Groups: Over 2 Million Low-Income California Residents Could Benefit From Free Wireless...

Groups: Over 2 Million Low-Income California Residents Could Benefit From Free
Wireless Phone Service Program Now Being Blocked By State

Consumer, Latino and Disabled Groups Urge CA PUC to OK Federal Program Already
in Place in More than 15 Other States; Federal Funding Available for Program
Requiring No New Taxes or Spending by State.

SACRAMENTO, Calif., June 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- California should stop
dragging its feet and allow free wireless telephone service to be extended
under an existing federal program to as many as 2.4 million qualifying
low-income households, according to leading consumer, Hispanic and disability
groups in the state. Consumers First, the League of United Latin American
Citizens (LULAC) and World Institute on Disability called for the state's
action today in a joint news conference.

The groups pointed out that the full use of the federal Lifeline program
providing universal telecommunications access in California would not require
additional spending or taxes at the state level.

Even though California prides itself on being on the cutting edge of consumer
and technological advances, the state is trailing far behind more than 15
states across the nation that already offer wireless phone service to the
poor. Wireless Lifeline services are already available in Alabama,
Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Georgia,
Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina,
Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin. A number of
other states - including Arizona, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Texas
and Washington state - are in the process of getting wireless Lifeline
service.

Jim Conran, president, Consumers First, Orinda, CA, said: "If you look at the
federal law and regulation on this, you will see that hundreds of thousands of
California residents would qualify for free wireless services under Lifeline.
For these people, it means jobs, the potential for other economic
opportunities, and helping to keep families together. Frankly, we do not
understand why the PUC would continue to stand in the way of any company that
wants to provide free wireless service to the poorest California residents and
to do so without taking a single dime from the state's own Universal Service
Fund."

In making the case for California to permit wireless Lifeline for the poor,
Consumers First, LULAC and WID also noted:

-- Wireless telephones have been embraced by more than 270 million
American
consumers, including many millions in California. Cell phone industry
research indicates that nearly 20 percent of Americans have "cut
the cord," choosing to replace their landline telephones with
wireless devices for all their calling needs.

-- Low-income consumers often do not remain in one residential location
for
extended periods of time. Due to eviction, homelessness, or the need
to
change residency to find employment, frequent relocation is an
all-too-often fact of life for low-income consumers. Wireless devices
can relieve such consumers of the need to frequently have their
Lifeline
phones service reconnected after each move.

-- Low-income consumers frequently do not have sufficient credit
histories
to qualify for traditional residential landline phone service should
their personal financial situation improve to such an extent that they
no longer qualify for the state's Lifeline program. Such wireless
consumers can easily maintain uninterrupted service with wireless
providers as they transition out of the Lifeline program.

-- Wireless phones can mean major increases in the household incomes of
low-income state residents. A March 2008 study MIT researcher
Nicholas
Sullivan found that: "For households in the bottom two quintiles
making $35,000 or less, the mean reported earning was $530. This
translates to income gains of $4.5 billion, and suggests that - if the
38% of these 45.2 million low-income, bottom quintile households that
do
not now have cell phones were to start using them, and earn money at
the
same rate as those households that do own cell phones -- it would add
$2.9 billion to (U.S.) household incomes."

-- Wireless phones are particularly important to workers who are
maintaining multiple jobs to try and make ends meet. Low-income
consumers who already have jobs are rarely at their place of residence
and are often unable to take advantage of even the limited benefits of
fixed residential Lifeline phone service.

Kathy Martinez, executive director, World Institute on Disability, Oakland,
CA, said: "Even in the best of times more than 60 percent of people with
disabilities live in poverty. And these are individuals who are most
vulnerable to the urgent economic conditions now faced in California and the
nation. The use of wireless is an extraordinary innovation in the design and
implementation of Lifeline services. Such innovation in any case needs to be
encouraged, not delayed, but especially so in these horrible economic
conditions. A free wireless telephone would make an enormous difference in
the lives of a very large number of low-income Californians, including those
with disabilities."

Angel Luevano, national vice president, Far West Region, LULAC, Antioch, CA,
said: "Access to telecommunications services is a fundamental necessity in
today's society and equally important to the Latino community. Access to
modern technologies that allow people to seek out job opportunities and stay
safe during emergencies is a right every American deserves. Because of this
LULAC has been a supporter and advocate for the universal service fund and the
Lifeline program. We also recognize the role that prepaid and other wireless
cell phones play for Latinos. The California public utility commission must
act quickly to approve this program and deliver to Californians the benefits
of advanced telecommunications."

EDITOR'S NOTE: A streaming audio replay of the news event will be available
on the Web at http://216.250.243.12/CaLifeline/ as of 6 p.m. PDT on June 24,
2009.

SOURCE World Institute on Disability, Oakland, CA., League of United Latin
American Citizens (LULAC) in California, Antioch, CA; Consumers First, Orinda,
CA

Ailis Aaron Wolf, +1-703-276-3265, aawolf@hastingsgroup.com, for Consumers
First