While the world’s attention is glued to the small island nation of
Haiti and the struggles of its inhabitants as they cope with the
aftermath of a catastrophic earthquake, it is nice to see at least one
of our wireless carriers stepping up to the plate to offer much needed
assistance. T-Mobile USA came forward and is offering its customers
free international long distance calls to and from Haiti from January
12th, 2010 through January 31, 2010. T-Mobile is also pledging to
donate much needed wireless equipment, including generators and
wireless phones, to help restore Haiti’s communications
infrastructure. Any wireless customer can contribute to the relief
effort by texting the term “HAITI” to “90999? and a $10 donation will
be given automatically to the Red Cross.The $10 will be applied to
your wireless bill and T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless and AT&T are waiving
all text messaging charges for these donations. Donations of $5 can
similarly be given to a relief fund set up by Haitian-born musician
Wyclef Jean by texting “YELE” to 501501. Get those fingers flying
folks and help out those in Haiti who are in great need. Full press
release is after the break.
T-Mobile USA Waives Call Charges to and from Haiti; Pledges Support of
Wireless Equipment to Assist in Restoration
T-Mobile USA Strives to Unite Families in the Aftermath of Haiti
Earthquake Disaster
BELLEVUE, Wash. – January 14, 2010 – T-Mobile USA, Inc. today
announced that the company is taking a number of steps to provide
relief and help unite families in the aftermath the earthquake
disaster in Haiti. For current T-Mobile customers who are trying to
connect with loved ones in Haiti during the aftermath of the country’s
devastating earthquake, T-Mobile USA is enabling phone calls to Haiti
without charges for international long distance through January 31,
2010, and retroactive to the earthquake on January 12, 2010.
Additionally, T-Mobile customers who may already be in Haiti will be
able to roam on T-Mobile’s partner networks in Haiti (operated locally
in Haiti under the names Voila and Digicel) free-of-charge through the
end of the month. In both cases, T-Mobile will remove these charges
from customer bills accordingly.
“Our company and our employees care deeply for our customers, and we
know that many customers have been directly impacted by the disaster
in Haiti,” said Robert Dotson, president and CEO, T-Mobile USA. “While
our thoughts go out to those in Haiti who are suffering so greatly at
this time, our promise is to help people connect with those who matter
most. I can think of no better time to demonstrate this commitment.”
Additionally, T-Mobile has taken steps to assist with the restoration
of the wireless communications infrastructure in Haiti – a key
component in supporting the overall humanitarian and recovery efforts.
T-Mobile has pledged its support to donate wireless equipment such as
generators and phones.
How You Can Help
For those interested in helping immediately, T-Mobile customers can
simply text “HAITI” to “90999? and a donation of $10 will be given
automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts. Your
donation will be charged to your T-Mobile phone bill, and one hundred
percent of this donation goes directly to the Red Cross. There is no
per-text fee for this service for T-Mobile customers who do not have a
messaging plan, nor will the text be decremented from messaging plans.
Similarly, customers can text “YELE” to 501501 to support Haitian-born
musician and featured T-Mobile MyTouch™ 3G artist Wyclef Jean’s Yele
Haiti fund. For more information, please visit http://www.yele.org.