AT&T and T-Mobile are putting aside their competitive differences and working to make sure Hurricane Sandy victims can stay in touch with loved ones and friends. The two carriers jointly announced Wednesday afternoon they were opening their networks to each others’ customers in states affected by Hurricane Sandy and offer free roaming.

Today in the wake of destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy, T-Mobile and AT&T are taking extraordinary measures to make sure our customers can stay in touch. AT&T and T-Mobile have entered into an agreement to enable roaming on their networks to customers of both companies in the heavily impacted areas and where capacity is available and for subscribers with a compatible device.

Thanks to both carriers utilizing GSM and UMTS networks, interoperability between networks is a pretty straightforward move and we’re grateful that both companies are doing everything they can to offer help to affected customers.

The full press release is below:

AT&T and T-Mobile Open Networks

to Customers of Both Carriers in New York and New Jersey

Dallas and Bellevue, Wash. — October 31, 2012 —  In the wake of destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy, AT&T and T-Mobile are taking extraordinary measures to make sure our customers can stay in touch.

AT&T and T-Mobile have entered into an agreement to enable roaming on their networks to customers of both companies in the heavily impacted areas and where capacity is available and for subscribers with a compatible device.

AT&T and T-Mobile customers will be able to place calls just as they normally would, but their calls will be carried by whichever network is most operational in their area. This will be seamless for AT&T and T-Mobile customers with no change to their current rate plans or service agreements even if the phone indicates the device is attached to the other carrier’s network.

T-Mobile and AT&T both utilize network technology based on GSM and UMTS standards, which allows for this sharing of voice and data traffic.