Walmart Family Mobile is a telecommunication company that operates in the US. It is among the mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) because it does not own cell phone towers but partners with T-Mobile to provide network coverage. That means the carrier is best for people living in areas with strong T-Mobile’s network coverage. You can get various services from the company, including calling, texting, and data connectivity. The company also has a service by the name Walmart Family Mobile EBB.
The Walmart Family Mobile EBB is part of the more significant EBB, i.e., the Emergency Broadband Benefit by the Federal Communications Commission that aims to assist the people severely affected by Covid ’19 to access cheap communication plans. When the Covid’19 disease hit the world, thousands of people were left jobless, and life became hard. World governments came up with ways to cushion their people from challenging economic times. The EBB program is one of the initiatives by the US government to help people to stay connected to friends and relatives.
To effectively implement the program, the concerned government agencies partnered with various telecommunication companies to offer the services to the target population. Walmart’s Family Mobile is one of the companies offering the service, and that is why we have Family Mobile EBB. Other companies participating in the program include AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Straight Talk, etc. I will discuss the program in detail to understand it correctly, including how you can qualify and so on.
What is the EBB?
The Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) is a government initiative to help American citizens hit by Covid’19 to the extent of losing their jobs due to layoffs and company closures to access cheap communication plans. Mainly, the program helps families and households who cannot afford internet connectivity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The eligible households also get connections to jobs, virtual classrooms, critical healthcare services, and so much more. Eligible households get a discount of up to $50 every month for broadband service. Households on qualifying Tribal lands get $75 per month. Eligible households can as well receive a one-time discount of up to $100 to buy a desktop computer, laptop, or tablet from participating service providers. The program is sometimes called the EBB free tablet program since you can use the discount to purchase a low-cost tablet from your service provider.
If you opt to use Family Mobile as your service provider, you can buy any of the various tablets or computers. You must contribute more than $10 and less than $50 for the purchase price to get the discount.
How to join Family Mobile?
You can join the service provider online by visiting the Family Mobile and entering the necessary details. You can bring your phone or get any Family Mobile compatible phones and enjoy no-contract services from a reputable company. If you are not sure if your smartphone is compatible with Family Mobile, you can text BYOP to 611611. Alternatively, you follow this link to answer a series of questions to determine if your phone is compatible. The phone should be unlocked and compatible with T-Mobile. That means it should be a GSM device.
If you don’t own a compatible smartphone, you can shop one from Walmart online or a physical branch. The company has various smartphone brands that can benefit you, ranging from iPhones, Samsung, LG, Nokia, Tesla, and many more.
Once you finish creating your account, you can log in to your new account and access your profile information, set up Auto Pay, upgrade your service, and much more with My Family Mobile.
Also, you can link your Family Mobile to your Facebook accounts by first logging into your online account. You can select various plans such as the Walmart Family Mobile $74.76 Truly Unlimited 2-line Plan, which comes with a 30GB of Mobile Hotspot per line.
How does the Walmart Family Mobile EBB work?
The operation of the service does not differ very much from the EBB services offered by other companies in the country. The offers also vary from one area to the other. Once you meet the qualifications, you could apply online and wait for confirmation from the service provider.
Walmart and AT&T partnered to offer the EBB program benefits whereby beneficiaries can see the plans and find eligible plans on Walmart and in more than 2,300 Walmart stores nationwide.
How do I apply for the Walmart Family Mobile EBB?
Reliable sources show that the program ended and was replaced by the Affordable Connectivity Program that started on December 31, 2021. Therefore, you cannot apply for the Emergency Broadband Benefit program right now. To apply for Emergency Broadband Benefit program, you had to meet the qualifications below.
- Qualify for Lifeline, Medicaid, SNAP, FPHA, SSI, the Veterans and Survivors Pension Benefit, or particular tribal programs
- Have an income at or lower than 135% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines
- Be part of the School Breakfast Program (SBP), National School Lunch Program (NSLP), or the USDA Community Eligibility Provision (2019–2020 school year)
- Received a Federal Pell Grant within the current award year
- Have suffered a realistic loss of income since February 29, 2020, leading to a total 2020 income below $99,000 for single filers or $198,000 for joint filers
- Qualify for a participating internet provider’s existing low-income or COVID-19 program
You had to complete the EBB enrollment with AT&T PREPAID or Cricket Wireless to apply for the benefit. After meeting the above criteria, you could apply and then start enjoying the services.
What is the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)?
The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) succeeded the EBB program and provided a $30 discount per month towards household’s internet bill to the eligible households. The amount on Tribal land or high-cost areas can support up to $75 per month. The program’s qualifications are almost similar to those of the EBB program. You can qualify if at least one person in your household meets the criteria below.
- Qualifies for the Lifeline
- Benefits from the School Breakfast Program (SBP) or National School Lunch Program (NSLP)
- Received a Pell Grant in the current year
- Is eligible for particular providers’ low-income programs
- Receives aid through SNAP or WIC
If you look closely through the ACP and the EBB program, you realize slight differences. With the ACP, monthly benefits have been reduced a little bit. Also, some of the qualifications have changed. Families now qualify for the ACP without considering the substantial loss of income in 2020. Furthermore, the qualification by income has now risen from 135% to 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines. It makes it easy for more households to qualify for the aid program than before.
What Happens to the Lifeline beneficiaries after the end of the EBB program?
People on the lifeline program were eligible to apply for the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB). After the end of the program, the beneficiaries were to continue enjoying their lifeline benefits until they became ineligible. That means they are still enjoying the services. Lifeline was one of the vital qualification requirements when applying for EBB aid service.
The new affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) also accepts lifelines as one of the qualification requirements. I also mentioned that the poverty guideline qualification was increased from 135% to 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines.
What Family Mobile plans can I get from the carrier?
There are various Walmart phone plans that you can benefit from the company. Walmart offers no-contract plans with unlimited talk and text and data suitable for various speeds. The plans have been updated, and customers will get 500MB more of the data. They include the following.
- Unlimited Talk, Text, and Data with up to 1GB of 4G LTE data (up from 500MB) at $29.88/month.
- Unlimited Talk, Text, and Data with up to 3GB of 4G LTE data (up from 2.5GB) at $39.88/month.
These plans do not have restrictions, such as forcing customers to sign up for auto-pay and other ridiculous hoops. If you sign up for multiple lines, you can save $5 off each additional line you purchase. However, the updated plans are valid until Saturday, April 18. The current plans include the following.
- $24.88/month: Unlimited talk, text & 2GB of 4G LTE data, then 2G
- $29.88/month: Unlimited talk, text & 4GB of 4G LTE data, then 2G
- $39.88/month: Unlimited talk, text & 14GB of 4G LTE data, then 2G
- $49.88/month: Unlimited talk, text & 4G LTE data, plus 10GB of mobile hotspot
Why should you choose Walmart Family Mobile?
We have several reasons why you can choose the service provider. They include the following.
Reliable customer care.
- Fast internet connectivity for video streaming and other data connectivity needs.
- Broad coverage
- Amazing mobile hotspot
- Affordable phone plans
Bottom line
Walmart Family Mobile is a telecommunication company in the US. It partners with T-Mobile to provide network coverage, and thus it is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) because it does not own any cell phone towers.
The Walmart Family Mobile participated in the recently concluded EBB program whereby it partnered with AT&T to offer its communication services. Apart from the EBB plan, Family Mobile also offers other plans to its users.
