As America contends with a shock to the system amid the growing spread of the coronavirus, the country’s network operators have agreed to provide some relief.

At least 71 broadband, wireless, and telephone service operators have signed on to support the Federal Communications Commission’s Keep Americans Connected Pledge. For the next 60 days, most operators have agreed to halt service terminations due to unpaid bills, waive any late fees, and open their WiFi hotspots to any person that needs access.

FCC Chair Ajit Pai earned widespread support for the effort within 24 hours of making the call and is urging other companies to follow suit. “As the coronavirus outbreak spreads and causes a series of disruptions to the economic, education, medical, and civic life of our country, it is imperative that Americans stay connected,” he wrote in a prepared statement.

“I don’t want any American consumers experiencing hardships because of the pandemic to lose connectivity,” Pai said. “This may be a difficult time for our nation, but if we all work together I am confident that we can rise to the challenge.”

Many mobile and broadband operators have also taken steps to respond to expected network impacts tied to the growing coronavirus outbreak, including speed boosts, a period of complimentary service for low-income families, and increased capex.

“Everything helps and we need to come together,” said Roger Entner, founder and lead analyst at Recon Analytics. “If we’re more and more in the grip of this virus and we’re confined more and more to our homes, our way to touch the world and reach out to the world is going to be our wireless networks and our wireline networks — the internet.”

With millions of Americans living paycheck to paycheck, and untold numbers facing lost income, connectivity is all the more critical to stay informed, educated, and equipped to accomplish responsibilities in an increasingly remote manner, according to Entner.

Separate from the FCC’s industry-wide effort, Dish Network announced that its entire portfolio of thus far unused 600 MHz spectrum will be made available to T-Mobile US for 60 days at no cost. Dish executives described it as an effort to bolster and improve T-Mobile’s network performance as businesses, schools, and large gatherings cease across the country.

T-Mobile is also gaining access to 600 MHz spectrum held by Bluewater, Channel 51, Comcast, NewLevel, LB Holdings, and Omega Wireless. The additional spectrum will enable T-Mobile to expand capacity for customers with compatible devices and, pending FCC approval, it plans to put the additional spectrum into service within days. T-Mobile, which expects to finalize its merger with Sprint in the coming weeks, has also expanded roaming access for Sprint customers on its network.

“We take our responsibility to keep our customers connected incredibly seriously,” Neville Ray, president of technology at T-Mobile, said in a statement. “We can’t thank these partners and the FCC enough for coming together to provide people across the country with the critical connectivity they’re relying on right now.”

Entner applauded the move, adding that Dish, T-Mobile, and Sprint customers will all benefit from expanded access. However, he noted that these various efforts underway doesn’t change the fact that roughly 20 million U.S. households still don’t have access to broadband. As such, he expect T-Mobile to accelerate the expansion of its network into rural areas after the merger closes.

“T-Mobile will roll out its network to rural parts (of the country) as it is, and their low-hanging fruit is the 20 million households that don’t have broadband yet in largely rural areas,” Entner said. “And there will be a reaction from Verizon and AT&T, so we are incrementally closing that gap.”

The industry is making strides to close that gap, but it’s not happening fast enough and the underlying causes for that divide remain, he explained. “I think it’s a noble goal to connect every American but some Americans make choices that make it very hard to connect them because they deliberately are in places that are disconnected.”

As 329.4 million people adapt to rapid changes throughout American society, it’s important to note that many of these moves are unprecedented but not all. “This reminds me of the national emergency like 9/11 where we had the same type of response,” Entner said.

However, the aftermath of 9/11 will prove to have fostered a much shorter impact because the virus that causes COVID-19 is still spreading and health professionals expect that to continue for weeks or months. “It’s going to get worse before it gets better,” Entner said.