How is Safelink Wireless Working For You?

As we've written before, Safelink Wireless is providing free cell phones and free minutes to lower-income people who qualify for the federal Lifeline program. How many phones? According to data from the nonprofit that distributes federal funds to participating carriers, in September 2009, they received $23,285,172 in reimbursements for phones they've distributed. Assuming the maximum per-customer contribution is $10/customer, that means there are about 2.3 million people in the U.S. who are taking advantage of this option. This is a huge number, about 27% of the $87 million distributed via the Lifeline program in that month. (See the table below for state-by-state data).

A lot of people have posted about their experiences with Safelink, but here's a formal, open question for everyone who has a Safelink phone or has tried to get a phone from them: how do you like Safelink? Is it working for you? Was it easy to get? Have you had any problems with the phone or service? Do you find that you're routinely buying more minutes from Tracfone (Safelink's parent) when you run out of the free minutes?

Not a scientific sampling, but it would help to know what your experiences are as we think about recommendations to Community Voice Mail clients about these services. Please post your thoughts in the comments. Thanks!


Sales of Safelink phones through September 2009:

How to File Complaints about Phone Companies

Update: A reader let me know that the two USAC links below had changed. I've updated the links below.

A few people have posted comments complaining about the service they're getting from SafeLink Wireless, the first mobile phone carrier to offer a free phone and monthly minutes to low-income people who qualify for the Federal LifeLine program. Community Voice Mail is in no way connected to SafeLink Wireless or TracFone (its parent company), but we did find out how you can submit complaints about SafeLink or any other telecommunications company if you're not happy with their service.

I sent an email to the nonprofit that administers the various telecommunications programs that receive Universal Service Funds (LifeLine is one of these programs). The nonprofit is called the Universal Service Administrative Company, or USAC (see www.usac.org). I emailed USAC to find out where consumers could submit complaints about SafeLink or any other phone company, and on May 6, 2009, I received an email from the director of the Low-Income program at USAC, which said:

"The best advice for consumers who have complaints about their telephone company is to contact their state public utilities commission. USAC maintains a list of contact information for each PUC at http://www.usac.org/li/low-income/contact-commission/."

"Consumers can also file a complaint with the FCC at 1-888-CALL-FCC or electronically at http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm."

If you're having a problem that a phone company is not resolving to your satisfaction, these look like two good avenues to try to get help. And it does matter if you call; the more complaints they get, the greater the likelihood that the company will address these concerns. And, if you're having problems, it's possible that other people are as well.

I'm interested to learn what your experiences are if you decide to contact your state public utilities commission or the FCC (Federal Communications Commission). If you call or submit a complaint online, please consider posting a comment about your experience. Good luck!

SafeLink Wireless: When "Free" Isn't A Great Deal

Update: SafeLink now has a competitor, and they're offering a better deal. See our post about Assurance Wireless.

Running the numbers on the SafeLink Wireless offer for qualifying low-income people, it turns out that this program is a truly good deal if you only use the free minutes and don't buy any additional minutes through the SafeLink (TracFone) retail channel. If you plan to talk beyond the minutes offered for free, and you don't include cost of the inexpensive phones you get through this program, you can find cheaper service elsewhere. Here's the analysis:

In most states where SafeLink is offered, you get a free phone and 68 minutes of free talk time a month (80 in Massachusetts). So far so good. Free is great. If you only use these free 68 minutes a month, there is no cheaper program (unless someone knows of a company that pays you to use a mobile?).

If, however, you plan to talk even one more minute beyond these 68, the resulting per-minute cost is higher than you pay with other providers. SafeLink Wireless is part of TracFone, and from the SafeLink web site, when you purchase additional minutes beyond the free ones, you buy a TracFone card. The cheapest TracFone card right buys 60 minutes for $20, or $.33/minute.

• 68 free minutes + 60 paid minutes = 128 minutes
• Total Cost paid (additional minutes) = $20
• 128 minutes / $20 = ~$.16/minute

$.16/minute isn't exactly the lowest price in the prepaid mobile world. Virgin Mobile's lowest-cost minute card gets you 200 minutes for $20 ($.10/minute), and if you buy in higher denominations, you get an even cheaper per-minute rate. Net10, which is another TracFone-owned company, charges a flat rate of $.10/minute for all their card denominations. So, on a per-minute basis, the SafeLink Wireless deal is not the best for lower-income people who plan to use more than the free minutes provided.

There are two main caveats to this. First, SafeLink provides a free phone along with the minutes. I made a call to SafeLink last week, and was told that the phones available through this program are the Motorola W175 and C139 models. Both phones were available on the TracFone web site last week for $9.99. So, while a free phone is great, it's only a savings of $10 or so. This gets eaten up pretty quickly by the $.16/minute rate. Second (and more importantly), the additional (TracFone) minutes you add to the SafeLink phone don't expire for 90 days, vs. 30 days for Net10 minutes. In other words, you get to keep you minutes for 60 days longer, which is a good thing for people who don't always have funds to actively replenish their phones.

There are other reasons why the SafeLink Wireless program may not work for many low-income people. The biggest is the requirement that you have a home mailing address, and only one person at that address can receive the subsidy. If you're living in a shelter, a group home, your car, or on the streets, you can't take advantage of this even if you otherwise qualify. Sounds like the FCC made SafeLink adopt the policies of the LifeLine program, which was designed with landlines in mind. Hopefully, that will change.

Community Voice Mail clients and others who are thinking about this program should think hard about how many minutes they plan to use each month. More than 68? Look at the alternatives.

(I've been trying to talk with someone at SafeLink Wireless and TracFone for months, but am finding their web site and customer service processes almost impenetrable. If anyone from TracFone would like to refute this analysis, I'm all ears!).