Hurricane Florence has left much of the Carolinas and Virginia devastated, but major wireless carriers like Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint are doing their part to ensure customers in the impacted areas are able to keep in touch with loved ones.
Prior to the storm making landfall,
the four companies announced they would be offering free calling, texting, and data to customers not already on unlimited plans in areas in the direct path of the storm.
Additionally, both AT&T and Verizon say first responders will have truly unlimited access to their networks. Specifically, Verizon said it will upgrade first responders in several states so they're not affected by data usage limits. This, after last month Verizon was accused of throttling service for the Santa Clara Fire Department when it was fighting wildfires in California.
"Only lifting [data speed] limitations for first responders in a few states is a half-hearted gesture that does nothing for the thousands of first responders who will travel long miles to help those affect," AT&T said in a statement. "That's why FirstNet [an AT&T service] does not throttle subscribers anywhere in the country. Period."