BELLEVUE, Wash. – T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) today announced that beginning on Saturday, July 16, 2022, its customers who may need immediate mental health support now have another way to get help — fast. Any T-Mobile, Sprint, Metro by T-Mobile and Assurance Wireless customers who text 988 will connect to a professionally trained crisis counselor 24/7/365, for free, at one of over 200 nationwide 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline centers. This new option follows T-Mobile's industry-leading launch of 988 calling in November 2020, nearly 20 months before the July 16, 2022, national rollout deadline for all providers set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Opening up 988 calling and texting nationally comes as U.S. adults are reporting unprecedented levels of stress from the COVID-19 pandemic, increases in global unrest and economic concerns. At the same time, recent research has shown that while telephone conversations with a live person were the most desirable form of communication two years ago, now, with options like telehealth more widely accepted and used, people's interest in making phone calls to their health providers declined after the pandemic. Those surveyed cite texting as a more accessible alternative. And accessibility is important in crisis situations. According to the Lifeline, those who connect with a counselor in a time of need were significantly more likely to feel less depressed, less suicidal, less overwhelmed and more hopeful. Moreover, according to the latest CDC annual data, suicide rates in the U.S. on average are much higher for veterans, LGBTQ+ youth and minority populations.

Prior to the launch of 988 calling, T-Mobile undertook comprehensive steps to ensure its nationwide network was ready to route to the 10-digit (1-800-273-8255) Lifeline number. This included updating its billing system to ensure customers would not be charged for calling the new dialing code and creating a bounce-back message for anyone texting 988 that provided guidance to call 988 for support. Prior to the launch of 988 texting, T-Mobile worked to make sure texts would go directly to the Lifeline without first being translated to Lifeline's existing 1-800 number. This solution, which became shared across providers and industry partners, means that anyone texting 988 will receive a text back from 988 as expected and not from a different, unrecognizable number.

Read the full press release here.

T-Mobile