America’s wireless companies respond to Covid-19: May 2020 recap

The wireless industry is sustaining their resources and support to keep students, hospitals and frontline workers connected during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As their efforts continue, let’s take a look back at some of the ways wireless companies lent a virtual hand last month:

• AT&T joined the global Open COVID Pledge to make available, for free, their patents that might aid in the fight against COVID-19.
• T-Mobile launched its #ConnectedHeroes program, a 10-year commitment to keep first responders connected by providing free 5G.
• U.S. Cellular hosted a live Instagram session with JASON Learning. The tutorial on building a time capsule focused on enriching the remote learning experience for kids.
• Verizon donated $5 million to No Kid Hungry, helping the organization provide food and nourishment to 384,000 students a day.
• Intel teamed with Akara Robotics to develop an autonomous virus-killing robot that uses artificial intelligence to navigate around humans and helps disinfect hospitals with Ultraviolet-C light, helping to keep medical workers and patients safer from infection.
• Ericsson joined UNESCO’s Global Education Coalition for COVID-19 and launched Ericsson Educate, an educational program that delivers online learning content focused on improving digital skills for students in secondary schools and universities.
• Qualcomm’s Thinkabit Lab at Virginia Tech is creating 3D printed masks for hospitals, equipping doctors, nurses and other frontline healthcare workers with critical equipment during COVID-19.
• Samsung partnered with The Tonight Show to surprise six frontline healthcare working moms with gift bundles and virtual shout outs from Jimmy Fallon.
• Tracfone partnered with Walmart on drive-through COVID-19 testing centers. The carrier was part of the first two Chicago sites and has since scaled with the retailer to include 40 more locations. Tracfone donated 100 phones and service for the volunteer personnel to use in their testing flow and will continue to donate phones and provide service at a discount rate.
• Forbes ranked wireless companies #1, #3 and #5 in its list of the “Top Corporate Responders to COVID-19.

Now more than ever, wireless is playing a critical role in keeping us connected to our family and friends, our jobs, our schools and our communities, and we are proud of our members and the industry for their tireless efforts in these trying times. We will continue to share our members’ stories here and on the CTIA website.