Verizon is also adding 15GB of 4G LTE data to customer accounts for no extra charge, which could prevent some people from going over their caps. The extra data can be used from March 25 to April 30 and applies both to regular phone plans and hotspots. Through April 30, Verizon is providing unlimited domestic calling to customers on plans with limited voice minutes and “free international calling for consumer wireless and home voice customers to CDC level 3 countries.
AT&T: No proof is required
AT&T announced a data-cap fee waiver on Sunday, saying, “As of March 13, 2020, and for the next 60 days, we will waive domestic wireless plan overage charges for data, voice or text for residential or small business wireless customers incurred because of economic hardship related to the coronavirus pandemic.”
When contacted by Ars, AT&T said customers must contact customer service to get the fees waived. “Customers experiencing hardship can go online to att.com to chat with a rep to request relief,” AT&T said. The fee waivers will be available through May 13. Customers will not have to provide proof that they can’t pay due to the pandemic, AT&T told Ars.
As with Verizon, many AT&T mobile plans have unlimited data or throttle speeds once customers hit their limits, so the overage fees don’t apply to everyone. AT&T does impose data caps on its home Internet service, but the company previously said it is waiving those fees for all home-Internet customers. Unlike with AT&T mobile service, the home-Internet overage fees are waived automatically for all customers. “We are automatically halting all disconnections and waiving data overage caps on home Internet for all customers for those same 60 days [March 13 to May 13],” AT&T said.
The four major mobile carriers are among more than 500 home- and wireless-Internet providers that signed a pledge to the Federal Communications Commission. The pledge commits that ISPs won’t terminate service to residential or small business customers who can’t pay bills because of the pandemic, will waive late fees incurred because of the pandemic, and will open Wi-Fi hotspots to anyone who needs them. The pledge doesn’t include anything about data caps.