Close on the heels of a last-week announcement by AT&T and Sprint, about waiving late fees for Hurricane Sandy victims who could not pay their bills on time because of the superstorm, Verizon Wireless has now announced that it is waiving domestic voice and text usage charges for its subscribers in the hardest-hit areas of New York and New Jersey.

According to the Verizon announcement, the Verizon customers residing in areas which were severely hit by the hurricane will not have to pay any voice and text usage charges for the period from between October 29 and November 16.

In a FAQ which details the `fee waiver for hurricane victims' initiative announced by Verizon, the carrier said that customers hit by the hurricane will not be billed for their text and voice use during the mentioned period. In addition, Verizon also clearly stated that the fee waiver will be `automatic', and "no action" was required by the carrier's customers for proving their eligibility for the program.

The fee waiver will be applicable for the Verizon customers in nearly New York ten counties - including Kings County, New York County, and Queens County, among others - and over twenty New Jersey counties, including Burlington County, Essex County, Middlesex County, and Union County, and more than fifteen other counties.

About the November 16 end date for the fee-waiver program, Verizon said that, by that time, it hopes that "the lives of our customers impacted by the storm will have returned to pre-Sandy normalcy."