U.S. carriers Sprint and Cricket Wireless have said they, too, will join the effort to facilitate communication to those affected by Hurricane Patricia by waiving fees for calls and texts from the U.S. to Mexico.
The charge was led by AT&T, which announced ahead of the storm on Friday it won’t charge customers additional fees for text messages or international long distance usage from AT&T phones from the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to Mexico from Oct. 23, 2015 through Nov. 5, 2015.
“At Cricket Wireless, our thoughts are with those affected by Hurricane Patricia,” the carrier said in a statement Sunday. “To support all of our customers who are trying to stay connected with their loved ones, we are offering unlimited talk and text (SMS) over the Cricket network, from the U.S. to Mexico, for all Cricket customers through November 8, 2015 across all rate plans.”
Likewise, Sprint said Saturday it will waive fees for international long distance calls and text messages to Mexico from October 23, 2015 and November 4, 2015. The free calls are available to all postpaid customers of Sprint, the company said.
T-Mobile also announced Saturday that it, too, will offer free calls and texts to and from the United States and Mexico through Saturday, November 7, 2015. The offer extends to all T-Mobile Simple Choice and Pay-in-Advance customers, as well as customers of MetroPCS, GoSmart Mobile, and WalMart Family Mobile, the company said.
Billed as the strongest hurricane ever recorded with sustained winds around 200 MPH, Hurricane Patricia made landfall in Mexico Friday as a Category 5 storm but caused relatively little destruction. The storm weakened as it moved into Texas over the weekend, causing some flooding but otherwise leaving the Lone Star state fairly untouched by the time it moved on Sunday.
No deaths resulting from the storm have been reported.
This article has been updated to reflect the fact that T-Mobile has also extended an offer aimed at helping Hurricane Patricia victims.
Filed Under: Carriers
