After almost three weeks since the tragic earthquake in Haiti, relief efforts continue from all corners of the world. We know that thousands of you, our valued T-Mobile customers, are in Haiti at this very moment, personally assisting in a variety of ways; our thoughts are with all of you. At the same time, millions of you have also been donating time, money and other resources, and we can’t commend you enough for that work.
How We’re Helping You, As You Help Others
T-Mobile is proud of your efforts and we are very thankful to have been in a position to help you – as you help others. Many of you have donated through a variety of mobile giving programs. T-Mobile customers have donated more than $5 million dollars collectively through our network. In turn, T-Mobile continues to pass one-hundred percent of your donations directly to the relief organizations you have designated. We have also sped up the frequency with which we transfer your funds to the organizations you’ve designated. Thank you for all that you are doing to help so many people.
We are also proud to have facilitated free international long distance calls to Haiti. As I committed in my last letter to you, we have waived all long distance charges, retroactive to January 12 and through midnight EST on January 31, for all of our customers calling Haiti from the U.S. When we made the decision to allow free calling to Haiti, we hoped that we would be able to help unite families here in the U.S. and in Haiti. We know we have done just that for many of you -- our customers have used more than 20 million minutes calling Haiti from the U.S. since January 12.
T-Mobile also provided free roaming for our customers in Haiti, and took it an extra step to not only waive roaming fees, but also waive toll charges for those of you who have been calling out of Haiti. Any call made by T-Mobile customers in Haiti since January 12 has been entirely free of charge. Initially, we had promised to keep free roaming available through the end of January 31. However, in recognition of the large-scale relief efforts and the fact that more than 4,000 of our customers are in Haiti, we have decided to continue providing free voice roaming service in Haiti for another two weeks, through February 14. We are doing what we can to allow our customers in Haiti to focus on their pressing needs and not have to worry about cell phone voice roaming costs.
How We’ve Helped Our Partners Restore Wireless Service in Haiti
We know that our ability to help our customers in Haiti and those who are trying to reach them and their families is only as good as the wireless networks in that country. To that end, we have been assisting two of the largest wireless carriers in Haiti – Voila and Digicel. T-Mobile USA has provided the following equipment to help restore these crucial communications networks in Haiti:
* 12,000 cell phones
* 10 mobile cell sites
* 77 generators
* 450 solar chargers
* 11 light SUVs
* 980 grounding kits
* 480 hoisting grips
I’m proud of our employees at T-Mobile who have coordinated with an array of agencies within the Federal Government and with military transports to get this equipment as quickly as possible to Haiti. Our wireless partners in Haiti continue to work day and night to restore full service to customers in Haiti. T-Mobile is happy to have helped them do that in every way available to us. We are also happy to have been able to make a $50,000 cash contribution to the Red Cross Haiti Relief and Development Fund.
As international aid and relief efforts continue, our thoughts are with the Haitian people and the Haitian community here in the United States. We thank all of our customers who have made mobile giving so successful, and are proud to be able to support relief efforts in so many meaningful ways.
Sincerely,
Jim Alling
Chief Operations Officer
T-Mobile USA
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