Published: October 28, 2010
Assurance Wireless to Aid Mississippi Residents Facing Economic Hardship with Free Cell Phone and Wireless Service
WARREN, N.J. - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Today, Assurance
Wireless, a cell phone service from Virgin Mobile that provides a
free wireless phone and 250 free minutes of wireless voice service
monthly to eligible customers, launches in Mississippi.
The U.S. Census Bureau recently reported1 that the percentage
of Americans living in poverty increased by 14.3 percent in 2009 -- the
highest rate of poverty in 15 years. An additional 4 million Americans
found themselves in poverty in 2009, bringing the total to 44 million.
More than 129,000 Mississippi residents are currently without a job and
more than 21.9 percent are living below the federal poverty line.
Assurance Wireless gives eligible customers the ability to provide a
contact number and return calls to a prospective employer, which,
studies show, can improve the chances of securing employment as well as
provide a simple way to stay connected to family in case of emergencies.
"With unemployment in Mississippi at 10 percent, people need to be
connected if for no other reason than to be able to apply for and obtain
a new job," said Grace Boehm, director for Assurance Wireless. "Studies
have shown that nearly a third of those working say their cell phone has
helped them make money, get new work or new customers."
According to a recent nationwide survey from Assurance Wireless*, adults
with an income of less than $25,000 are as likely to use their mobile
phone for employment searches as those with higher incomes.
"I am very happy to have a phone from Assurance Wireless," stated Lydia
A., a 54-year-old Assurance Wireless customer from New York. "I mostly
use it in case of emergencies and to stay in contact with my
family. This is a good program in today's economy."
Assurance Wireless has also introduced more choices to give its
customers the opportunity to pay to add voice minutes and text messaging
to their free wireless service. The core offer remains the same: 250
minutes of free talk time, a free phone with the ability to buy
additional minutes or texts at 10 cents each. The $5 Talk offer
increases the amount of minutes available each month to 500; the $20
Talk & Text offer increases the minutes to 1,000 and adds 1,000 text
messages. The new offers include a Service Protector feature which
ensures that the basic 250 free minutes are guaranteed each month a
customer is eligible, even if a customer cannot pay the additional
dollars during a particular month. These new offers are available to all
Assurance Wireless subscribers.
In addition to free voice mail2 and call waiting, Assurance
Wireless provides caller ID and access to 911 in case of emergency.
Beyond the free 200 voice minutes, customers can pay for additional
10-cent-per-minute domestic calling, 10-cent text, e-mail or instant
messages, international calling at competitive rates, and more.3
Customers eligible for Assurance Wireless include those who participate
in Medicaid, Food Stamps/SNAP, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
(TANF), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Federal Public Housing
Assistance (Section 8), Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program
(LIHEAP), or National School Lunch Program's Free Lunch Program.
Customers may also qualify based on low household income.
Eligible residents can apply for Assurance Wireless by calling
(toll-free) 800-395-2171, or visiting www.assurancewireless.com.
Assurance Wireless is currently also available in West Virginia,
Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North
Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline
communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers,
businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 48.1
million customers at the end of the second quarter of 2010 and is widely
recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative
technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national
carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data
services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost
Mobile, Common Cents Mobile and Assurance Wireless; instant national and
international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet
backbone. With its customer-focused strategy, you can learn more and
visit Sprint at www.sprint.com
or www.facebook.com/sprint
and www.twitter.com/sprint.
About Assurance Wireless
Assurance Wireless, one of Sprint's
prepaid brands, is supported by the Lifeline Assistance program, part of
the Low Income Program of the federal Universal Service Fund (USF),
which is administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company
(USAC), and designed to ensure that quality telecommunications services
are available to low-income customers at reasonable and affordable
rates. Assurance Wireless uses the Nationwide Sprint Network, which
reaches more than 275 million people.
To learn more about Assurance Wireless, including eligibility
requirements, please call (toll-free) 800-395-2171 or visit www.assurancewireless.com.
Information is available in English and Spanish.
Please follow Assurance news on Twitter www.twitter.com/assurancecell,
YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/assurancewireless,
or Facebook www.facebook.com/assurancecell.
Note: sources for all information and statistics are available
upon request
*PKS Research Partners was commissioned by Sprint/Nextel (Assurance
Wireless) to conduct a research project among a nationally
representative sample of U.S. adults 25 years or older in order to
determine their attitudes toward and usage of mobile phones.
1 http://www.census.gov/prod/2010pubs/p60-238.pdf
2 Airtime charges apply when accessing voice mail via an
Assurance Wireless phone once free minutes have been depleted.
3 When purchasing additional minutes or features, standard
taxes and surcharges will apply.
Assurance Wireless
Jack Pflanz, 315-374-0693
Jack.Pflanz@Sprint.com
or
Leilani
Geller, 646-428-0605
Assurance@allisonpr.com
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