Wireless Riches from Serving the Poor

摘要

While there's no free lunch, Evan Mensch recently discovered that there are free cell phones. After losing his sales job, the 37-year-old single father of two from Perry, Md., couldn't afford to continue his regular wireless contract. After learning of the federal program that provides wireless service to the oft-unemployed poor, Mensch signed up for a free Kyocera cell phone with 250 free minutes of calling a month through Assurance Wireless, a brand run by Sprint Nextel. "Because of Assurance, I was able to get a call back from an employer," says Mensch, who received a job offer in November after nearly two years without a job.