OVERLAND PARK, Kan.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sprint (NYSE:S) is continuing its dedicated support for the relief efforts in the Republic of Haiti following the Jan. 12 earthquake with a donation of 2,000 mobile phones to benefit wireless users in Haiti. In addition, Sprint will credit long-distance fees on calls from the U.S. to Haiti, retroactive from Jan. 12 and continuing to Feb. 28.
“As wireless communication to and from Haiti continues to play a critical role in the relief and recovery efforts, Sprint will continue extending needed resources to those on the ground in Haiti and the coordination efforts back in the U.S.,” said Ralph Reid, vice president of corporate social responsibility for Sprint. “We hope these new offerings and our previous contributions prove beneficial to the victims, Haiti’s wireless providers and the dedicated aid workers.”
Sprint also has provided the following to aid the relief efforts in Haiti:
- Donating wireless equipment and infrastructure to wireless providers in Haiti and civic organizations in the U.S.
- A waiver – until Feb. 28 – of all fees and charges for Sprint customers sending text messages to and from Haiti. This offering has been extended from the previous end date of Jan. 31.
- The Sprint Foundation has donated $50,000 and is matching Sprint employee contributions made in January to the American Red Cross International Response Fund. Sprint employees have contributed more than $102,000 to the American Red Cross.
- Waiving standard text messaging fees for various Haiti disaster relief short codes, including the American Red Cross International Response Fund, the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, UNICEF, Habitat for Humanity, and Save the Children Federation, Inc.
- An 80 percent advance payout of the mobile giving donations from Sprint customers to various charities assisting Haiti with its recovery efforts. Since Jan. 12, Sprint pre- and post-paid customers have contributed approximately $5 million in mobile-giving donations to Haiti relief efforts and 100 percent of all the money donated through texting is given to the respective non-profit organizations.
To learn more about Sprint’s efforts to support the recovery and relief initiatives in the Republic of Haiti, please visit www.sprint.com.
About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two wireless networks serving more than 48 million customers at the end of the fourth quarter of 2009 and the first and only 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The company’s customer-focused strategy has led to improved first call resolution and customer care satisfaction scores. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.