There’s a lot going on in the world right now and sadly, there are a lot of people hurting. The crisis in Ukraine has dominated many headlines for weeks and it doesn’t look like abating anytime soon. Thankfully, the Aussie telcos have — as they often do in troubled times — opened the communication lines with free calls to Ukraine.
If you are contacting friends or loved ones in the region keep in mind there has been a significant amount of military activity that has affected many communication lines, so your calls may struggle to connect: Keep trying
What you need to know
Telstra and a number of its MNVO operators are offering calls to Ukraine and regions that refugees are moving to. This includes Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Poland. If Telstra customers are in Ukraine at the moment, then you’ll have free and unlimited global roaming until the 31st of March.
Optus are offering free calls and texts to Ukraine until the 13th of March with free global roaming available on the same timeline.
TPG/Vodafone (including their ISP mobile providers) will provide free calls to Ukraine with — at the time of writing — no end date on the offer. The parent company noted in their press release that:
A small number of customers within the TPG, iiNet, Internode and Westnet brands may still see charges related to Ukraine calls during this time, in which case, TPG Telecom invites them to please contact their service provider for a full credit.
We’re critically reliant on our mobile phones these days, which is why it’s so nice to not just be a tool for work and play but one of communication and compassion.
