A handful of cable operators have made moves over the past few days to allow customers with friends and family impacted by the Ukraine conflict to contact loved ones in that war-torn country by landline and mobile phone free of charge.

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Charter Communications, the second largest cable operator in the country with customers in 41 states, said Wednesday that it is waiving charges for all calls to Ukraine for Spectrum Voice and Spectrum Mobile subscribers through the end of March. According to Charter, standard SMS text messages to Ukraine already are included at no extra charge with Spectrum Mobile service. Charter said that customers don’t need to do anything; the fees will be automatically waived from their monthly bill.

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Astound Broadband, the sixth largest cable operator in the country, said Wednesday that it is waiving customer fees associated with calling Ukraine from the United States. The company said international calling charges for Astound Broadband phone customers will be waived when calling Ukraine through March 31.

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Comcast said last month it will offer free calls to Ukraine for its Xfinity Voice, Xfinity Mobile, Comcast Business Voice and Comcast Business Mobile customers from February 20 to March 10.  SMS text messages are always included at no charge to domestic or international family members and friends, the company said. 

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Altice USA said its Optimum Mobile and Optimum and Suddenlink residential and business phone customers will be able to place calls from the United States to Ukraine at no additional cost through the end of March. Optimum Mobile customers will also be able to send free SMS and MMS messages to Ukraine.

Cable One said it began offering Sparklight residential phone customers free calls to Ukraine on February 25, adding that the offering lasts until March 12.

“During this time of unrest, we want to ensure our customers stay connected with what matters most - their loved ones in Ukraine,” Cable One CEO Julie Laulis said in a statement. Customers must visit www.sparklight.com/Ukraine and submit account information in order to have calls to Ukraine credited

Vyve Broadband, which offers service to customers in16 states, is broadening the scope of free long-distance calling to the countries of Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine for the month of March. Additionally, Vyve has set up phones in each of its 38 local offices across the U.S. that both customers and non-customers can use to make free calls to these countries.

“At Vyve, we recognize that the war in Ukraine is a global concern that is impacting real human beings both abroad and at home,” Vyve president and chief operating officer Andy Parrott said in a press release. “By waiving charges for long-distance calls to the area, we want to support our customers as they seek to keep in touch with their friends, family members, and loved ones affected by this crisis.”  

Russia launched a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine on February 24, an attack that so far has caused nearly 1 million refugees to flee the country. According to the European Union, as many as 4 million people could be displaced and may are seeing shelter in neighboring countries like Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Moldova. Several countries, including the U.S., have denounced the invasion and initiated economic sanctions against Russia to stop the attacks.

Charter Communications said it now offers Nomorobo, an app that blocks unwanted telemarketing and robocalls, in its legacy systems. The app was already available to customers in the former Time Warner Cable systems that Charter acquired in May 2016.

Nomorobo auto-blocks automated calls from telemarketers using a list of known unwanted phone numbers, including those on the “Do Not Call” Registry. The call rings both the customer’s home line and the Nomorobo platform simultaneously. If Nomorobo recognizes the call is from an unwanted number, it will be blocked.

Nomorobo does allow certain automated calls to get through, including school closings, doctor’s appointment reminders, tornado warnings and prescription pickup alerts.

Charter said Spectrum Voice cutomers can activate the Nomorobo feature by following instructions posted at www.nomorobo.com.

In a July blog post, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler noted that robocalls and telemarketing calls are currently the number one source of consumer complaints at the Commission, adding that he had sent letters to the CEOs of major wireless and wireline phone companies calling on them to offer call-blocking services to their customers as soon as possible, and at no added cost.

“Customers now have even more control over the calls that come into their homes,” Rich DiGeronimo, Charter’s EVP of products and strategy, said in a release. “Nomorobo is one of the many ways we continue to enhance customers’ home phone experience with unmatched reliability and service in addition to a wide range of popular advanced phone features available at no extra cost.”

Watch this video about how Nomorobo works: