Over the years we’ve received many, many questions — some of the absolutely heartbreaking — from readers wondering if any Lifeline Assistance companies offer special devices for customers who are hearing, vision or speech-impaired.
We decided to find out.
Our first stop was at the always helpful online USAC Lifeline Support website. We asked if Lifeline Assistance companies are required by law to offer these special devices. It would have made for a much shorter article if the the answer had been a simple yes. Unfortunately, the friendly USAC representative came back with this answer:
“The Lifeline program rules do not place requirements on phone companies to offer certain devices for those with disabilities.”
That left us with no alternative except going through every Lifeline Assistance company’s website to determine their policies on TDD (Telecommunication Devices for the Deaf) and TTY (Teletypewriter). Do they or do they not offer them.
We started at the top of our 2016 List of Leaders in the Lifeline Assistance industry and worked our way down.
Safelink Wireless
Safelink is the oldest and by far the largest of the companies that offer free government cell phones. This Lifeline Assistance company is available to qualified customers in Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Connecticut, DC, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
It didn’t take much research to track down Safelink’s TDD/TTY policy. The company makes things pretty clear in its Terms & Conditions.
“15. HEARING, VISUAL OR SPEECH IMPAIRED ACCOMMODATIONS.
Any hearing, visual or speech impaired persons interested in applying for a specially equipped SAFELINK WIRELESS must call SAFELINK WIRELESS at 1-800-378-1684 and specify the need(s) to an agent and TracFone Wireless will make every effort to assist such customer in obtaining a handset that is in compliance with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations.”
Assurance Wireless
Assurance Wireless, owned by Sprint Nextel, is the second largest Lifeline Assistance company and offers Lifeline Assistance in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
Does number two Assurance offer services for the hearing, vision and speech-impaired customers? Well, its website information is a bit more nebulous, but one can reasonably infer that the company offers TTY access and other services for the visually-impaired by reading these comments from its website.
Teletype (“TTY”) Access
For information concerning TTY access for the hearing-impaired, please contact Assurance Wireless at 1-888-321-5880.
Also this:
Does Assurance Wireless offer any special services for customers with disabilities?
Yes. Assurance Wireless offers Directory Assistance calls on a complimentary basis to blind, visually impaired and other customers with qualifying disabilities. To apply for this program, please contact Sprint Support for Customers with Disabilities at 1-855-885-7568. An application form will be sent to you. Please have a qualified medical professional complete the application form and return to fax number 1-877-877-3291.
Assurance also lists a mailing address to which the documents can be sent.
Life Wireless
Life Wireless is not only one of the fastest-growing Lifeline Assistance companies (it offers free government cell phones in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin), but its TDD/TTY policy is among the clearest.
Hearing aid compatible phones available upon request to customer service.
http://www.lifewireless.com/hearing-aid-compatible-phones.php
Life Wireless also has an entire page dedicated to “Hearing Aid Compatibility”
Budget Mobile
Budget’s business has lost a little steam in the last couple years, but it still offers free government cell phone plans in Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Washington, Utah, Texas, West Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. A company representative says it is working on certification in additional states, too.
The company has a robust page full of information on its TDD/TTY policy and a hearing aid compatibility page with lots of detail and many, many TDD/TTY-compatible phones listed.
Q Link Wireless
Q Link Wireless is growing very rapidly. It currently serves Lifeline customers in Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Other states are also expected to be added.
Does Q Link offers TDD/TTY services? Well, we can’t actually say yes or no with any conviction. It appears that they do based on numerous applications to the FCC and various state regulatory groups, and the same information is found in the company’s Terms & Conditions.
15. HEARING, VISUAL OR SPEECH IMPAIRED ACCOMMODATIONS
Any hearing, visual, or speech impaired person(s) interested in applying for a specially equipped Q Link Wireless phone must call Q Link Wireless and specify their need(s) to an agent. Q Link Wireless will make every effort to assist such customer in obtaining a handset that is in compliance with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations.
Please note, however, our friends in advertising tell us that the wording sounds suspiciously like what they call “weasel wording.” In other words, it sounds as if the company may offer TDD and TTY devices, but is intentionally worded vaguely enough so that they may not offer them in reality.
Would anyone from Q Link like to clear this up for our readers?
Assist Wireless
Assist offers a number of different cell phone plans in Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri and Oklahoma. It appears to be a company that truly understands the needs of its hearing, vision and speech-impaired customers. The company’s website spells everything out in great detail.
The wireless telephone industry has developed handset hearing aid ratings to assist hearing device users in finding wireless devices that may be compatible with your hearing devices. Not all wireless devices have been rated. Wireless devices that are rated will have the rating displayed on their box together with other relevant approval markings.
These ratings are not guarantees. Results will vary depending on your hearing device and hearing loss. If your hearing device is vulnerable to interference you may not be able to use a rated wireless device successfully.
The following are Hearing Aid Compatible phones Assist Wireless offers under its branded wireless product. Our sales staff is trained to assist all customers looking for a HAC-compliant handset.
What follows is a long, long list of special devices. No other free government cell phone company offers as many (or if they do, they certainly don’t call it out on their websites).
Telscape Wireless/TruConnect Wireless
TruConnect, formerly known as Telscape and Surelink, is another rapidly-growing Lifeline Assistance company. It currently offers free government cell phones with unlimited talk and texts in California, and $10 discounts in Texas, but has already been approved to offer Lifeline Assistance discounts in 19 other states.
Kudos to TruConnect. No other free government cell phone company comes anywhere near TruConnect when it comes to spelling out its complete, detailed TDD/TTY policy. Instead of burying the information in tiny type in its Terms & Conditions, TruConnect has a page 100% devoted to the subject, including a long list of available devices, advice on which device might be right for you, and best of all, the company has a “try before you buy” policy for its devices.
Good work, TruConnect.
Blue Jay Wireless
As you can tell from some of our previous articles about Blue Jay, it is one of our favorite Lifeline Assistance companies. It’s a rapidly-growing company that recently showed up in our List of Leaders for the first time. It currently offers free government cell phone customers in Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin. From their Terms and Conditions page:
Hearing, Visual or Speech Impaired Accommodations. Any hearing, visual or speech impaired persons interested in obtaining the Services using a specially equipped Mobile Device or other available accommodation in compliance with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations should call Blue Jay Wireless at 611 or 855-425-8529.
Terracom
Terracom recently merged with YourTel and the combined entity now serves the states of Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
Yes, Terracom offers help for the hearing, vision and speech-impaired customers. For details go to the Terms & Conditions page found on the website and page down to find “Handset Hearing Aid Compatibility (HAC).” Maybe not as great a detail as TruConnect, but great detail nonetheless. It also lists devices available and discusses M-ratings, T-ratings, and different levels of compatibility that will surely be of interest to customers who need these handsets.
True Wireless
Yes, it’s true. TruConnect is a five state provider that serves Arkansas, Maryland, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and Texas. It spells out its TDD/TTY policy on a page devoted to “Hearing Compatible Phones.”
True Wireless can provide customers who wear hearing aids with a HAC device upon request during the sign up period at no extra charge. New customers have a 30 day warranty on phones and may exchange the phone for a HAC phone by calling 877-412-1919 or by visiting an authorized retail location during that time. Existing customers who wish to replace their phone with a HAC phone may either call 877-412-1919 or visit an authorized retail location to request an HAC phone replacement. Replacement costs will vary depending on phone choice.
In addition to that, the company’s website shows a remarkably long list of HAC phones.
Tag Mobile
Tag offers free government cell phones to customers in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
The company’s TDD/TTY policy can be found on its website’s FAQ page:
Is the basic phone included with the Lifeline Program, Hearing Aid Compatible?
Yes, the basic phone provided under Lifeline Program is Hearing Aid Compatible.
Unfortunately, that is the only information we can find regarding devices for hearing, speech or vision-impaired customers on the Tag Mobile website.
StandUp Wireless
StandUp is a free government cell phone provider in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin. The company’s TDD/TTY policy can be found under “Terms & Conditions” on its website.
18. HEARING, VISUAL OR SPEECH IMPAIRED ACCOMMODATIONS
Any hearing, visual or speech impaired persons interested in applying for a specially equipped StandUP must call StandUP at 1-800-544-4441 or 611 from your StandUP phone and specify the need(s) to an agent and StandUP will make every effort to assist such customer in obtaining a handset that is in compliance with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations.
In summary
Great news! Although free government cell phone companies are not legally obligated to offer any assistance to their hearing, speech or vision-impaired customers, it appears that every one of them does — to one extent or another.
We’d love to hear from our hearing, speech or vision-impaired customers. Tell us about your experiences doing business with your Lifeline Assistance company. Were they helpful? Did they give you the help you needed? Did they give you the equipment you needed? Tell us who gets a gold star and who doesn’t.
A lot of other potential customers need to know.