Cellular One Lifeline/ACP Plans

As a participant in the federal Lifeline and Affordable Connectivity programs, Cellular One offers free smartphones along with free service to eligible individuals. Currently, Cellular One’s Lifeline services are available in the states of Arizona, CellularOne New Mexico and Utah. If you’re a resident of states other than the ones mentioned, click on the “States Listing” link in the above menu to find free service providers in your state.

Cellular One Lifeline Plans

Cellular One offers two Lifeline free government phone plans. They offer the Free4Life plan for eligible residents living on tribal lands. For qualified individuals who do not live on tribal lands, Cellular One offers the FreedomFone plan. Let’s talk a little about what each plan offers.

Free4Life Plan (Tribal Lands)

With the Free4Life plan, you get unlimited Facebook, 5GB of LTE data per month, unlimited texting and unlimited talk time. Keep in mind, however, that the unlimited talk and texting does not include 900 numbers and international numbers. If you wish to make international calls you must pay for them in advance. To pay for international calls you can do from your phone by pressing *123 (follow the necessary prompts) or call 866-631-3886. You can also pay for international calls by visiting the Cellular One website.

With the Lifeline plan, you cannot roll over your unused data. Either you use it or lose it.

FreedomFone Plan

The FreedomFone plan differs from the Free4Life plan. With FreedomFone, eligible individuals receive a free Smartphone along with 1,100 talk minutes, 1,100 texts (note: Cellular One limits texts to 160 characters each text). In addition to the airtime and texting, the FreedomFone plan gives 5GB of data each month.

As with the Free4Life plan, there’s no international calling, 900 numbers are blocked and you cannot carry over unused data. This plan is only available to Arizona and new Mexico residents.

Adding Additional Talk/Text/Data

If the allotted airtime/text or data isn’t enough, you can always purchase additional time/data. Additional data costs anywhere from an additional $10 per month for 1GB of data up to $60 per month for unlimited data. Additional talk/text time can cost anywhere from $.20/minute up to $.35/minute.

Visit the Cellular One data Bundles page for details on the data pricing and the recharge-prepaid page for talk/text pricing. Since pricing is subject to change, it's best to visit the Cellular One site for up-to-date pricing.

Cellular One Affordable Connectivity Plan

The Cellular one ACP plan offers free unlimited shareable data plus unlimited talk and text. I’m not quite sure what “shareable data” is, but if you opt for this plan, please discuss it with the Customer Service Representative so you’ll know what you’re getting.

Keep in mind that the Affordable Connectivity Program provides discounts of up to $30 per month towards internet service and up to $75 per month if you live on qualifying Tribal Lands. With the ACP, you can choose any Cellular one plan and have the discount applied.

How to Qualify for Cellular One Lifeline

To qualify for the Lifeline program, your household income must be at or below 135% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (200% or below to qualify for ACP), or participate in one of the following government assistance programs:

Federal Public Housing Assistance (FPHA)
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as Food Stamps
Medicaid
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Veterans Pension and Survivors Benefit

Tribal Programs (and live on federally-recognized Tribal lands):

Any of the federal assistance programs listed above
Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance
Head Start (only households meeting the income qualifying standard)
Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (Tribal TANF)
Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations

You must provide proof of program participation. You also must have proper ID to prove you are who you say you are. ID in the form of government-issued identification such as a passport, driver’s license or even military ID. You must prove you are alive. Below is an example of acceptable documents:

How to Apply for Free Phone and Service

To receive the Lifeline/ACP benefits, you must apply through the National Verifier. The approval usually takes about 30 minutes as long as you have the proper documentation.

Once your application is approved, you can tnen visit CellularOne online or go to one of their retail locations to apply for service.

Lifeline Tips to Know

Only one Lifeline phone plan is permitted per household

If your phone is lost or stolen, notify Cellular One immediately so they can suspend service.

Monthly airtime and data are replenished each month based on your activation date. For example, if your service was activated on the 2nd of the month, expect your airtime and data to replenish on the second of every month. Press *123 to check your balances.

You must use your phone service at least once every 30 days or run the risk of losing your Lifeline benefits.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: This site was created to help people find information about free government phones. The ower of this site does not mail, activate or repair free government phones nor provide phone service. If you have questions about phone service it is suggested that you contact the phone service provider directly.

Last Modified: 17 January 2023