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Brussels Attacks: Canadian Telcos Offer Free Calls To Belgium

How companies are responding to the Brussels attack.

Following the tragedy in Brussels on Tuesday morning, Canadians looking to contact loved ones in Belgium will be able to do so for free from three Canadian service providers.

Telus says they've done this in the past pointing to the earthquake in Nepal and the Paris attacks last November as recent examples.

"We can’t comment on what other providers are or aren’t doing," Emily Hamer in media relations at Telus said when asked about competitors offering the same services. "But we are committed to putting our customers first and we believe this is the right thing to do," Hamer said.

The Huffington Post Canada asked Rogers if they would be following suit. “This is a tragic event and we want to make sure our customers can connect with their loved ones without worrying about the cost," Andrew Garas, manager of media relations at Rogers Communications said. "We’ll waive the charges for any customer contacting Brussels when they get in touch with us."

Bell didn’t return a request for a comment at the time of publication.

Koodo, along with parent company Telus and competitor Wind Mobile, have joined the ranks of American providers like AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon who are also offering free calls and texts to Belgium.

Uber and Airbnb have also responded to the crisis.

When asked if the free services would be extended to customers who have loved ones in Turkey, Yemen, the Ivory Coast and Nigeria, where terrorists have also struck over the past week, none of the Canadian telecom companies provided comment at the time of publication.

Meanwhile, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander De Croo implored that people stay off the phones yesterday:

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