Company type | Division |
---|---|
Industry |
|
Founded | 2011 |
Founder | Issa Asad |
Fate | Qlink Wireless was acquired by StandUp Wireless |
Successor | StandUp Wireless |
Headquarters |
|
Area served | United States |
Key people | Issa Asad |
Website | qlinkwireless |
Q Link Wireless was an American telecommunications company based in Dania, Florida that provides free wireless services to Lifeline eligible consumers. The company also offers prepaid mobile phone services including wireless voice, messaging, and data services under the Hello Mobile brand. [1]
Q Link Wireless is one of multiple companies owned and operated under Quadrant Holdings, and was founded in 2011 by its CEO, Issa Asad. [2]
The company is now owned by StandUp Wireless in 2024 Qlink wireless no longer offers lifeline services as of 2024
Q Link Wireless provides service for low-income-eligible individuals, funded through the Universal Service Fund. [3] The company also offers general phone plans. [4]
Q Link Wireless offers free or discounted service to eligible Americans who are currently enrolled in a government benefit program or meet certain low-income requirements for their state. Government benefit programs that meet qualifications are standard and set by FCC. but commonly include Food Stamps (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), Medicaid, and Supplemental Security Income. [5]
On June 9, 2021, the company's Florida headquarters was raided by the United States Postal Inspection Service in connection to an undisclosed ongoing investigation. [6] On October 15, 2024, the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Florida announced that Issa Assad and Q Link Wireless LLC had pleaded guilty to “conspiring to defraud and commit offenses (…) in connection with a years-long scheme to steal over $100 million” from the Lifeline federal program. [7]
Fido Solutions Inc. is a Canadian mobile network operator owned by Rogers Communications. Since its acquisition by Rogers in 2004, it has operated as a Mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) using the Rogers Wireless network.
Virgin Mobile USA was a no-contract Mobile Virtual Network Operator. It used Sprint's network for coverage. It licensed the Virgin Mobile brand from United Kingdom-based Virgin Group. Virgin Mobile USA was headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, and provided service to approximately 6 million customers.
TracFone Wireless, Inc. (TFWI) is an American wireless prepaid service provider. It is a mobile virtual network operator offering prepaid and no-contract services on the Verizon network under multiple brands, including TracFone, Straight Talk Wireless, Total Wireless, Simple Mobile, SafeLink Wireless, Page Plus Cellular, Net10 Wireless, GoSmart Mobile, and Walmart Family Mobile.
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Alltel was a landline, wireless and general telecommunications services provider, primarily based in the United States. Before its wireless division was acquired by Verizon Wireless and AT&T, Alltel provided cellular service to 34 states and had approximately 13 million subscribers. As a regulatory condition of the acquisition by Verizon, a small portion of Alltel was spun off and continued to operate under the same name in six states, mostly in rural areas. Following the merger, Alltel remained the ninth largest wireless telecommunications company in the United States, with approximately 800,000 customers. On January 22, 2013, AT&T announced they were acquiring what remained of Alltel from Atlantic Tele-Network for $780 million in cash.
Q-Telecom was the fourth mobile telephony provider in Greece. It began operation in June 2002. As of 2008, it called itself "Q" and called its services "MyQ." The company provided GSM phone service, supported by LMDS and backbone networks, and called itself the only complete and integrated telecom provider in Greece. In May 2007, it merged with WIND Hellas, which was known at the time as TIM Hellas.
Sprint Corporation was an American telecommunications company. Before being acquired by T-Mobile US on April 1, 2020, it was the fourth-largest mobile network operator in the United States, serving 54.3 million customers as of June 30, 2019. The company also offered wireless voice, messaging, and broadband services through its various subsidiaries under the Boost Mobile and Open Mobile brands and wholesale access to its wireless networks to mobile virtual network operators.
The Universal Service Fund (USF) is a system of telecommunications subsidies and fees managed by the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to promote universal access to telecommunications services in the United States. The FCC established the fund in 1997 in compliance with the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Originally designed to subsidize telephone service, since 2011 the fund has expanded its goals to supporting broadband universal service. The Universal Service Fund's budget ranges from $5–8 billion per year depending on the needs of the telecommunications providers. These needs include the cost to maintain the hardware needed for their services and the services themselves. In 2022 disbursements totaled $7.4 billion, split across the USF's four main programs: $2.1 billion for the E-rate program, $4.2 billion for the high-cost program, $0.6 billion for the Lifeline program, and $0.5 billion for the rural health care program.
The Florida Public Service Commission (FPSC) regulates investor-owned electric, natural gas, and water and wastewater utilities. The FPSC facilitates competitive markets in the telecommunications industry, has authority over intercarrier disputes, and oversees pay telephones, the federal Lifeline Assistance Program and Telecommunications Relay Service.
Kroger Wireless LLC is an American mobile virtual network operator providing domestic telecommunications services via the T-Mobile Network. The brand was launched as i-wireless, a Kroger Co. It was trialed in 130 Kroger stores in 2006, before being rolled out by mid-2008 to over 2,200 locations, including banner stores such as Dillons, Ralphs, Fred Meyer, and Fry's Food and Drug. Unique among US wireless operators, i-wireless created a loyalty offer allowing customers the ability to earn Wireless Rewards on select plans when using their shopper's loyalty card on in-store qualifying purchases. In May 2019, the company announced the name of its prepaid product brand changing from "i-wireless, a Kroger Co." to "Kroger Wireless."
Digital Telecommunications Phils., Inc., commonly known as Digitel, was the second-largest fixed-line and the third-largest mobile telecommunications company in the Philippines. It was also the company that owned Sun Cellular, a mobile phone service.
The history of the prepaid mobile phones began in the 1990s when mobile phone operators sought to expand their market reach. Up until this point, mobile phone services were exclusively offered on a postpaid basis (contract-based), which excluded individuals with poor credit ratings and minors under the age of 18 In early 1991, Kenneth Johnson of Queens, New York along with Mark Feldman, Pedro Diaz and Kevin Lambright of Alicomm Mobile, was the first to successfully create a prepaid cellular phone and Network. His company expanded to a Sales force from Maine to Florida. Two years later others would come out with similar systems.
Assurance Wireless USA, L.P. is a telephone service subsidized by the federal Lifeline Assistance program, a government benefit program supported by the federal Universal Service Fund. The service provides to low-income eligible people a free phone, free monthly data, unlimited texting, and free monthly minutes. Assurance Wireless users do not receive a bill, are not required to sign a contract, and do not pay activation fees or recurring fees. Founded in 2009, Assurance Wireless has used the T-Mobile network for coverage since 2020.
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ABS-CBN Mobile was a cellular telephony service provider in the Philippines owned and operated by ABS-CBN Convergence, a subsidiary of ABS-CBN. ABS-CBNmobile formerly uses the network infrastructures of Globe Telecom under a network-sharing agreement which allows ABS-CBN and Globe to share frequencies, switches, servers, and transmitters. ABS-CBNmobile formerly offers prepaid and postpaid SMS, voice, data, wireless landline connection, and access to premium and exclusive contents of iWant TV.
TAG Mobile is an American wireless telecommunications provider based in Houston, Texas. It is an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier (ETC) that provides free wireless services to eligible Lifeline consumers across 19 states. The TAG Mobile Lifeline Program provides cell phones to those in the low-income category and also individuals on government assistance programs in the US.
Lifeline is the Federal Communications Commission's program, established in 1985, intended to make communications services more affordable for low-income consumers. Lifeline provides subscribers a discount on monthly telephone service purchased from participating providers in the marketplace. Subscribers can also purchase discounted broadband internet from participating providers. The Lifeline program is funded by telephone fees as part of the Universal Service Fund.
Visible Service LLC, doing business as Visible by Verizon, and known simply as Visible, is an American all-digital prepaid mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) and brand wholly-owned by Verizon. Launched in 2018, the carrier offers services on the Verizon network, with all services delivered via e-commerce and mobile apps using generative artificial intelligence, and no brick and mortar retail presence. Visible competes against T-Mobile's Metro by T-Mobile, AT&T's Cricket Wireless, and EchoStar's Boost Mobile in the major carrier prepaid segment.
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