Telstra announces free mobile bills for firefighters heroes

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As bushfires in some parts of Australia continue to escalate over the past few weeks, Telstra – one of the major Telcos in Australia has taken the initiative and declared to waive mobile phone bills of firefighters as their way of extending gratitude for their unparalleled service.

Telstra Chief Andy Penn had spoken about the network’s decision to wipe firefighter bills “Today we’re doing our part to thank our volunteer firefighters by providing them with free mobile bills over December and January.”

“We want to do this to show our thanks to firefighters for their efforts in helping keep communities safe… We’ve all witnessed the confronting scenes of bushfires around the country and awed at the heroic volunteers battling the blazes.”
As the country’s intense bushfire season rages on, volunteer firefighters from all over places have seen working around the clock and have been putting their lives at risk by joining the rescue effort. Some volunteers have even lost their own houses to wildfire as they strive to save other people’s homes from the fire.

The network also declared emergency support and assistance to be given to the victims on top of the bill waiver promised to firefighters’ volunteers. According to Yahoo Finance Telstra customers who were impacted by the disaster may also receive:

• Free use of Telstra public payphones in the affected areas
• Free use of Telstra Air payphone hotspots in the affected areas
• Free call diversion from an affected fixed home or business phone service to another fixed or mobile service of the customer’s choice, regardless of the carrier
• Affected Telstra mobile customers who do not have a Telstra home phone can receive a one-off credit to the value of $100, including GST.

Those customers that have copped severe damage or loss of property may be eligible for:

• Free call diversion from the customer’s Telstra fixed phone service to another Australian fixed or mobile service of their choice, regardless of the carrier. This offer is applicable for a maximum period of 6 months from the date of the fire.
• In addition, Telstra will apply a one-off credit to the value of $500 inc. GST to the customer’s Telstra fixed phone account to help cover the costs of the following if required: Connection of a Telstra fixed phone service at one temporary residence.
• Re-connection of a Telstra fixed phone service at the customer’s original permanent premises.

“We’re doing everything we can to get these communities back up and connected as quickly as possible, but given the horrific conditions we have seen over the past few days, this may take some time,” said Penn.
Telstra had stated that they had allocated a group of front liners to help individuals with waiving of their bills and assist them with any related concerns. Volunteers firefighters and impacted customers can call 13 22 03.