As the world mourns the lives that were lost in the terror attacks in Belgium on Tuesday morning, prominent U.S. cellular network carriers have announced that they will offer free calls and texts to the beleaguered nation.
Among the telecom companies are America's biggest network providers, including AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, Virgin Mobile USA and Boost Mobile. Each of the companies has offered their customers free communications services to the European country.
According to an announcement by AT&T, the company will credit all call-and-text charges for customers communicating with anyone in Belgium until March 28.
"Our thoughts are with the people of Belgium and our customers who have friends and family there. As with any emergency, text messaging is recommended due to the possibility of network congestion in the local area," AT&T announced.
Sprint, together with T-Mobile and Verizon, have also waived their fees to calls and texts going to and from the European nation. Sprint will waive its fees all the way to March 31, while T-Mobile will offer free calls and texts to Belgium until March 25. Verizon pledged to credit all charges incurred until March 23.
Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure has extended his sympathy to the people of Belgium.
"This is an extremely difficult time for many of our customers who have friends and family in Belgium and need to keep in touch. We want to do what we can to show our support and comfort to Sprint customers," the CEO said.
Apart from the cellular network providers, other online firms have pitched in to aid the European nation as well. Facebook announced that it is enabling the social network's Safety Check feature as of Tuesday, in order to aid users in contacting their friends and family in Belgium.
Airbnb has also waived its service fees for people checking in by March 25.
The attacks on Tuesday, which were promptly claimed by the Islamic State, are feared to have killed about 31 people in attacks initiated on a Brussels airport and a Metro station. The brutal attacks were initiated just days after Salah Abdeslam, one of the principal suspects in last year's deadly Paris attacks, was captured in the Belgian capital.
