Among the biggest savings are going to come for those using the three biggest carriers. For AT&T, for example, both postpaid and prepaid customers will have unlimited long-distance calls from the US to Ukraine. That will run from February 26 through March 7. And it includes business customers as well as VoIP and landline services. Although it doesn’t include inbound calls. T-Mobile and Sprint customers can expect a similar waiver of fees for calls to Ukraine. But that will also include incoming calls as well as SMS messaging and roaming chargers for subscribers who are in Ukraine. As with AT&T, that includes postpaid, prepaid, and business customers. And the waiver will remain in place from February 24 to March 3. Finally, Verizon is also waiving fees and charges completely. Including calls to and from Ukraine and landlines, with outgoing calls set at $0 per minute. Calls and roaming fees for subscribers who are in Ukraine have been suspended. And Verizon international coverage plans will cover Ukraine now too. The changes for the carrier will run from February 25 through March 10.
Are smaller carriers and MVNOs helping make calls to Ukraine easier?
Now, it isn’t just the big three carriers in the US that are working to make calls to or from Ukraine easier to or from the region. Even Mint Mobile and US Cellular are taking part in the effort. With the potential for others to join in in the future, although they aren’t currently participating. Although not every MVNO or small carrier is necessarily being loud about it either. Mint Mobile hasn’t publicly announced any plans to make the calls easier, for example. But it has released a statement and informed customers directly of changes. Specifically, the company says that its “thoughts are with the people of Ukraine” and that it wants to help subscribers stay connected to loved ones abroad. And to that end, it’s offering free calling for a period of 14 days to the region. Finally, US Cellular has made all calls to Ukraine free from its customers from February 25 through March 31. That applies to outbound calls and explicitly to its international dialing rates. With postpaid subscribers getting the benefit automatically. Prepaid US Cellular customers who want to make the calls for free can as well. However, they’ll need to be on a plan that allows international dialing and call the customer service line or dial “*611” to get credits for use with the calls.
