T-Mobile assists Haitian relief effort by offering free calling to and from Haiti, donating wireless equpiment

While the world’s attention is glued to the small island nation of Haiti and the struggles of its inhabitants as they cope with the aftermath of a catastrophic earthquake, it is nice to see at least one of our wireless carriers stepping up to the plate to offer much needed assistance. T-Mobile USA came forward and is offering its customers free international long distance calls to and from Haiti from January 12th, 2010 through January 31, 2010. T-Mobile is also pledging to donate much needed wireless equipment, including generators and wireless phones, to help restore Haiti’s communications infrastructure. Any wireless customer can contribute to the relief effort by texting the term “HAITI” to “90999″ and a $10 donation will be given automatically to the Red Cross.The $10 will be applied to your wireless bill and T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless and AT&T are waiving all text messaging charges for these donations. Donations of $5 can similarly be given to a relief fund set up by Haitian-born musician Wyclef Jean by texting “YELE” to 501501. Get those fingers flying folks and help out those in Haiti who are in great need. Full press release is after the break.

T-Mobile USA Waives Call Charges to and from Haiti; Pledges Support of Wireless Equipment to Assist in Restoration

T-Mobile USA Strives to Unite Families in the Aftermath of Haiti Earthquake Disaster

BELLEVUE, Wash. – January 14, 2010 – T-Mobile USA, Inc. today announced that the company is taking a number of steps to provide relief and help unite families in the aftermath the earthquake disaster in Haiti. For current T-Mobile customers who are trying to connect with loved ones in Haiti during the aftermath of the country’s devastating earthquake, T-Mobile USA is enabling phone calls to Haiti without charges for international long distance through January 31, 2010, and retroactive to the earthquake on January 12, 2010. Additionally, T-Mobile customers who may already be in Haiti will be able to roam on T-Mobile’s partner networks in Haiti (operated locally in Haiti under the names Voila and Digicel) free-of-charge through the end of the month. In both cases, T-Mobile will remove these charges from customer bills accordingly.

“Our company and our employees care deeply for our customers, and we know that many customers have been directly impacted by the disaster in Haiti,” said Robert Dotson, president and CEO, T-Mobile USA. “While our thoughts go out to those in Haiti who are suffering so greatly at this time, our promise is to help people connect with those who matter most. I can think of no better time to demonstrate this commitment.”

Additionally, T-Mobile has taken steps to assist with the restoration of the wireless communications infrastructure in Haiti – a key component in supporting the overall humanitarian and recovery efforts. T-Mobile has pledged its support to donate wireless equipment such as generators and phones.

How You Can Help

For those interested in helping immediately, T-Mobile customers can simply text “HAITI” to “90999″ and a donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts. Your donation will be charged to your T-Mobile phone bill, and one hundred percent of this donation goes directly to the Red Cross. There is no per-text fee for this service for T-Mobile customers who do not have a messaging plan, nor will the text be decremented from messaging plans. Similarly, customers can text “YELE” to 501501 to support Haitian-born musician and featured T-Mobile MyTouch™ 3G artist Wyclef Jean’s Yele Haiti fund. For more information, please visit http://www.yele.org.