Have you ever had to deal with a major power outage following a hurricane? It's a weird feeling. In October 2005, Hurricane Wilma took down the power in South Florida cities and towns, where I was living, for over a week. Although this took place before the iPhone era started, losing cellular connectivity for my feature phone left me feeling as isolated and alone as I would feel today if my iPhone and Pixel smartphones were turned into bricks because of a power outage.
Hurricane victims need to stay connected and T-Mobile will waive the cost of calling those affected
I remember when cell service finally resumed allowing me to hear the end of the 2005 World Series, won by the Chicago White Sox, on my handset. Wilma was a Category 3 storm so you can imagine what kind of damage those living in Jamaica are dealing with now following the landfall made by Category 5 storm Melissa last week. According to reports, there was widespread damages and power outages.
Have you ever been through a hurricane?
Yes. Losing power leaves you isolated.
63.64%
No, luckily enough.
36.36%
One thing I learned after Wilma was how important it is for an area ravaged by a hurricane to maintain connectivity. T-Mobile agrees with me and in a press release disseminated today, the wireless provider said to those in Jamaca affected by Melissa, "We understand how important it is to stay connected right now." With such a powerful hurricane pounding the region, anxious family, loved ones and friends might have concerns about people they know whom they have been unable to speak with following the storm
T-Mobile is responding to Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica and nearby regions. | Image credit-T-Mobile
To help worried T-Mobile subscribers get in touch with family, loved ones and friends, the carrier is waiving charges for international long-distance calls, texts and roaming in Jamaica, and nearby islands of Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas. This applies to service across all T-Mobile brands including T-Mobile Postpaid and Prepaid, Metro, Assurance Wireless, UScellular, Mint and Ultra. The charges will be waived starting today, Wednesday, Oct. 29, until Tuesday, Nov. 12.
There is peace of mind for everyone concerned
T-Mobile says that it will continue to closely monitor the storm’s aftermath and provide updates, which we will be happy to pass along to you. Waiving charges for T-Mobile subscribers is actually helping everyone involved. Those in Jamaica and the adjacent regions will be happy to get more calls from the people who care about them and are worried about how they fared during Melissa. Those in the U.S. will get peace of mind speaking with friends, family, and loved ones who were pounded by wind and rain.
If you're a T-Mobile subscriber in the U.S., there is no reason why you shouldn't call someone you know who was a victim of Hurricane Melissa.
Buy 3 Months, Get 3 Free
Visible+ Pro – up to $135 savings on Verizon’s fastest 5G
Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.
A discussion is a place, where people can voice their opinion, no matter if it
is positive, neutral or negative. However, when posting, one must stay true to the topic, and not just share some
random thoughts, which are not directly related to the matter.
Things that are NOT allowed:
Off-topic talk - you must stick to the subject of discussion
Offensive, hate speech - if you want to say something, say it politely
Spam/Advertisements - these posts are deleted
Multiple accounts - one person can have only one account
Impersonations and offensive nicknames - these accounts get banned
To help keep our community safe and free from spam, we apply temporary limits to newly created accounts:
New accounts created within the last 24 hours may experience restrictions on how frequently they can
post or comment.
These limits are in place as a precaution and will automatically lift.
Moderation is done by humans. We try to be as objective as possible and moderate with zero bias. If you think a
post should be moderated - please, report it.
Have a question about the rules or why you have been moderated/limited/banned? Please,
contact us.
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless
Things that are NOT allowed:
To help keep our community safe and free from spam, we apply temporary limits to newly created accounts: