Make free cell phone calls to Japan
By Rosa Golijan
Updated March 15, 7:45 p.m. EST:
AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, T-Mobile and Sprint are helping out individuals who are trying to reach Japan-based friends and family in the aftermath of the recent earthquake by providing free calling to the country.
AT&T is offering "billing relief" for its customers on calls made to Japan between March 11 and March 31.
This means that postpaid wireless customers will not be charged for international calls made to Japan from the United States or Puerto Rico — or for text messages to Japan which originate from a U.S. wireless number.
AT&T customers who have residential wireline service through the service provider are also eligible for billing relief:
Upon receiving their wireline bill, customers may call AT&T to receive adjusted calling for up to 60 minutes. In other words, no charges for up to 60 minutes of call time from the United States to Japan between March 11 and March 31.
Verizon has announced that it will be offering a similar deal to its own customers.
Verizon Wireless' postpaid customers will receive free calling to Japan from March 11 through April 10. During that time U.S.-based Verizon Wireless customers will also receive free text and multimedia messaging to Japan.
Verizon customers who have residential wireline service through the carrier will receive a similar offer:
All calls made from a Verizon residential landline to Japan will be rated at $0.00 per minute, from March 11 through April 10. Customers with Verizon World Plan (300, 500 or unlimited minutes of long-distance calling) can call Japan without using any minutes from their time-allotment blocks.
And there's more:
Additionally, Verizon Prepaid Phone Card charges for all long-distance calls placed to Japan from the United States will also be waived from March 11 until April 10
The company is also providing FiOS TV customers who are not subscribed to the channel free access to TV Japan through March 17. The channel location is 1770.
Later today, Comcast and T-Mobile USA also announced they are providing free calls to Japan.
Comcast said calls will be free for its Xfinity Voice and Business Class Voice customers. For calls made to Japan by customers during the timeframe from March 11 through April 10, Comcast will remove these charges from customers’ bills. Credits and waived fees will be automatic, as no action is required by customers. Comcast will cover fees for calls made to both landline and mobile phones. Comcast’s subscriber terms and conditions otherwise apply.
T-Mobile said in a statement that, effective immediately:
· T-Mobile USA is enabling phone calls to Japan for postpaid customers without charges for international long distance through March 31, and retroactive to March 11.
· Postpaid customers can make Wi-Fi calls to and from Japan free of charge through March 31, and retroactive to March 11.
· Text (SMS) messaging is also free of charge to and from Japan for postpaid customers through March 31 and retroactive to March 11.
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