AT&T service helps you get in touch with friends, family in Puerto Rico
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- AT&T is using its network to help family members of those in Puerto Rico get in touch with their loved ones after Hurricane Maria devastated the island.
On ATT.com/mariaupdate, family members of Puerto Rican residents with AT&T phones can sign up to receive a notification when service has been restored in Puerto Rico. Emergency officials currently estimate that 95 percent of the island's wireless towers are out of service.
The next time the friend or family member's phone connects to the cellular network, that person will also receive a notification that their family has been looking for them.
Those signing up stateside do not need to be AT&T customers in order to use the service, but those in Puerto Rico must be using cell phones on the AT&T network.
"We are committed to the restoration and recovery efforts for the people of Puerto Rico. With this website, we are helping them reach family and friends in the U.S. as services restore," AT&T CEO John Donovan said in a news release. "Critical help has been arriving this weekend and more is on the way."
In addition, AT&T is issuing credits and waiving additional fees in order to give unlimited data, talk and texts to AT&T wireless customers and unlimited talk and text services to AT&T prepaid customers in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
