The cell phone and the 250 minutes are free, compliments of the government. If you need an upgraded phone or extra services, you may be charged a small monthly fee. For example, texting, 411 service, international calling, mobile web, ring tones, games, graphics and other services normally cost slightly more.
Those additional fees generally run from $5 to $20 per month, but may vary from company to company.
But be careful. The companies want to make more money from you in extra services. Listen carefully to the what the charges will be and if you can cancel later.
Robin Reed says
I recieved a text message on my phone that it had just been updated for free additional memory, 50 MB of picture usage, texting, etc. I was sent an authorization code to send back from my email address but I can not send it from my home where I live because I have no cell service until I drive 5 miles. The Authorization code is 817301 and I don’t have texting on my phone at the present time.How do I go about getting these new
Free Government Cell Phones says
Contact your service provider’s customer service team with that question, Robin.
Allen says
Do not post things like a personalized authorization code to the internet. You never know who will be reading.
Free Government Cell Phones says
If Robin had included any other personal info, we would have edited out her authorization code. But we figured that code was meaningless without other necessary info.
Dave says
I am able to send picture texfs but am unable to receive pictures.
Free Government Cell Phones says
You need to contact your service provider’s customer service or tech support team, Dave. They’re the only ones who can fix your problem.
Just in case, here’s an article that tells you the broken phone replacement policy of all the major free government cell phone companies:
https://www.freegovernmentcellphones.net/faq/i-lost-my-phone-how-do-i-get-a-replacement
john says
With free phone how come can’t go on internet or get pictures
frederick correy says
I want to add more minutes on my true wireless phone can you please tell me how thank you
Diane Williams says
I am with another free government phone service. I would like to switch to Safe Link & found out today that I will have to cancel my old service which I fine but I have a few questions before I do. It’s almost time for me to re-apply for another year but before time runs out and I’m stuck without a service would you please answer my questions and promptly get back to me.
Do the minutes roll over? Can I text freely? Can I receive picture text? Can I keep my same phone & number from the other company? How many minutes do I get a month? Tell me about long distance calls & if they’re extra. Please answer some or all of my questions. Thank you very much!
melanie says
If I take my safe link phone out of the country (Africa) wiil I get service to call home to Mi.
alex47 says
Are the texts free of charge each month ? Is it only when I make calls the minutes deduct ? Please someone be kind and explain . It highly appreciated. Thank you
Jason says
Yes you receive 1000 free sms texts per month, however mms messaging (picture messaging) does cost an extra fee
robin silvers says
i need to know if i can foward my incoming text messeges to another phone so i get them when im away from my safelink phone is there a way to do this.
Angel Evans says
I have an assurance and currently get the $26.50 unlimited talk and text plan but I have family that lives put of state so I was wondering if there was a way I could send and receive picture messages also even if I had to pay a small fee for it ?
Thank You
Pollyanna says
SafeLink’s information indicates that we can send and receive text (SMS) messages with their 3 plans. And, indeed, I can send texts to another cell phone and receive texts from another cell phone with no problem.
However, when I try to utilize the text (SMS) system of my large city’s public transit system – where you text the bus stop number and receive a text in return detailing upcoming arrivals – I get a message, “Sorry, this service is not available for your service plan.” I don’t understand why this is so when SafeLink claims in its FAQ’s, “SafeLink Wireless service supports SMS messaging. Each SMS will deduct (0.054) minutes for the 68 minutes plan, (0.10) minutes for the 125 minutes plan and (0.20) minutes for the 250 minutes plan.” Can anyone explain?
dianne turner says
I have a picture of my deceased sister on my phone and would like to see it.
how much is it to receive picture messages. and where do i pay for this service?
Free Government Cell Phones says
Each vendor has their own pricing for picture messaging, you’ll have to call the vendor. Good luck.