Boxer Lauds Wireless Companies' Decision to Expedite Mobile Donations to Japan

Boxer Had Urged the Big Four Wireless Companies to Expedite Text Donations, Which Can Take Up to 90 Days to Reach Disaster Victims

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today praised the nation’s four largest wireless companies, all of whom recently announced plans to expedite mobile donations to relief efforts in Japan.

Senator Boxer sent a letter to AT&T, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless on March 18 urging them to remit mobile donations to Japanese relief efforts as quickly as possible. If not expedited, these text donations can take as long as 90 days to be sent to relief organizations while the contributions are being collected through the wireless company’s billing process.

Senator Boxer said, “I am pleased that our nation’s four largest wireless providers will expedite mobile donations to Japanese relief efforts to help the victims of this terrible disaster. Now all those who send their donations by text can rest assured that their contributions are being rushed to assist those most in need.”

Concerns about the delay in remitting text donations to Japan were raised by Masaya Uchino, a third-year law student at University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. Uchino created an online petition at Change.org to draw attention to the issue, which has gathered more than 66,000 signatures.

View Senator Boxer's letter to U.S. wireless companies here.

View the responses from U.S. wireless companies:
Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile USA, Verizon Wireless, AT&T Inc.