AT&T has announced it will celebrate its ongoing support for Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) at the Monaco Grand Prix with theplacement of the charity’s logo on the AT&T Williams race cars.
The presence of the TSF logo will provide the charity with an opportunity to raise itsglobal profile during the race weekend, arguably the most famous event in the FormulaOne calendar. An estimated 200,000 visitors are expected to attend the Monaco streetcircuit, and the event attracts a worldwide television audience of approximately 56million people. The charity’s logo will be placed on the headrest of the AT&T WilliamsFW32 racing car with the wording ‘Presented by AT&T’.
It is also a timely celebration as Jean-François Cazenave, one of the charity’s cofounders,was recently awarded the Legion d’Honneur, France’s highest decoration ofhonour, for his humanitarian efforts. TSF is the leading charity specialising in emergencytelecommunications.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to showcase our charity in front of a global audience,”said Jean-François Cazenave, President and co-founder of TSF. “Support from globalorganisations such as AT&T is so important to our mission to bring communicationstechnology to those in real need. We have a long-standing and positive relationship withAT&T, which has helped our work so much.”
“In emergency situations, people need to communicate – to get help, get home, or letfamily and friends know they are safe. This is why the charityTélécoms Sans Frontières is so close to our hearts,”said Tom Regent, head of AT&T in EMEA. “We have supported TSF for many years andthe spirit behind TSF is the same that drives AT&T – bringing people together with theaid of technology.”
2010 has already proved to be a busy year for TSF. Following the devastatingearthquakes in Haiti and Chile, the charity deployed emergency response teams to theaffected areas, setting up humanitarian calling operations to help victims get in touchwith family and friends, and assist aid agencies in their logistical operations.AT&T has supported TSF since 2003, and has donated over $400,000 to the charitysince 2005. Following the Haiti earthquake in January, the AT&T Foundation pledged anadditional $50,000 to TSF.
AT&T is the title sponsor of the AT&T Williams team, and provides the team with a fullsuite of advanced IP-based communications solutions including a virtual private networkthat enables secure and reliable communications from the race track to the team’sheadquarters and other key locations.
AT&T is also featuring Cazenave and his TSF co-founder Monique Lanne-Petit in thenew AT&T Williams '60 seconds with…' online interview series, which profiles everythingfrom their favourite Grand Prix races to the work challenges keeping them awake atnight: http://youratt.com/attwilliams/en/sixtyseconds/6
During the last 15 years, AT&T has invested more than $500 million in its networkdisaster recovery (NDR) programme, which includes specially trained managers,engineers and technicians, as well as a fleet of more than 300 self-contained equipmenttrailers and support vehicles that house the same equipment and components as anAT&T data-routing or voice-switching centre. Since 1992, the NDR team has beenactivated more than a dozen times in response to disasters, including restoring serviceafter the tornadoes in Oklahoma in 1999; the September 11 attacks at the World TradeCenter in 2001; the Prague floods in 2002; and the Chilean earthquake in 2010.
About Télécoms Sans Frontières
Télécoms Sans Frontières: the leading humanitarian NGO specialised in emergency telecommunicationsWith its 24-hour monitoring centre and relying on its operational bases in Europe, Central America and Asia,Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) crews of IT and telecoms specialists can intervene anywhere in the world in lessthan 24 hours. After a sudden onset disaster or conflict, they can set up in a matter of minutes a satellite-basedtelecoms centre offering broadband Internet, phone and fax lines. These centres enable emergency NGOs, the UnitedNations and local authorities to communicate right at the heart of a crisis. They also facilitate the coordination of aidefforts. In parallel, TSF runs humanitarian calling operation to offer support and assistance to affected civilians, givingthem a link with the outside world from which they would be otherwise completely cut off. Beyond emergencies, TSF isalso involved in long term prevention and development projects that offer sustainable solutions to benefit localassociations and structures in the most isolated and vulnerable communities.
Since its creation in 1998, TSF deployed to nearly 60 countries and assisted almost 500 relief organisations andmillions of victims. In 2006, TSF became a partner of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of HumanitarianAffairs (OCHA) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). TSF is First Responder of the EmergencyTelecommunications Cluster (ETC).
Télécoms Sans Frontières is also a working group member of the United Nations emergency telecoms body (WGET).TSF is a partner of the Humanitarian Aid Department of the European Commission (ECHO) and a member of theInternational Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA). www.tsfi.org
