Verizon's billion bid for TracFone could hurt low-income customers, critics say [telecom]

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By Margaret Harding McGill

Verizon's $6.2 billion bid to buy wireless company TracFone has raised concerns that the deal could cut off access to affordable mobile phone service.

The big picture: The deal has flown under the radar, but TracFone is one of the nation's largest providers of subsidized cell phone service for low income people, an especially important program during the coronavirus pandemic - and one that Verizon hasn't traditionally focused on.