Telcos Worldwide Give Free Service to Ukraine

A crisis can be extraordinarily profitable for communications providers as people only want to hear from their loved ones, and stop caring about the cost. But instead of cashing in on the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian military, telcos around the world have chosen to make it free for customers to call Ukrainians and roam within the country. Here is a list of some of the telcos that are keeping ordinary Ukrainians connected to the rest of the world.

Bad leaders want to block communications and separate people to make it easier to control them. The government of Russia is once again actively interfering with social media to stop the truth of the invasion reaching ordinary Russians. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy continues to post videos taken in Kyiv (pictured), disputing the lies of Russian state media who said Zelenskyy fled the country. Zelenskyy displays more dignity during a few minutes of recording himself with a smartphone than Vladimir Putin has known throughout his twisted and deceitful life. If we want to live in a world where peace triumphs over war then we must keep the lines of communication open.

Zelenskyy’s bravery has earned him admirers around the world. There are also some good business leaders who have shown that they care about bringing people together. Employees can feel proud to work for the telcos named below.

The following list is ordered by country and based on announcements made on social media or on corporate websites. I want to avoid third party reports because they may be unreliable and because it is the responsibility of telcos to communicate their costs clearly, especially at a time when customers are in distress and need reassurance. Send me links to other relevant posts found on official corporate channels and I will keep adding to this list.

Albania

Vodafone

Free calls and texts to Ukraine; free roaming in Ukraine; both for five days

Ascension Island

Sure

Free calls and texts to and from Ukraine

Australia

Telstra

Free calls to Ukraine and surrounding countries; free roaming in Ukraine

Austria

A1

Free calls and texts to and from Ukraine

Belgium

Proximus

Free calls and texts to and from Ukraine; free roaming in Ukraine; both until the end of March

Bosnia and Herzegovina

BH Telecom

Free calls and texts to and from Ukraine; free roaming in Ukraine

Bulgaria

A1

1,000 free minutes for mobile calls to Ukraine

Vivacom

Free calls to Ukraine until March 10

Canada

Bell

Free calls to Ukraine

Rogers

Free calls and texts to Ukraine; free roaming in Ukraine; both until the end of March

TELUS

Free calls and texts to Ukraine; no overage charges for calls, text and data whilst roaming in Ukraine

TextNow

Free calls to Ukraine ‘for a limited time’

Xplornet and Xplornet Mobile

Free calls to Ukraine until March 31

Channel Islands

JT Group

Free calls, texts and parcel postage to Ukraine

Sure

Free calls and texts to and from Ukraine

Cyprus

Epic

Free calls and texts to Ukraine for contract customers until March 31

CYTA

Free calls and texts to Ukraine until March 31

Czech Republic

Vodafone

Free calls and texts to Ukraine; free roaming in Ukraine; both for five days

Diego Garcia

Sure

Free calls and texts to and from Ukraine

Estonia

Tele2

Free calls and texts to Ukraine; free roaming in Ukraine

Telia

Free calls and texts to Ukraine until March 10

Falkland Islands

Sure

Free calls and texts to and from Ukraine

Finland

Telia

Russia Today and RU TV removed from free TV service; BBC, CNN and Al Jazeera added to free service for two weeks

France

Bouygues Telecom

50 percent discount on the cost of calls and texts between France and Ukraine for at least a month beginning February 21

Orange and Sosh

Free calls, texts and MMS between mainland France and Ukraine

Germany

Deutsche Telekom

Free calls and texts to Ukraine; free roaming in Ukraine

Vodafone

Free calls and texts to Ukraine; free roaming in Ukraine; both for five days

Greece

Vodafone

Free calls and texts to Ukraine; free roaming in Ukraine; both for five days

Hungary

Vodafone

Free calls and texts to Ukraine; free roaming in Ukraine; both for five days

Ireland

eir Ireland

Free calls and texts until the end of March; free roaming in Ukraine

Three

Charges for calls and text to Ukraine will be credited back; free roaming in Ukraine

Vodafone

Free calls and texts to Ukraine; free roaming in Ukraine; both for five days

Isle of Man

Manx Telecom

Free calls and texts to Ukraine

Sure

Free calls and texts to and from Ukraine

Italy

Iliad

60 percent discount to the cost of voice calls to Ukraine until April 30

TIM

Customers with Ukrainian nationality can register for one week of unlimited voice minutes and data

Vodafone

Free calls and texts to Ukraine; free roaming in Ukraine; both for five days

Latvia

LMT

Free calls to Ukraine; free voice and data roaming in Ukraine

Tele2 and Zelta Zivtiņa

Free calls and texts to Ukraine; free roaming in Ukraine and free mobile services for refugees

Lithuania

Tele2

Free calls and texts to Ukraine; free roaming in Ukraine and free mobile calls, texts and data for refugees for three months

Malta

GO

Free calls and texts to Ukraine; roamers in Ukraine received a EUR100 top-up

Netherlands

KPN

Free calls and texts to Ukraine until the end of March; free roaming in Ukraine

T-Mobile, Tele2, Ben and Simpel

Free calls and texts to and from Ukraine until the end of March

Vodafone

Free calls and texts to Ukraine; free roaming in Ukraine; both for five days

Norway

Telenor

Free calls and texts to and from Ukraine; free roaming for Ukrainian customers; both until end of March

Poland

Orange

Reduced price of calls to Ukraine by 80 percent

T-Mobile

300 free minutes for voice calls to Ukraine, which may be exchanged for texts; 10GB free data

UPC

120 minutes of free calls to Ukrainian numbers

Portugal

Vodafone

Free calls and texts to Ukraine; free roaming in Ukraine; both for five days

Romania

Orange

Free calls and texts to and from Ukraine; free roaming in Ukraine; SIM cards for Ukrainian refugees with free voice and data allowances

Vodafone

Free calls and texts to Ukraine; free roaming in Ukraine; both for five days

Slovakia

Orange

Free calls to Ukraine; free roaming in Ukraine; SIM cards for refugees

Spain

Movistar

Free calls and texts to and from Ukraine; free roaming in Ukraine

Vodafone

Free calls and texts to Ukraine; free roaming in Ukraine; both for five days

St Helena

Sure

Free calls and texts to and from Ukraine

Sweden

Tele2

Free calls and texts to and from Ukraine

Telia, Halebop and Fello

Free calls, texts and MMS to and from Ukraine

United Kingdom

BT

Free calls, texts and data to and from Ukraine

EE

Free calls, texts and data to and from Ukraine

giffgaff

Will reimburse charges for all calls, texts and data to Ukrainian numbers; free roaming in the Ukraine

O2

Will reimburse charges for all calls, texts and data to Ukrainian numbers; free roaming in the Ukraine; both from February 21 to March 6

Stour Marine

Free calls, texts and data to and from Ukraine

Tesco Mobile

Free calls and texts from the UK to Ukraine

Three

Charges for calls and text to Ukraine will be credited back; free roaming in Ukraine

Virgin Media

Will reimburse charges for all calls, texts and data to Ukrainian numbers; free roaming in the Ukraine; both from February 21 to March 6

Vodafone

Free calls and texts to Ukraine; free roaming in Ukraine; both for five days

United States of America

T-Mobile and Sprint

Free calls and texts to and from Ukraine; free calls to local numbers for roamers in Ukraine; both until March 3

TextNow

Free calls to Ukraine ‘for a limited time’

Verizon

Free calls to and from Ukraine for landline and postpaid mobile customers; free voice and text roaming in Ukraine; both until March 10

Eric Priezkalns
Eric Priezkalns
Eric is the Editor of Commsrisk. Look here for more about the history of Commsrisk and the role played by Eric.

Eric is also the Chief Executive of the Risk & Assurance Group (RAG), a global association of professionals working in risk management and business assurance for communications providers.

Previously Eric was Director of Risk Management for Qatar Telecom and he has worked with Cable & Wireless, T‑Mobile, Sky, Worldcom and other telcos. He was lead author of Revenue Assurance: Expert Opinions for Communications Providers, published by CRC Press. He is a qualified chartered accountant, with degrees in information systems, and in mathematics and philosophy.