As
Hurricane Sandy bore down on the East Coast last week, millions of residents
were left without power, cell phone service, Internet, and home phone service.
In an outpouring of support for people left stranded by the superstorm, several
mobile carriers took to the streets offering free device charging stations and
access to emergency wireless phones.
Verizon
announced this week that it will continue to help Sandy victims by waiving all
charges for domestic voice and text usage for its customers in the New York and
New Jersey areas between October 29 and November 16.
"Verizon
Wireless continues to focus its efforts to assist customers in the regions
hardest hit by Hurricane Sandy," the carrier wrote in a FAQ about the
program. "We announced November 4th that customers in portions of New York
and New Jersey will not be billed usage charges for domestic voice and text
usage incurred between October 29th and November 16th 2012. No action is
required by our customers to be eligible for this program."
In the
FAQ, Verizon explained that those customers in the impacted areas don't need to
take any action; they just won't be charged for voice and text use during the
specified period. They will still be responsible for monthly access charges,
however. As for the cut-off date of November 16, Verizon wrote, "By 11/16
we're hoping that the lives of our customers impacted by storm will have
returned to pre-Sandy normalcy."
Verizon
restored its service to 99 percent of the East Coast as of last weekend and
continues to help people affected by the hurricane. After the storm, the
company deployed Wireless Emergency Communication Centers throughout the region
that provided public access to device chargingand free domestic calling to
local residents. It also sent out mobile stores-on-wheels to serve as fully
functioning Verizon Wireless Stores.
According
to PCMag, AT&T and Sprint announced last week that they wouldn't charge late
fees for Sandy victims who couldn't pay their bills on time.
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