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Press Release from 2/3/2010
A1 SMS donation tool: 70.000 euros for Haiti
In just seven days Austrians have donated more than 70.000 euros per SMS for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. Already in the first seven days the Caritas fundraising campaign “Nachbar in Not Haiti” received 2.700 individual donations through the A1 SMS donation tool. Everyone can donate for Haiti by sending a text message to 0664 660 3333 - regardless of what mobile provider they have.
“Communication technology is essential for fast and efficient help: In areas hit by a natural disaster mobile networks are in most cases the only possibility to get in touch with the outside world. Here in Austria these networks enable us to donate money by simply sending a text message - they make it easy for us to reach out to those who need help,” says Dr. Hannes Ametsreiter, CMO mobilkom austria and CMO Telekom Austria. “I am deeply impressed by Austrians helpfulness and generosity. We want to help and will therefore use our technical know-how to make sure that aid gets to the places where it is most needed - and that it gets there fast.” A1 started its own fundraising campaign for Haiti and appealed to its customers to make donations. Most donators give 25 euros, the equivalent of one food aid pack: 2 out of 5 Austrians have donated this amount via SMS.
Fast help via SMS
The SMS donation tool is one of the simplest and most convenient ways to make donations: Those who want to help the victims in Haiti just have to send a text message with “NIN + sum” to 0664 660 3333 – e.g. “NIN 25” for donating 25 euros. The donation is automatically charged to the phone bill and will be indicated on the next invoice. mobilkom austria’s technical partner for the technical organisation of the SMS fundraising campaign is atms.
mobilkom austria refunds roaming fees of aid organisations active in Haiti
Mobile networks are the only possibility to coordinate aid in Haiti at the moment. Therefore mobilkom austria will refund roaming fees to rescue- and aid teams. All A1-, bob- and Red Bull MOBILE clients, who are active in Haiti as aid workers, will get their roaming fees directly refunded until the end of February. All roaming fees accumulated in the Haitian network starting from the day of the catastrophe until the end of February will be credited to their account and deducted from the next bill. Rescuers can register for this refund by sending an e-mail to service@A1.net.
