Earlier today, a magnitude-6.2 earthquake struck central Italy killing at least 120 people and injuring many more. Entire cities have been devastated, and suffice it to say, it's difficult to read the first-hand accounts of the disaster. As has become customary with major disasters, carriers around the world are waiving international calling and text fees to Italy.
Here's the rundown of which US carriers are doing what:
- AT&T is waiving fees, from now until August 26, for landline, mobile calls, and texting.
- T-Mobile is waiving fees for calling (although seemingly not texting) from now until August 28, as well as waiving roaming fees for T-Mobile customers in the area. This also includes MetroPCS, GoSmart Mobile, and WalMart Family Mobile customers.
- Verizon is waiving landline and mobile calls to Italy until August 26.
Sprint has not yet made any announcement pertaining to the earthquake. It's nice that carriers are offering free calls and SMS, but just a few days isn't a lot of time to find loved ones following a natural disaster. I suspect most people will instead choose to communicate with WhatsApp, as the application is incredibly widely-used in Italy.
Image via USGS.