AT&T Restoration In The Northeast On An Accelerated Pace

DALLAS, Oct. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T is taking several steps to provide assistance and relief for those in the Northeast devastated by the impact of Hurricane Sandy.

Network Update:

Disaster response teams from AT&T are fully engaged and making progress in restoring wireless and wireline services in areas affected by Hurricane Sandy. The company is closely aligned with state and local officials and emergency response teams, monitoring service disruptions and coordinating our restoration efforts.

The vast majority of our cell sites in the Northeast are online and working. We are making progress in areas that were especially hard-hit, including New York City and New Jersey, where flooding, power loss, transportation and debris all pose challenges. We are working around the clock, including conducting ongoing damage assessment, rapid deployment of generators and equipment, and movement of key personnel from around the region and country, such as engineers and technicians, in order to restore service as quickly as possible.

AT&T also has thousands of employees, including personnel from surrounding states, working to make repairs to damaged equipment in areas where it is safe to do so.

Customer Relief:

In an effort to assist customers who have been impacted by this storm, AT&T will extend the late-payment window for wireless and wireline customers who are behind, waive late payment fees and will not disconnect services because of non-payment. 

AT&T and T-Mobile also have entered into an agreement to enable roaming on their networks to customers of both companies in the heavily impacted areas and where capacity is available and subscribers have a compatible device.

AT&T and T-Mobile customers will be able to place calls just as they normally would, but their calls will be carried by whichever network is most operational in their area. This will be seamless for AT&T and T-Mobile customers with no change to their current rate plans or service agreements.

Most AT&T retail stores in the Mid-Atlantic states are operating business as usual today. In the hardest hit areas, AT&T is assessing the condition of its company-owned retail stores and will begin opening them for business as soon as possible.

Also, AT&T wireless customers can make a $10 donation for Hurricane Sandy relief by texting to the following non- profit organizations:

• REDCROSS to 90999 to support the American Red Cross
• STORM to 80888 to help the Salvation Army
• HUMANE to 80888 to give to the American Humane Society

Customers who would like to contribute more can text up to five times for a total donation of $50. One hundred percent of any donation will be paid to the customer's designated charity and the customer will be charged for the donation via the customer's monthly AT&T bill. 

For more information on our efforts related to Hurricane Sandy, visit http://att.com/vitalconnections

About AT&T --AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding company and one of the most honored companies in the world. Its subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and internationally. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation's largest 4G network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. A leader in mobile Internet, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide of any U.S. carrier, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries.  It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse^® and AT&T │DIRECTV brands. The company's suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com.  This AT&T news release and other announcements are available at http://www.att.com/newsroom and as part of an RSS feed at www.att.com/rss. Or follow our news on Twitter at @ATT.

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SOURCE AT&T Inc.