Cell Phones for the Poor

I recall reading within the past five years that there were hills and hollers in the western parts of Arkansas that were JUST THEN getting telephone service, with the advent of cell phones. Until then, the potential customers were so few and scattered and far back in the hills that the phone company refused to invest in landline installations into the area on the grounds that they'd never make back their investment. One or two cell towers, though, strategically located, were economically feasible.

It also means that they don't get cheated so much because when the dealers come to buy the farmers already know what prices food is fetching in the city. Also much of Africa is using these to transfer money. An African working in a city who wishes to send money home will buy a phone credit. Then s/he will phone the shopkeeper who lives nearest to his family and read the pin number of the phone credit to him/her. The phone credit is put on the shopkeepers phone and the shopkeeper credits that amount of credit to the family to buy food. In areas without reliable post and maybe not a bank for hundreds of miles it has made a lot of difference to subsistence families

That's a brilliant idea.

Wow, this is great! I'll forward that around and see if we can find a way to support this at GreaterGood.

I second that cry of "Networking win!" And I'm sure the Grameen Foundation will appreciate your support. :)

There are also programs which link those used cell phone to battered women here in the U.S. The one I'm familiar with is local to Indianapolis, through the Julian Center, (local women's shelter) but I've seen posters for them in other places as well. The idea is that the abuser/ stalker cannot catch them without a means of communication or isolate them.

I've been hearing ads on the radio locally (I admit I haven't been paying too much attention to them, so I don't know who's sponsoring the program) to the effect of, "If you qualify for food stamps or TennCare, you may also qualify for free cell phone service."

[TennCare is Tennessee's version of Medicaid.]

Around here, two such programs.

They are now advertising on TV that if you are on assistance you can get a cell phone, with minutes, for free. Only in America would they advertise a free cell phone program for the poor on cable TV.

But we've had an informal program of that sort for years. Around this town you just go down to the cop shop (State Police or County Sheriff, either will do) and drop off your old cell phone whenever you get a new one. Old cell phones still connect to the network; you can still make calls on them around here from the "American Roaming Network" company, if you have a credit card. But even if you don't, even a non-activated cell phone can always call 911.

Since, if you're like me, you can get a new cell phone every couple of years from your provider, that adds up to a lot of beat up but still working cell phones that need to be disposed of. And there are many people for whom any cell phone is a godsend, even if the only people they can call with it are the police.

I sense a Helpful Activism Program here. If your police don't collect and redistribute used cell phones, maybe you could suggest it to them? I bet they know many endangered people who could use their own pocket-sized police call button...

/bemusedoutsider here/

Even where the police don't have that program, there seem to be quite a few such programs at various agencies. Local battered womens's programs might be a place to start asking. Or charity thrift shops.

I've worked in telecommunications for years. Unfortunately, the cellphone, landline, cable and internet companies have a vested interest in keeping these bills just at a level where even the poorest can barely afford.

For cell services in the US, most often the customer pays for every single call, incoming and outgoing. And if you are poor, on Social Security or Disability, you may be able to qualify for a reduced rate with companies for a land line for $10 a month. This service is referred to as Lifeline and it is barely that. And this level of phone service covers no long distance at all and has the barest minimum services attached to it.

If there is a way for there to be a philanthropic cellphone service for the poor, I think that would be the best public relations campaign ever. I wonder if a company like Google would be interested in doing something along these lines. It certainly would make other companies look more than a little bit greedy and absurd. If anyone could take on AT&T, Verizon, Qwest, Sprint, Comcast et al on their own turf - Google could.

This would be especially good in places like the various Indian Reservations in the Badlands and in the Southwest where there is no phone service and are some of the poorest counties in the entire country.