Assurance Wireless today announced that its service is now available to Californians for the first time, but it is only being marketed in the San Francisco metropolitan area. According to Assurance, it is using San Francisco as a test market to get the service up and running, mainly because the process for qualifying citizens for the program in California is dramatically different than what it is in other states. Though Assurance’s marketing efforts will be limited to the San Francisco metropolitan area, the company said it will process applications submitted from residents in other parts of the state.
Assurance Wireless provides a free cell phone and 250 monthly voice minutes to low-income families. Assurance also offers low-cost plans. For $5 per month, Assurance customers can double their monthly minutes to 500, and for $20, increase voice minutes to 1000 and add in 1000 text messages.Customers will still have access to their 250 free minutes even if they can’t pay for the extra minutes. Assurance also offers pay-by-use voice minutes, text/email messages and international calling.
California marks the 39th state in which Assurance now operates. Assurance is run by Virgin Mobile USA and Sprint.
