Chafetz is a complete idiot, but he's right on this point.
I've met many people making low incomes bitching about how they couldn't afford the already heavily subsidized premiums that would run them $30-50/month, while typing away on smartphone that's 50% of their monthly after tax earnings.
Americans could collectively shave TENS OF BILLIONS of dollars on their phone needs every year. AT&T and Verizon alone have 200m+ subscribers combined. Do the math. The amount of money wasted yapping on shit portable computers is unbelievable.
Regarding Chaffetz, even a stopped clock is right twice a day. Unfortunately smart phones are among the luxuries marketed aggressively to lower-income people, to the point where they are so ubiquitous people in the communities that have adopted them regard them, and the expenses that go along with them, as a necessity.
Smart phones are in the same category as professional manicures and eyebrow treatments, ostentatious hubcap decorations, overpriced mall boutique underwear, cigarettes, boutique makeup, barista-made coffee, drive-through "food", and Brobdingnagian flat-screen televisions.
It's not just the phone or even the bandwidth. It's all the nonsense that goes along with it: $30 cables and chargers, $180 replacement screens, screen protectors, cases, headphones, Bluetooth speakers, and it all adds up. Then of course there's the $10 per month for Netflix, $10 per month for Apple's music streaming service, and pretty soon the accessories and services alone average ten to twenty bucks per week.