#Coronavirus: Free Courses, Services From TCS, Google, Jio, Airtel, Microsoft, Apple You Can Use Right Now

Amidst the lockdown following the outbreak of the Novel coronavirus, companies and governments are taking steps to ease pressure on people. Many technology as well as telecom companies are providing free courses, apps and other benefits.

Some of these steps taken by companies involve offering services and benefits free of cost, extending certain benefits to various sections of the society. 

Read to find out more about the companies and the services or benefits you can avail…

What Services Telecom Companies Are Offering?

Reliance Jio 4G 

Reliance Jio is offering double 4G data in all its add-on plans. The add-on plans include the Rs 11, Rs 21, Rs 51 and Rs 101. Each of these plans now have double data benefits as well as additional talktime to non-Jio numbers over and above the ones Jio users have in their base plan. It has announced that it will give 100 minutes of calls and SMS free of cost to its JioPhone users. It has also announced that their users’ numbers won’t be suspended, if they don’t recharge their numbers.

Reliance Jio has announced that it will offer double data benefits as well for its fiber-to-home broadband service customers. This service is applicable on all existing recharges, which can be availed by redeeming vouchers from the ‘My Vouchers’ section available on MyJio app.

Airtel

Bharti Airtel has initiated ways for its subscribers to recharge their mobile numbers via grocery and pharmacy stores, like Big Bazaar and Apollo pharmacies. It recently announced that it would extend the validity of its prepaid subscribers till April 17.  Even after the validity of their plan is exhausted, subscribers will continue to get incoming calls on their Airtel mobile numbers. The telco has also credited Rs 10 talktime to its low-income customers. 

Vodafone Idea

Vodafone Idea announced on April 5, 2020 that it had activated a prepaid recharge facility via ATMs for all its customers during this lockdown period. It also  announced extending the validity of its prepaid plans till April 17, 2020 for its customers who are using feature phones at no additional cost. Vodafone Idea has also announced an SMS recharge facility for those who are unable to access online services. This facility however, is only available to ICICI Bank and Axis Bank customers. Just like Airtel, Vodafone-Idea too is offering talk-time credit of Rs 10 to feature phone users.

BSNL

State-run telecom carrier, BSNL has also extended the validity of all prepaid users till April 20th. It has also provided all its users Rs 10 free talktime.

The Benefits and Services Other Startups and Companies are Offering!

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) 

A sector of TCS, TCS iON, is offering a 15-day self-paced digital certification programme named Career Edge. The Career Edge is designed for both college students as well as professionals across the globe.

Apple

The Cupertino multinational giant is offering apps, Final Cut Pro X and Logic Pro X. These apps act as tools to be used by creative professionals as well as by students. The Final Cut Pro X app has a 30-day free trial, which has now been extended to 90 days. On the other hand, Logic Pro X, didn’t have any free trial period but now is available for 90 days. 

Google

Google has some features that are available only in the Enterprise edition of G Suite and in G Suite Enterprise for Education. These will now be available at no additional cost to all customers till July 1, 2020. Some of the advanced features in its teleconferencing service Google Meet have been made available at no cost till as long as September 30, 2020.

Microsoft

Microsoft is also offering free access to its premium communication tool that allows users to share documents, video chat among other things.

Fujifilm

Fujilfilm is offering three free online photography workshops throughout the month of April. These workshops will be conducted on Fujifilm’s social media handles by various industry experts and will cover different kinds of photography.

Nikon

Similarly, Nikon has also made its complete Nikon School online curriculum free for April. From basic tips to professional expertise, all the videos are available for free of cost.

Fitbit

Fitbit is offering a 90-day free trial of this paid subscription instead of the regular 7 days for all its users. This subscription includes personalized health insights, health guidance, advanced sleep tools, customized programs, and 150+ workouts from fitness brands like barre3, Daily Burn, POPSUGAR, and Yoga Studio by Gaiam.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is offering free job postings to speed up the hiring process for critical roles needed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. It will also promote urgent jobs and hire resources from industries — including healthcare, supermarket, warehouses, freight delivery and non-profit organisations working for disaster relief — in critical need.

NASSCOM

Nasscom, along with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), is offering a Foundational Artificial Intelligence course that is available on its website. The course is said to be aligned to the industry’s recommended Foundation AI curriculum for everyone till May 15, 2020.

Audible

Audible is offering free audio books for children and teenagers “for as long as schools are closed.” These audiobooks are also available in six languages – English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, and Japanese.