I have a cell phone already. Can I get a cell phone plan for it?

Times are tough, and you might be faced with choosing whether or not you can continue paying for your mobile phone, if you even have one. But did you know you the government has authorized phone companies to provide free cell phones and service to tens of millions Americans at no charge? Just how much would one of these free government cell phones change your life?

An employer can more easily reach you with a job offer if you have a free government cell phone. You can you stay in touch with your doctor and other emergency medical professionals more easily with a free government cell phone. A free government cell phone can help you keep in touch with family and other loved ones.

Thanks to the FCC-mandated, government-sponsored program, called LifeLine Assistance, the financially disadvantaged can receive a free government cell phone and up to 250 free minutes every month. An estimated 15 million other Americans already participate, and tens of millions more qualify to enroll. With the economy falling further and further behind, more and more Americans are finding themselves eligible for the Lifeline phone service program.

In the 90? S, the federal government set up the Lifeline phone service program via a mandate by the FCC. This program, funded by Universal Service Fund fees on telephone bills, provides qualified consumers with discounted (often free) monthly telephone service.

It began as just a landline program and a few years ago made it’s debut with cell phones. It’s been commonly called the “Obama phone” but that’s an urban legend as free cell phones were added under the Bush Administration. A short three years later there are an estimated 15 million active owners of free government phones with service provided through this government mandated program, provided mostly by three major mobile phone companies who are backed by large telecommunications companies like Sprint/Nextel, for example.

A free governmentl phone isn’t a cheap wireless phone or a discounted model. These are recent model, fully featured cell phones, backed by prominent mobile phone companies. You won’t get an iPhone, Android or Blackberry, but you’ll get a basic, modern phone.

In addition to the phone, which comes with voice mail, call waiting and caller ID, you will typically get up to 250 minutes of airtime per month. It’s not a lot of airtime, but anyone complaining should remember that service is made available to you for free, and is indirectly paid for by other Americans. In addition, most companies offer the ability to send and receive text messages.

Who do you get the free cell phone from? While a number of companies participate in this program, three of them dominate the market. While you may not know the names of the companies, you’ll surely recognize the big name companies behind their Lifeline divisions.