T-Mobile followed suit with the rest of the wireless industry today by announcing that calls and texts to Japan from U.S. based customers would be free. In a situation where communication could be critical and finding out about loved ones a necessity, it’s nice to see the wireless industry make such moves. T-Mobile will provide this service backdated from March 11th through March 31st.

T-Mobile USA, Inc. today announced that the company is taking steps to provide relief and help customers stay connected to loved ones in the aftermath of the earthquakes and tsunami in Japan.

“During this difficult time, our thoughts are with the people of Japan,” said Philipp Humm, CEO and president, T-Mobile USA. “Many of T-Mobile’s customers, their friends and families have been directly impacted by this disaster, and our promise is to help them connect with their loved ones.”

Effective immediately:

• T-Mobile USA is enabling phone calls to Japan for postpaid customers without charges for international long distance through March 31, 2011, and retroactive to March 11, 2011.
• T-Mobile postpaid customers can make Wi-Fi calls to and from Japan free of charge through March 31, 2011, and retroactive to March 11, 2011.
• Text (SMS) messaging is also free of charge to and from Japan for T-Mobile postpaid customers through March 31, 2011 and retroactive to March 11, 2011.

Ways Customers Can Directly Assist Relief Efforts

If you are a T-Mobile prepaid or postpaid customer interested in helping immediately, you can text “REDCROSS” to 90999, and your donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts. This donation will be charged to your T-Mobile phone bill, and 100 percent of the donation goes directly to the Red Cross. There is no per-text fee for this service for T-Mobile customers who do not have a messaging plan, nor will the text be deducted from your messaging plan. Similarly, you can send donations via text message to a number of other relief organizations. T-Mobile does not charge for text messages sent to mobile giving campaigns.