How many people have an Obama phone?

Answer 1

First, this is a very old myth. There is no such thing as an "Obama phone," even if you heard that term on a talk show or have seen claims about it online. It is also a myth that "welfare recipients" are getting free phones from President Obama. The facts are these: in 1984 (under President Reagan, in fact), the Federal Communications Commission came up with a plan for low-cost phone service for people living in poverty, especially people who were ill and needed land-line phone service but couldn't afford it. These phones were originally called "Lifeline" phones. Today, in our cell-phone era, a number of private companies offer them, with the same reduced-price or low cost service agreement.

The expansion to give more of these phones to the poor happened during Bill Clinton's presidency in 1996. They are not entirely free, and they are not just for welfare recipients. Some sites have tried to attach President Obama's name to this program, but he did not start it and he has nothing to do with implementing it. The program is run by private companies and paid for with a fee assessed to telecommunications service providers, some of whom do pass the fee on to their customers.