Telcos say helping out those affected by the tsunami that struck the islands of Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga was “the right thing to do”.Shortly after the disaster struck, telcos Telecom, Vodafone and 2Degrees announced they would offer free calling to the islands for the benefit of friends and family of those affected.Eric Hertz, 2Degrees says it was impossible to put a value on how much the free service had benefitted people at such a “difficult and emotional time”.Over the course of 2Degrees free service offer, which started at midday on 1 October and ended at midnight on October 15, customers made a total of 236,990 calls totaling 791,737 minutes. At 2Degrees standard rate of $1.44/min, that is more than $1.1 million in free calling.Vodafone spokesperson Paul Brislen says the company offered a 48 hour free calling period to assist it’s clients keep in touch with the affected Islands. “We did it because it was the right thing to do and at times like that you have to do all you can to help people.”Telecom also ran free service, with customers not being charged for home calls to Samoa from midnight Tuesday 29 September until midnight Friday 2 October, while calls to Tonga were also not charged from midnight Wednesday 1 October till midnight Friday 2.Telecom have also offered technical resources and ground assistance if required through its network business, Chorus, as well as its Wholesale and International businesses. The company has also provided cable, fibre and poles to assist with the rebuilding of the local infrastructure.Furthermore, the company’s 7500 staff will be making donations into a bank account and the company will match whatever the staff raised.Telecom Retail CEO Alan Gourdie says it was important to make and effect and give those struggling some piece of mind.“Many New Zealanders were making calls to check on the safety of family and friends,” he says. “We feel it’s important that our customers are not worrying about the cost of those calls.”
