Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

T-Mobile Offers Relief for Hurricane Victims

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the good-samaritan-or-just-good-publicity dept.

lilrowdy18 writes "Eweek reports that T-Mobile is offering free Wi-Fi to areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. This relief will be free until Sept 2 and an evaluation will be done to see if it will continue after that. The hot spots are only available to residents of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi and does not include phone service. The article also includes a link to a map of T-Mobile hotspots. At least we can use some form of communication to get in touch with loved ones."

6 of 299 comments (clear)

  1. Only 3 days?? by TurdTapper · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This relief will be free until Sept 2

    That doesn't make any sense. Why would you only do it for 3 days and then "evaluate" whether you'll charge or not. Why in the world wouldn't you offer it for at least a week or two before evaluating? So if you are stuck in the disaster area and want to get a hold of someone that way, you've only got until Friday. After that you are out of luck or you might have to pay.

    I think it's good they are helping out, but that's almost a cheap way to get some good press.

    If you are a company like that and you really want to help, then go in whole-heartedly.

    --
    A man with a gun is called a citizen. A man without a gun is called a subject.
    1. Re:Only 3 days?? by Trusty+Penfold · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Exactly - if they want to help then they'll help. If their PR department wants something to do then they'll do this.

    2. Re:Only 3 days?? by tachyonflow · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Um... there are already gazillions of free wi-fi hotspots that are free. Spammers don't have to wait for T-Mobile hotspots to become free. Besides, many hotspots (probably including T-Mobile) firewall port 25 for good measure.

      Free hotspots may not be common in most areas of rural southern MS, but chances are that any area yuppified enough to have a T-Mobile hotspot probably also has free hotspots nearby.

      In fact, just last night as I was walking around my neighborhood in Denver, I came across a freakin' laundromat advertising free wi-fi! I had to take a picture. :)

  2. This is what t-mobile has by mcc · · Score: 5, Insightful

    T-mobile does not have electricity, food, drinking water, or building materials. They could possibly buy such things, but it isn't what they have on hand. What they have is wireless communication services. They are a cell phone company. They are giving what they have.

    I'll agree that perhaps this isn't going to be the most realistically useful thing ever. But at least they are doing something.

    Yes, free cell phone service would have possibly been something that t-mobile has which would be even more useful, but there are practical barriers there. That is, most people don't have cell phones which you can just reassign to a different cell phone carrier at will, and even with phones with such features most people don't know how to use them. It seems likely either you're an existing t-mobile customer and can already use their network, or you're not easily going to be getting on their cell network anyway. Wifi may have a more limited utility than cell service, but there's fewer logistics involved in letting people use it.

    In the meantime, if you or anyone else reading this is really concerned with being productive, something easy to do to help would maybe be instead of complaining on slashdot, take the time in the next couple of days to donate blood

    --
    Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
  3. Re:OT: Good news by Xzzy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    But it eases the rebuilding of the levees, which is a prerequisite to pumping water out of the city.

    Building a barrier in standing water is a lot easier than building one in rushing water.

  4. Re:Logistics, management and coordination... by Alex+P+Keaton+in+da · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I can understand how you may be under that misconception, however Guard units are designed to be anywhere in the world within a matter of hours. Sorry if I sound like a know it all, but this is an issue that is near and dear to my heart...
    Check out a bit about our history in conflicts here: http://www.1800goguard.com/whatistheguard/whatis_h istory.html
    Try moving thousands of people, from a branch that was never designed to be mobile far beyond state borders Read a bit about our federal mission, if interested, here: http://www.arng.army.mil/about_us/protecting_our_w orld.asp
    then figure out which state national guards have experience/training with water rescue then coordinate the efforts of all of those remaining with no clear high level chain of command. This would take about 5 minutes. The Army is not inept, as is the common misconception. The commanders know exactly who is trained to do what...
    As far as leadership:
    (I'm pretty sure theres no General of the National Guard.)
    see this link for structure: http://www.arng.army.mil/about_us/organization/
    Director of the Army National Guard, Lieutenant General Clyde A. Vaughn
    Brigadier General Frank J. Grass Deputy Director of the Army National Guard, Brigadier General Frank J. Grass
    Colonel Matthew L. Murphy Chief of Staff of the Army National Guard, Colonel Matthew L. Murphy
    Command Chief Warrant Officer of the Army National Guard, Chief Warrant Officer Five Poyas Haynes
    Command Sergeant Major of the Army National Guard, Command Sgt. Maj. John D. Gipe Command Sergeant Major of the Army National Guard, Command Sgt. Maj. John D. Gipe
    http://www.arng.army.mil/Leaders/

    --
    And All I Ask is a Tall Ship And a Star to Steer Her By