Free Government Cell Phones

Lifeline phone service provides free cell phones to America's financially disadvantaged

Menu
  • Home
  • Do You Qualify?
  • How to get one?
  • States
  • Providers
  • Minutes
  • FAQ
  • News
  • Cheap Plans
  • Earn Money

How many Lifeline cell phone subscribers are there in total?

< Back to all FAQ's

A lot. Over six million as of summer 2011.

This was a question that took us some time to answer. The facts simply are not readily available, and Safelink Wireless, Assurance Wireless and ReachOut Wireless do not give out their numbers.

But we accepted this challenge and went digging through government information and came up with some estimated numbers that should be close to being on target. Our first calculations led to the article, Assurance Wireless gaining on Safelink Wireless.

As that article points out, as of March 31, 2011, we estimated that the total number of subscribers of the “big three” Lifeline cell phone companies is 6,352,427. Other smaller providers exist, but the numbers are too small to spend time counting.

Here is the breakdown for the three free government cell phone providers:

Lifeline Wireless Phone Company Subscribers, March 2011 (est.):

Safelink Wireless: 3,774,109 subscribers
Assurance Wireless: 1,837,700 subscribers
ReachOut Wireless: 741,618 subscribers
 
TOTAL: 6,352,427 subscribers

But you should also note the calculated growth rates in the article. While Safelink Wireless holds the lead, they are not growing anywhere near as strongly as Assurance Wireless, or ReachOut Wireless for that matter. The first place ranking could change by 2012.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Before you post your comment...

  1. If you are going to ask "how do I get a cell phone?" go here instead.
  2. If you are going to ask "how do I get a replacement phone," go here instead
  3. We are not your cell phone company. All technical questions should be asked of your vendor.
  4. Your comments are moderated, and we will manually approve those worth publishing within 24 hours.

Comments

  1. LZ says

    February 7, 2017 at 9:25 am

    Would you happen to have updated data? Perhaps through 2016?

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Free Government Cell Phones says

      February 7, 2017 at 10:02 am

      We’re working on our latest update now, Leo. But the numbers get harder and harder to ferret out. It used to be easy to do the math when the Lifeline program only involved cell phones, but it’s a much more complex now that internet service is in the mix.

      Reply
  2. Trish says

    December 3, 2012 at 6:33 am

    What kind of oversight is there? It has been reported that many people have more than one phone. I am also curious that when people become ineligible for federal programs which could make them eligible for this service??? how is their service disconnected? I am of the understanding that it is not disconnected. If it is not disconnected, people like myself will continue to pay for this perk which is intended for those who are not able to place an emergency type call. The oversight for this program is too loose. If it is a nightmare to run this program, and I believe it must be, it should not be in place. What I would really like to know is when all is said & done, who benefitting? (phone service companies…??) If it was a great undertaking to come up w/the # of “subscribers” then where did those #’s come from & how?

    Reply
  3. K W Hub says

    January 21, 2012 at 1:44 pm

    Is it true that the monthly cost of each phone is $14? If so, that puts the total annual cost at $1.06B…I think I need a free phone too

    Reply
    • Free Government Cell Phones says

      January 22, 2012 at 10:39 pm

      For the cell phones it’s roughly $10 or so. But there are also landline subscribers. And it all varies between states, and if the phones are in tribal areas.

      But there are way ore subscribers than this now. Read item #11 on this article:

      https://www.freegovernmentcellphones.net/10-surprising-facts-about-free-government-cell-phones

      The 2011 cost is going to be finalized between $1.5 – 2 billion.

      Reply
  4. Joe Young says

    June 10, 2011 at 2:23 pm

    This number is far too high, the company that administers Lifeline for the government publishes the total number of Lifeline subscribers every quarter, currently at 10,160,724. Doing a little bit of number crunching (removing states where the big three don’t offer Lifeline, taking into considertion the 2,000 or so other companies that offer Lifeline, and removing all the people who have Lifeline on a landline telephone) the real number would probably be closer to 2-3 million for the big three. Simple math…

    Reply
    • Administrator says

      June 10, 2011 at 5:53 pm

      Thanks for the note, but the numbers are accurate. We only counted the big three wireless providers: Safelink, Assurance and ReachOut. And the numbers were confirmed by an industry insider. I don’t have it in front me but just about 12-18 months ago, Safelink said they had over two million.

      Reply

Just tell me how to get a Phone!

Confused? Getting a phone is actually very simple. Click here to begin, read every word, and then simply follow the instructions.

Sign up for our Free Newsletter

Click to learn more...

Search this site

More Information

  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Readers' Questions
  • Help
  • Contact
  • About Us

Recent Articles

11 things you need to know about the new Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)

Q Link Wireless raided by FBI, IRS, US Post Office, Sheriffs

Limited time only: Free unlimited talk, unlimited text AND unlimited data

Q Link F ups continue: Company makes it easy to access private customer info

Were our readers right? Are free government cell phones hacked before they’re activated?

Crisis in free government cell phone program: Will new demands kill off service providers?

WTF? Assist Wireless screws up, exposes tens of thousands of customer IDs

Number of free government cell phone customers drops by two million in last three years

Leading industry analyst calls for universal broadband and free government cell phones for everyone who needs them

Sprint busted for Lifeline fraud, forced to pay $200 million penalty

Latest Reader Comments

  • Terri H on enTouch Wireless Free Cell Phones: “To file a FCC complaint, you have to choose “Billing” as the problem, to eventually get to the provider names…” May 27, 21:50
  • Stuck at Home on enTouch Wireless Free Cell Phones: “I’m on my SIXTH day out, heading into a 3-day weekend, so it will be at least TEN DAYS with…” May 27, 21:42
  • Free Government Cell Phones on More cash-strapped students now eligible for free government cell phones and cheap internet: “Assuming that your qualify, you need to enroll with one of the companies offering phones in your state, Joseph. Here’s…” May 27, 21:29
  • Free Government Cell Phones on Can I use my Safelink Wireless SIM card in another phone?: “What works for one does not necessarily work for all, Cim.” May 27, 21:27
  • Free Government Cell Phones on How to file a Lifeline Service Complaint: “Aha! You bought a phone. That answers the question we asked on one of your other comments.” May 27, 21:26
  • Free Government Cell Phones on How to file a Lifeline Service Complaint: “It appears that you went right past filing a complaint with the FCC or the BBB and went straight to…” May 27, 21:25
  • Tyrone Kelly on How to file a Lifeline Service Complaint: “They insist on keeping my refund the US government should I fire them from the lifeline program they have no…” May 27, 20:50
  • Tyrone Kelly on How to file a Lifeline Service Complaint: “They don’t have any respect for us senior citizens they taking the government money and not doing their job their…” May 27, 20:45
  • Tyrone Kelly on How to file a Lifeline Service Complaint: “Assurance Wireless said they were going to sell me a Samsung 10 Galaxy they charged me $27 they sent me…” May 27, 20:43
  • Cim on Can I use my Safelink Wireless SIM card in another phone?: “This is not good advice. I put a old Safelink SIM in an unlocked phone (2022) and there were no…” May 27, 19:13
Copyright 2019 FreeGovernmentCellPhones.net. | Privacy Policy | Contact