsets available through the LifeLine program. Until now the program was offered only for traditional land-line phones.
Some phone companies are expected to start offering the wireless LifeLine service in California as early as next month.
“This will make high-tech services which California is famous for available to all,” said the lead proponent, Commissioner Catherine J.K. Sandoval. “It’s a game-changer for California LifeLine subscribers and for our state as a whole.”
Having a smartphone with access to the Internet can be essential for people seeking jobs, she said.
In a related decision, the commission also approved an order requiring TracFone Wireless Inc., a prepaid cellphone company controlled by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, to pay the state $24.4 million in back fees and surcharges. The fees finance a number of special services for the disabled, deaf and poor, including LifeLine.
TracFone contended that it had no way to collect the fees since its services were prepaid. Last year the commission rejected the contention. TracFone appealed the decision and lost.
Twitter: @MarcLifsher
