Free smart phones available to low-income residents
– Free smart phones are being offered to low income individuals through the US Government’s Life Line program operated by Air Voice Wireless. The Android Drone X 4.4 phones are offered free of charge, to any individual that meets low-income standards. There is a limit of one phone per family.
Templeton residents Troy and Tricia Harbour administer the program locally. They are setting up a booth in the parking lot at Celebration Worship Center, located at 988 Vineyard Dr. in Templeton. from noon to 6 p.m. on weekdays. They are hoping to find additional locations to provide this service in Atascadero and Paso Robles, such as a church or shopping center parking lot. A close proximity to a bus stop is a necessity, as many low income individuals use public transit as their primary mode of transportation.
The phone is The Drone X, which has a 1.2Ghz processor, HSPA+ antenna, and 3MP rear camera with LED flash and video recording capabilities. The Drone has 512MB of internal storage and can be expanded up to 32GB with a microSD card. All of this built around Android 4.4 KitKat.
Qualifications are as follows:
- Applicant must be a California resident.
- Applicant must already receives assistance from an approved government program such as food stamps, Section 8 housing, or Medicare, and can provide valid proof of participation, or has income that is at or below 150-percent of the federal poverty level.
- No one in the applicant’s household is currently receiving any other Life Line offer.
- Applicant must provide valid photo identification.
- Applicant may need to provide valid proof of current address.
Interested parties can bring proof of participation in a government program or proof of income, as well as a valid ID, to the booth, where the Harbours will snap a photo of the documents and send them in for approval. If approved, aplicants will be granted a new phone on the spot. “The process typically takes about 10 minutes,” said Troy. Troy warns that proper paperwork is crucial, and suggests bringing multiple forms of documentation of either participating in a low-income program or income verification.
Those who are not participating in a low-income government program can still prove their low-income status by either bringing the last three months’ pay stubs, or their 1040 from last year. The income requirements are 150-percent of the federal poverty level.
150-percent of the federal poverty level:
• Household of one or two: $25,700 or less
• Household of three: $29,900 or less
• Household of four: $36,200 or less
• Each additional household member past four: $6,300 each.
The service has been around since the 1980’s, when phone companies issued free home phones. There are about 15 or so companies that offer similar programs. The Air Voice Wireless program is reimbursed by the federal government. The Harbours are employees of Air Voice.
The service includes free, unlimited talk and text, unlimited picture messaging, and 100 megabytes of data usage per month. Additional data can be purchased, although, “With connecting to wi-fi, typically 100 megabytes is enough,” according to Troy.
Interested parties can call (805) 704-2293, or visit their Facebook page.
