AT&T FOUNDATION DONATES $50,000 TO TÉLÉCOMS SANS FRONTIÈRES DURING HOUSTON DISASTER RECOVERY EXERCISE
HOUSTON, Feb. 21, 2005 – The AT&T Foundation today awarded a $50,000 grant to Télécoms sans Frontières (TSF), which specializes in restoring emergency telecommunications services during catastrophes or country conflicts. TSF is playing a major role in the response to the Indian Ocean tsunami.
The grant was presented by John Griffin, AT&T regional vice president, to Julie Cazenave, TSF coordinator from Nicaragua, at the site of AT&T’s Network Disaster Recovery (NDR) exercise in Houston. The NDR Team is responsible for the rapid recovery of service at AT&T network sites following catastrophic events.
TSF teams can deploy anywhere in world, usually within 48 hours, to help re-establish telecommunications, assist rescue operations and enable disaster victims to reach family and friends. This will be the third year the AT&T Foundation has supported the French-based charity in recognition of the invaluable humanitarian work the organization does around the world.
“AT&T’s gift will help us continue to expand our pioneering work and will further our preparedness to respond to disasters around the world,” said TSF President Jean-Francois Cazenave. “We are delighted to attend the AT&T disaster recovery exercise in Houston, which has allowed us to share best practices and observe AT&T’s disaster recovery team in action.”
In addition to financial assistance from the AT&T Foundation, AT&T is contributing technical support for the development of TSF initiatives by providing its teams with free remote access to the Internet and teleconferencing services. AT&T, a world expert in disaster recovery and business continuity, will also lend its skills and expertise to advise TSF in the area of emergency telecommunications.
“One of AT&T’s core beliefs is that telecommunications is vital following a disaster, both for the impacted area and for the rest of the world,” said Griffin. “AT&T is proud to support TSF’s ability to quickly deploy emergency satellite communications equipment in areas with damaged or non-existent telecommunication infrastructure as it addresses a critical humanitarian need.”
AT&T’s NDR team is the industry’s only mobile, network disaster recovery team capable of monitoring, managing and proactively protecting customers’ critical networks. The AT&T NDR exercise is taking place at the Omni Houston Hotel Westside, 13210 Katy Freeway, through Tuesday, February 22.
The exercise demonstrates the network disaster recovery process, from the initial mobilization of team members to transport of equipment and turn-up and testing of service. AT&T draws on experience and insights gained from the exercises to continuously refine its disaster response systems and strengthen its business continuity services. For more information, visit the AT&T NDR online press kit at: www.att.com/presskit/ndr.
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About TSF
Télécoms Sans Frontières (www.tsfi.org) is the leading humanitarian GNO specialized in emergency telecommunications. With its 24-hour monitoring centre and relying on its regional bases in Nicaragua and in Thailand, TSF logistics workers and technical aid crews can intervene anywhere in the world less than 48 hours after any catastrophe or a conflict and in a matter of minutes set up an operational centre on site. This centre enables aid work to be coordinated and offers support and assistance to victim populations, giving them a link with the outside world from which they would be otherwise completely cut off. TSF is equally engaged in putting its expertise in telecommunications and experience at the service of long term solidarity projects and thus contribute to reducing the gap in sharing the world’s numeric resources. TSF is a working group member of the United Nations emergency telecoms body (WGET) and also a partner of the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO).
About AT&T
For more than 125 years, AT&T (NYSE “T”, www.att.com) has been known for unparalleled quality and reliability in communications. Backed by the research and development capabilities of AT&T Labs, the company is a global leader in local, long distance, Internet and transaction-based voice and data services.