Some mobile operators offer to charge for calls to or from Ukraine.
Angela Lang / CNET
All four major US operators make communication with relatives and friends in Ukraine less expensive Invasion of Russia this week.
T-Mobile there is waiver of fees for international long-distance and international roaming for calls and text messages to and from the US and Ukraine, the mobile operator said on Thursday. This weekly waiver will be available for T-Mobile as well Sprint consumer and business customers with prepaid and prepaid from February 24 to March 3. This also includes calls within Ukraine to local numbers to reach roaming customers in Ukraine, according to T-Mobile.
Verizon will be drop charges for calls from its consumer and business wireless customers, as well as residential landline customers to and from Ukraine from February 25 to March 10, the operator said on Friday. Verizon has also stated that it is refusing to pay for voice and text roaming for customers in Ukraine.
AT&T also offers unlimited long distance calls from the U.S. to Ukraine to all consumer and business wireless customers with postpaid and prepaid, as well as consumer customers of VoIP and landlines from February 26 to March 7, the company said Friday. US cellular communicationsthe country’s fourth largest mobile operator, offers customers free calls to Ukraine from the US from February 25 to March 31, the company said on Friday.
Mobile operators in other parts of the world are also taking steps to support those affected Russia’s attack. Vodafoneone of the largest carriers in Europe offers free roaming for all its customers staying in Ukraine starting Friday and “over the next five days,” the company said Friday. Calls and text messages for Vodafone customers trying to contact friends and relatives in Ukraine will be free, the company said. Deutsche Telekom, the second largest European operator, also makes calls and text messages to Ukraine for freereports Reuters.
This is not the first time carriers have mobilized to help customers during a crisis. At the start of the pandemic, when millions of people suddenly had to start working or attending school from home, ISPs including AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile extended data constraints.