A lot. Over eleven million as of end of 2016.
Again this year, we conduct a comprehensive analysis of the latest USAC numbers to come up with the an accurate look at the who’s who and what’s what in the Lifeline Assistance industry. These are numbers that even the government can’t give you about the free government cell phone industry.
It’s our hope that low-income Americans, those who qualify for the free government cell phone program, can use these numbers to help determine which company is right for them.
A note on our methodology: The “Disbursements” column in the chart (below) represents the total disbursements from Lifeline to individual service providers in calendar year 2015 (source USAC.org). To calculate the next column, “Average Number of Subscribers,” we divided “Total Disbursements” by 12 months and then again by $9.25 (the average monthly Lifeline payment per account) except in Oklahoma (where the average monthly Lifeline subsidy was $34.25).
Putting together a list like this isn’t easy — it takes a lot of digging, a lot of calculating, and a lot of patience — but we compiled this comprehensive look at who’s who in the business. A detailed compilation of the leading companies, how much they made and how many customers they have.
This list is intended to help those Lifeline customers who feel uncomfortable dealing with smaller Lifeline Assistance companies. If you’d rather deal with a larger company, this is the information you need to separate the men from the boys. (Oh, please pardon that sexist reference. Perhaps we should have said, “This is the information you need to separate the milk from the cream” or “This is the information you need to separate the leaders from the followers.”)