The autoMOBIL sculpture by Maxim Velcovsky will be on display for four more days
Public 14.04.2008 in category Press News / CSR and Sponsoring
- The last opportunity to see an sculpture made by Maxim Velcovsky during the Mobile Etiquette Day at Prague's Namesti Republiky will be on Friday, 18April 2008
- The autoMOBIL artifact is covered with more than 2,000 unused handsets
- The sculpture was created during T-Mobile's event supporting the recycling of obsolete phones
Prague, 14 April 2008 - Do you know what automobiles and mobile phones have in common? Maxim Velcovsky, the 2007 Designer of the Year, tried to answer this question by creating a sculpture during this year's celebrations of Mobile Etiquette Day. The result of his efforts - the unusual autoMOBIL - will be on display at Prague's Namesti Republiky until 18 April, in front of the Old Customs House building.
Maxim Velcovsky, a designer with an unmistakable mop of hair, perceives a number of connections between mobile telephones and automobiles, such as the approach towards the design of new products which is, in both cases, at the center of the manufacturer's attention, or technological maturity and focus on increasingly complex components that are characteristic of the automotive industry and the mobile communications industry alike. However, the resemblance is also apparent when phones and cars cease to function properly. Neither junk cars nor obsolete handsets should end up in wild waste dumps or illegal junkyards. The reason is that both automobiles and mobile phones contain a wide range of materials and components that can create a considerable burden on the environment unless recycled properly and thus conveniently salvaged for further use.
"Providing support for the recycling of unused handsets is a key component of our program of corporate social responsibility," says Martina Kemrova, Senior Manager of Corporate Communication at T-Mobile Czech Republic, adding: "Therefore, we staged an extensive educational event as a part of this year's celebrations of Mobile Etiquette Day. The purpose of the event was to provide information to the public on the advantages of a responsible approach towards the environment and on the risks inherent in throwing old and disused electronic equipment into waste dumps. At the same time, all this information was presented in an entertaining and interesting way so as to grab the interest of the public."
The Mobile Etiquette Day celebrations took place from 1 April to 3 April at Namesti Republiky in Prague. The designer Maxim Velcovsky also took part in the event, creating a sculpture right at the very place at which the celebrations took place. Inspired by the recycling theme, the AutoMOBIL sculpture is a car whose exterior is made of more than 2,000 unused handsets and it was ceremoniously unveiled on 3 April during the closing show of Mobile Etiquette Day. It will be on display at the place at which it was created until 18 April. People interested in seeing it will be able to do so at any time of day.
The celebration of Mobile Etiquette Day is part of the successful jaXmobilem project in which T-Mobile has been involved since 2006, when the http://www.jaxmobilem.cz/ website was launched. The informal "holiday" called Mobile Etiquette Day is celebrated in the Czech Republic each 3 August. It commemorates the date when the first voice connection using a portable cellular phone, the direct ancestor of today's mobile handsets, was established in New York in 1973.
Corporate social responsibility program and support for recycling
In addition to other projects, T-Mobile's comprehensive program of corporate social responsibility also includes, for example, the T-Mobile Fund, which is intended to support local initiatives throughout the Czech Republic, a volunteer program for T-Mobile employees, and environmentally sound waste management on the company's premises. In 2005, T-Mobile became the first mobile operator in the market to have enabled customers to hand in their old handsets for the purpose of ecological disposal.
T-Mobile also supported handset recycling recently by conducting a campaign from 7 November 2007 to 31 January 2008 based on offering vouchers for each unused mobile phone that was returned to a T-Mobile shop. The value of the voucher, called Recyklistek (recycling voucher), was CZK 200 incl. VAT and it could be used when purchasing a new handset, Twist set or accessories at T-Mobile shops. The campaign was an immense success: It persuaded customers to bid farewell to 50,554 unused mobile phones, which is 70 times more handsets than were collected in the whole of 2006. The total value of the recycling vouchers distributed among customers was CZK 10,110,800.
"It was during the first few weeks after the event started that our skepticism regarding Czech people's lack of enthusiasm about environmental matters disappeared completely," commented Martina Kemrova, Senior Manager of Corporate Communication at T-Mobile, adding: "We twice needed to print additional recycling vouchers in order to satisfy everyone returning their obsolete handsets."
About the Company
T-Mobile Czech Republic has been operating in the Czech market since 1996. As of 30 September 2011, almost 5.4 million customers were using T-Mobile services.
T-Mobile operates a public mobile communications network on the GSM and UMTS standards. Since 1 January 2008, T-Mobile has been offering fixed data and voice telecommunications services. In 2009, T-Mobile extended its portfolio to include ICT services and, since November 2010, the operator also offers the T-Mobile TV satellite television service.
T-Mobile has always focused on the quality of offered services. Independent tests have repeatedly confirmed that T-Mobile is the quality leader in 2G and 3G (UMTS FDD) data services, as well as in GSM voice services.
Since its establishment, the company has placed emphasis on excellent customer service and proper conduct towards business partners, employees and the environment. T-Mobile has received, among other awards, the VIA Bona 2009 award for the involvement of its employees in philanthropic and volunteer activities.
T-Mobile is a member of the international telecommunications group Deutsche Telekom. Thanks to the group’s international presence, customers can count on the worldwide availability of their favourite services and enjoy uniform, favourable prices of calls when abroad.
For more information about the company, please visit t-press.cz or www.t-mobile.cz.
