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After days of brutal fires that have burned tens of thousands of acres in Los Angeles and turned thousands of homes into ashes, Internet service provider Spectrum is unlocking a number of its Wi-Fi hotspots for anyone to use. They do not require a login or account creation – just search for the Wi-Fi name on your device and click.
Spectrum, a regional ISP under Charter Communications, has opened more than 35,000 Wi-Fi hotspots in the Los Angeles area for public use. Anyone can search for their nearest hotspot The Spectrum website and then connect to the Wi-Fi network called Spectrum Free Trial to get online, as KTLA technology reporter Rich DeMuro noted in a place on X (formerly Twitter).
Spectrum customers who have had equipment damaged or destroyed by the fires will not be charged for damages, the company wrote a blog post. Those with power but no internet service will get credits until they are back online, which will be applied towards savings on their next bill.
Read more: Los Angeles fires: Donations, relief efforts and how to help fire victims
Other ISPs and carriers stepped up to provide extra service as the fires raged. T-Mobile and the microsatellite network Starlink have temporarily activated its partner service to enable customers to connect to Starlink’s constellation of satellite phone connections (which companies first activated to help relief efforts for Hurricane Helene in the Southeast United States last October). Although still in testing mode, this microsatellite network allows users to send SMS text messages and receive emergency alerts when outside the T-Mobile network.
Verizon has it waived any call, text and data usage fees for prepaid and postpaid customers in the counties affected by the fires until January 18, while also donate a combined $1 million to the American Red Cross and the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation. AT&T is waive excess charges for unlimited talk, text and data to Southern California customers through February 15th, donating $100,000 to the American Red Cross and matching employee donations to multiple charities. The carrier also set up a handful of device charging stations for the public, as well as assisting first responders.
