Viber tweeted its announcement saying, “In response to the earthquake in Nepal, we have switched off Viber Out billing so Nepal users can call any destination for free.” “Thanks but how about making calls to Nepali number from outside Nepal? Can’t you make that free?” said one of the comments. “Can you please make calls TO Nepal free as well?,” commented one user.
The company again tweeted after a while stating that its decision is aimed at enabling quake survivors in Nepal to contact the outside world. “@Viber We hope this will prove helpful to anyone trying to reach friends and family in this region.” Viber, a popular VOiP service, can be accessed over a smartphone or desktop, provided users have an Internet data connection or are connected to wifi. Power networks across Nepal are down and most smartphones users are having difficulty even recharging their devices.
Telecom providers in India had on Saturday announced that it is allowing free calls to Nepal in the aftermath of the earthquake. Airtel on Saturday announced that it is allowing free calls to Nepal on its network over the next 48 hours, while other providers such as the government owned BSNL and MTNL said it would slash the international call rates and instead charge local rates to all calls made to Nepal for three days
