Think of Arizona and you think of natural wonders like the Grand Canyon and the Petrified Forest and those giant Saguaro cactus (or is it cacti?). Add in the sunshine and warm weather and the last thing you’d think of is poverty. But much to our surprise, the Census Bureau rates Arizona as the state with the second highest poverty level.
Dig these statistics: More than 20% of Arizona residents live below the official poverty level. Sadly, that’s a higher percentage than any state other than Mississippi.
Let’s get specific: According to the U.S. Census Bureau almost 1,400,000 Arizonans live in households that earn less than the federal poverty level. That’s equal to 21.2% of the population. Compare that to the national figure of just 14.3% and you can see that poverty is a severe problem for the Grand Canyon State.
But it gets even worse. Among those from 18 to 64, the poverty rate is 18.4%. Among the elderly – 65 and older – 13.8% live in poverty.
Please allow us to inject a note of hope into this grim discussion: The LifeLine program is available in Arizona and can be a huge help in allowing you to get in touch with potential employers.
Free Cell Phone Providers in Arizona:
Here’s a list of all the Lifeline Assistance free government cell phones in Arizona. They all offer different plans with different numbers of minutes, different refill options, and serve different geographic areas. So click through them all and find the plan that’s best for you.
- Access Wireless
- Assurance Wireless
- EnTouch Wireless
- Life Wireless
- Q Link Wireless
- Safelink Wireless
- StandUp Wireless
- Tag Mobile
- Terracom
Lifeline Discount Companies in Arizona
If you qualify for Lifeline Assistance, but you find that none of the companies offer free government cell phones where you live, you have another option. The companies below, while not offering free cell phone plans, do offer substantial Lifeline discounts off their regular mobile phone plans in Arizona:
Lifeline Assistance Eligibility in Arizona:
You are eligible for the government phone in Arizona if you receive benefits from any of these programs:
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Food Stamps or SNAP)
- Medicaid
- Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
- Federal Public Housing Assistance (Section 8)
- Veterans Pension and Survivor's Benefit.
- Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance (BIA)
- Tribally Administered Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (Tribal TANF)
- Tribal Head Start (only those households meeting its income qualifying standard)
- Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR)
Plus, you may be eligible under these state programs, until the new federal laws make them ineligible win 2017:
- State Child Health Insurance Plan/KIDCARE
- Medicaid/AHCCCS
You may also qualify if your Total Household Income is at or under 150% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines. We’ve calculated those numbers and placed them in the following table for you:
| Income Based Eligibility for Arizona | ||
|---|---|---|
| Members in Household | Annual income | |
| 1 member | $16,389 | |
| 2 members | $22,221 | |
| 3 members | $28,053 | |
| 4 members | $33,885 | |
| 5 members | $39,717 | |
| 6 members | $45,549 | |
| 7 members | $51,381 | |
| 8 members | $57,213 | |
| For each additional member add $5,832 annually | ||
Latest News for Arizona:
Leann Villeneuve says
I live in California but will be in az for a couple months. Can I sign up and have my phone shipped to az?
Free Government Cell Phones says
No. The phone must be sent to your permanent home address.
Debbie Ohl says
Where in Peoria arizona, can I take my phone in to get fixed??? Something happened to my phone and keeps asking for privacy protection password that I don’t have and my phone got shut off because of not being able to unlock phone. I have american assistance. I have pictures in phone I don’t want to lose.
Free Government Cell Phones says
Contact your service provider’s customer service team ASAP.
Marie Brewer says
I have an my mail on hold from previous address and my family & I no longer live there can I get a phone still or would the street vendors be a better choice
Free Government Cell Phones says
The street vendors are NEVER a good choice, Marie. Too much fraud and abuse originates in those tents. However, you cannot get a phone at your old address. Why wouldn’t you just enroll using your current address?
Kellogg says
Is there anyway you can post a memo on locations to obtain an goverment issued phone, ex. DES, churchs, events, etc. Would save travel time. Thank you😊
Free Government Cell Phones says
We no longer recommend enrolling at street events, Kellogg. They have been the scenes of far too much fraud and abuse. We strongly urge you to enroll online or by phone to keep yourself far safer.
Gerald says
I think the program is a rip off I worked 32 years for Quaker oats Co I worked till was 71years old had to quit I draw socal security and my wife dose also I have a retirement penson from Quakers my total yearly income exceeds your limit but I don’t qualify but some people that don’t work and don’t want to do
Melissa says
I’ve done the whole online application it will not accept my physical address. I live in elfrida Arizona and only have PO box for mailing. It says not USPS address e en when I put physical address.
Free Government Cell Phones says
Contact your chosen service provider’s customer service team to figure out if there’s a way around your predicament. For what it’s worth, you are not alone. Thousands of other wannabe applicants run into the same problem.
Wee lady says
I can usually get around this by listing my PO as a unit etc, but I have the same problem with qlink. Am going to try the po address with my box number to see if that works.
BarbiB. says
Are there any Briggs and Mortar facilities to obtain the gov’t phone? If not,…would you happen to know what happened to Assurance Wireless corner tent setups? Whereas a potential recipeint could apply to an actual person and the phones are readily kept at these tent sites? In Phoenix or Glendale, Arizona?
Free Government Cell Phones says
We strongly urge you NOT to enroll at street events, Barbi. They have been the scene of far too much fraud and abuse. Enroll online or by phone instead.
Shawnna M Lawrence says
I just want to say that I love your responses to theses comments that you so kindly take from these dimwits. Yes, most of you are morons, and you prove that in all the boxes below. I am looking for one, intelligent comment or question and I have yet to see one. However, this is not a complaint. This is pure hysterical entertainment. Great reads! And bless you freegovernmentcellphones.net for all of the wonderful and useful information you provide about this lifeline program.
I would like to give a shout out to Safelink wireless, for being the most awful company in the world. I hope your village in India catches fire! -If you leave that part out, I understand.
No name says
Ms. Lawrence: I totally agree with your message. Safelink is the worst company to deal with. I had to deal with the Phillipines and those people are worst. They had illegally terminated my phone service with false allegations, claiming that I had never filled out ten pages of recertification, when I had mailed, faxed, etc, on 6 different occasions. Ten pages each time. They played games and joked about it with me on the phone. I had filed a complaint with the FCC and it went down the drain. What a waste.
Janet says
I have so much trouble with recertificaton with Safelink. Is there a recomendation for a better provider in Phoenix Arizona?
Free Government Cell Phones says
It’s impossible for us to recommend any one service provider because there are literally thousands of different variables.
LAYNE says
I live in Parker, AZ. I’m inquiring about a free government cell phone for my elderly Father who now lives in Lake Havasu City, AZ at a nursing facility due to Dementia.
He is on AZ Long term care.
Free Government Cell Phones says
We are not a Lifeline free government cell phone service provider, Layne. This is an independent informational website. You need to contact the companies listed on this page in order to enroll.
Gloria White says
I am inquiring about persons who are homebound and unable to go to your outlets to apply for phones. How can they get someone to process their application at their homes, or do you even provide this service for disabled persons?
Free Government Cell Phones says
You don’t need to take your friends (or clients or whatever your relationship is) anywhere. You can enroll by phone or online, Gloria. Just check out all the service providers on this page to find the plan that fits their needs best, then enroll with that company.
Robert Berger says
Who o I contact if my phone is not working?
Free Government Cell Phones says
Your service provider. Assuming that you live in Arizona since you left this comment on our Arizona page, you can click on your service provider’s listing on this page. That will take you to that provider’s page where you will find the contact info you need.
Julie K. Pavlich says
I need to be contacted about a free government cell phone the number to temporarily reach me at is 602-622-****. thank you
Free Government Cell Phones says
That’s not how it works, Julie. You need to check out all the service providers listed in the article on this page and enroll with one of them. We provide all the contact info you’ll need.
Public Citizen says
I am using public computers and my time is very limited. I have one ancient laptop at home, which is not connected and all corrupted, but I copy lots of text from the Internet, including your website, and would read later. I do not use email any longer due to pathological spam and nazi spying. More over, no one ever mentioned that these days it is impossible to open email account without telephone. If everyone had telephones and/or were physically able to use it, than how would those lifeline companies would stay in business?
Although I did not read all of your website, I spent quote a bit of time here and noticed many different things:
You are sounding really nice and helpful, but extremely deceiving, incomplete and questionable. You even went as far is to block your own contact form and suggest to use most deplorable facebook, which essentially gives you away. I do not even shake hands with anyone who is potentially capable to use such atrocity like anti-social networks, less I would ever use them.
Budget Mobile, for example, belongs to a band of criminal thieves, T-Mobile, and to imply that FCC is a good place to complain is a spit into everyone’s face. Neither FCC (or any other governmental agency) nor any of the con artists posing as telecommunication companies ever respond to anything.
The program is paid by the government, which means fraud by default. How dumb anyone could be not to understand it? The Government pays the companies, they take money and the last thing they would ever do is to provide service. Is that too difficult to understand? The same, without a doubt, would be with free internet, which I predicted 20 years ago. The free part is only and exclusively about spying and in no event for anyone’s convenience. But that only a tip of the iceberg and I came here by accident due to a special event (while not commenting on 100 others)…
A year ago I got free phone from Assurance Wireless and was assured a by tent-employee that it comes with manual. She lied of course and I told her that I don’t know how to use many of those blatantly alien functions (with 3 diplomas, one of which is in radio electronics, but that was at time of dinosaurs). She also lied that it takes 10 minutes to physically stand on Phoenix’s sun, but it took her over an hour because she could not activate the junk and called twice to Philippines blaming them for not speaking good English. Technically speaking, it is torture because I should not stand (no chairs there) for an hour.
I kept my phone permanently off and I never talked to anyone live, only turning it on once in 2-3 weeks calling to automated service to keep it alive. Their rude rep hang up on me. No, manuals online do not exist in readable, human format and I do not have teenagers at home to ask. Free phones come with tiniest, invisible start-up guide totally unsuitable for humans and list only the basic, most important functions. Do YOU know which ones, at least by Budget Mobile? It is how to play games and how to download music. The cretins promptly forgot about elderly, disabled, poor and their phony “lifeline” term and concentrated on spying.
Recently I came across two black men in that tent and asked about one phone function. He did explain, but as soon as another one saw an old white man (me) talking, he started rudely interrupting me. When I wanted to ask another question, the rude bastard kept interrupting me by talking to his pal so I took my phone back not knowing that the first one put up some 9-circle puzzle in front of it completely preventing me from accessing it, even calling 611. Given that I live alone and there are no public telephones exist anymore, I cannot call the company, cannot contact it by email, which I do not use and will never prove that this scum of the earth deliberately did it demonstrating their hatred to whites (as the case on every corner anyway). This Assurance does not have physical stores, the most disgusting employees imaginable do not wear name tags, they are migrating from one corner to another at random and such despicable anti-business attitude should not exist in a first place, but it does (our Governor is a former AZ Corporation Commissioner, the place, which – of course – never responds to anything). Fortunately, I do not have any personal info on the phone, otherwise this is yet another example how one’s life could be instantly destroyed by PURELY SATANIC electronics every last one of you peddling so vehemently down into everyone’s throats…
Free Government Cell Phones says
Far be it from us to make any assumptions, Public, but you seem dissatisfied not just with your phone, but with life in general. There’s not much we can do to help other than to allow you to air your grievances.
Senior Advocate says
Wow.. that sums up your customer service?? How about misleading all these hearing and visually challenged folks who are begging for assistance with technology!! People..Please go to local chapters of sight and hearing centers for assistance. NOT lured by the words FREE by these pathetic vultures
Free Government Cell Phones says
No, this sums up our customer service: WE DON’T HAVE CUSTOMER SERVICE. This is an independent informational website NOT affiliated with any free government cell phone company.
But we do congratulate you on the use of the term “pathetic vultures.” We think it’s the best insult we’ve ever been given.
Patricia barnes says
I have an lg phone but need service. Can I get service to existing phone or must I get new phone?
Free Government Cell Phones says
Since we are not your service provider, we cannot speak for it, Patricia. But odds are that they will charge you a small fee for a replacement phone.