Excess Telecom Disccounted ACP Plans

Excess Telecom is authorized to do business in all 50 states and offers free mobile broadband and a discounted device to eligible low-income individuals/families. They can make such an offer because they participate in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). The government-funded Affordable Connectivity Program attempts to close the gap between the technological haves and have-nots by making it easier for families to afford internet access.

The ACP gives discounts of $30 per month to help defray the cost of internet services. For those individuals/families living on qualified Tribal lands, the discount increases to $75 per month. The cost of the plans listed takes the $30 discount into consideration.

Excess Telecom Prepaid Phone Plans

Below is a listing of Excess Telecom’s plans. The price of each plan includes the $30 discount. In other words, if you are not enrolled in ACP, add $30 to the prices listed below:

Free Plan

Data: 15 GB
Cost: $0

Prepaid Advantage

Data: 25 GB
Cost: $12/year

Prepaid Deluxe

Data: 31 GB
Cost: $60/year

Prepaid Premium

60GB data
Cost $420/year
New Tablet every 6 months (for tablet users only)

All of the plans listed above include unlimited minutes and unlimited texts. If you need additional data, you can purchase it as follows:

Data Add-Ons

1GB - $5
3 GB $10
7 GB $20
15 GB $30

In addition to the plans listed above, new Excess Telecom ACP enrollees can take advantage of the one-time discount of up to $100 to purchase a tablet.

An aside: This is totally unrelated to free government phones or ACP benefits. However, if you navigate the Excess Telecom website on a device with the sound turned on, you will hear a chime every time you view a different page on their site. The chime is unnecessary, and this writer found it to be annoying.

Qualifying for the Affordable Connectivity Program

To enroll in the ACP program and enjoy the discounts, you must satisfy at least one of the following:

Have a household income of 200% or below the Federal Poverty Guidelines

You or someone in your household receives benefits from one of the following:

Federal Public Housing Assistance or Section 8
Calfresh, Food Stamps, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
Medicaid/Medi-Cal
Healthy Families Category A
Lifeline
Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Women, Infants and Children Program (WIC)
Veterans & Survivor Benefits
Greater Avenues for Independence (GAIN)
Federal Pell Grant Recipient in the current award year
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), also called:

California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs)
Stanislaus County Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (StanWORKs)
Welfare-to-Work (WTW)

Additional benefits for individuals/families living on qualified Tribal lands:

Tribal TANF
Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance
Head Start Income Eligible (Tribal Only)
Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations

How to Enroll in ACP

After confirming eligibility, it’s time to enroll in the program. If you live in states other than California, Oregon, or Texas, visit the National Verifier website to apply for ACP benefits. If you live in one of the opt-out states of California, Oregon, or Texas, you are not subject to the National Verifier. Instead, click on the above link for your state and follow the directions outlined by the state’s governing authority.

Residents in all other states should gather the necessary documents before applying with the National Verifier. Below is a list of some of the documents you will need:

Documentation proving you are eligible for the program. If you qualify based on income, you’ll need documents like tax returns, current pay stubs, or household income worksheets. Please provide the number of individuals in the household also.

If you qualify based on one of the above programs, have a copy of the awards or benefits letter.

Proof of identity: For that, you’ll need a government-issued ID. It could be a driver’s license, passport, or even military ID.

Proof of life: See acceptable proof of life documents below:

Having the necessary documentation makes for a smooth application process. It should only take about a half hour to get approved. Sometimes it takes longer depending on the volume of applicants or document verification.

Once approved, you’ll get an ACP identification number. With that number, you can apply for discounted service from Excess Telecom.

Things to Know

You must use the service at least once every 30 days. Failure to do so will cause you to lose your ACP benefits.

You must recertify your eligibility annually.

Only one Lifeline/ACP benefit per household

If you are hearing imparied, you can take advantage of the free government service called Clear Captions

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: 8 April 2023