Sprint Continues to Restore Service to Customers Impacted by Hurricane Sandy

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As residents and businesses recover from the impacts of Hurricane Sandy, Sprint (NYSE:S) reports that its network has been fully restored to customers in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Maine, Vermont, Ohio and Kentucky.

“The level of devastation across the East Coast from Hurricane Sandy is unprecedented”

Significant progress has also been made for customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, where the Sprint Network is more than 90 percent operational.

In New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, Sprint’s network is more than 80 percent operational, but challenges remain for the hardest hit areas of these states, including metropolitan New York City and portions of the New Jersey coast. In New York City, for example, approximately three-quarters of the network is operational, but challenges remain in obtaining commercial power, backhaul connections, and gaining safe access to cell sites.

Sprint assists customers and reopens retail stores impacted by Hurricane Sandy

To assist customers impacted by the storm, Sprint is proactively waiving late fees; overage charges for voice, text and data; roaming fees; and call-forwarding fees for Sprint services used between Oct. 29 and Nov. 28. This waiver applies to Sprint customers in select counties in the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.

Impacted prepaid customers on Boost Mobile Monthly Unlimited, Virgin Mobile Beyond Talk and payLo by Virgin Mobile Unlimited Talk and Text plans will receive extended service if they are at risk of not making their payment due date. Boost Mobile Pay As You Go and payLo customers will receive a $10 account credit.

Sprint has also reopened more than 160 of its nearly 200 retail stores that were closed due to Hurricane Sandy.

Sprint Foundation donates $500,000 to American Red Cross relief efforts

Additionally, the Sprint Foundation has made a $500,000 donation to the American Red Cross to support its disaster-relief efforts in the areas impacted by Hurricane Sandy, and will match all American Red Cross donations made by Sprint employees, retirees and members of the Sprint board of directors.

“The level of devastation across the East Coast from Hurricane Sandy is unprecedented,” said Ralph Reid, president and executive director of the Sprint Foundation. “As Sprint’s restoration efforts continue, our thoughts are with the residents affected by these recent events, and we hope that this donation will effectively serve residents with the greatest and most immediate need.”

Emergency management officials benefit from Sprint Emergency Response Team service

To aid public safety and emergency management officials in areas that have declared a “state of emergency,” the Sprint Emergency Response Team (ERT) is providing any local agency – upon request and subject to device availability – with 14 days of service free of charge for 25 Sprint ERT wireless devices. Agencies currently utilizing this service include:

The Maryland Emergency Management Agency
The Maryland Army National Guard
The Maryland State Police Department
The Nassau Board of Cooperative Educational Services
New York University
New York State Department of Homeland of Security
The Village of Malverne, New York

For more information about Sprint’s ongoing restorations efforts and retail store closings, visit www.sprint.com/hurricaneinformation. Public safety officials seeking information about Sprint ERT services should call 1-888-639-0020 or email ERTRequests@sprint.com.

About Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served nearly 56 million customers at the end of the third quarter of 2012 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The American Customer Satisfaction Index rated Sprint No. 1 among all national carriers in customer satisfaction and most improved, across all 47 industries, during the last four years. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 3 in both its 2011 and 2012 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation’s greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.