MANILA, Philippines – Smart has teamed up with Twitter to provide extra means of communication to Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) survivors.

Smart announced on Wednesday, November 13, that it would provide free Twitter updates via text messaging to Smart and Talk ‘N Text prepaid subscribers.

According to Smart, the offer “provides up to 20 tweets that can be received for free per day for the next 14 days starting November 14.”

Users need to register for the service, following the instructions below. After registering, Smart says users will not be charged for Twitter SMS messages they send to accounts they follow in this manner.

The registration process is as follows:

For existing Twitter users:

1. Text “start” 4409.
2. Text “YES” to 4409
3. Text “ (ex. @juandelacruz) to 4409
4. Text “” to 4409
5. Text “FOLLOW <@username>” to 4409 – to follow an account on Twitter (ex. “FOLLOW @smartcares”)
6. Text “ON <@username >” to 4409 – to follow an account via Twitter SMS (ex. “ON @smartcares”)

If not an existing Twitter user:

1. Text “start” to 4409.
2. Text “Full Name” to 4409.
3. Text “FOLLOW <@username>” to 4409 to follow an account on Twitter (ex. “FOLLOW @smartcares”)
4. Text “ON <@username>” to 4409 – to follow an account via Twitter SMS (ex. “ON @smartcares”)

Smart says it has been promoting SMS technology as the primary service for communication, as telecoms companies work to bring back communication capabilities in the areas hit by the storm. Sending a text reportedly uses less network resources than calling or other services. – Rappler.com