T-Mobile collects 2,379 old mobile handsets in five weeks
Public 23.08.2010 in category Press News / CSR and Sponsoring
- People exchanged their old handsets for top-up coupons worth nearly CZK 250,000
- The initiative will support a gorilla rescue project
Prague, 24 August 2010 - T-Mobile's summer project aimed at collecting and recycling old mobile handsets has come to a successful end. People could bring their obsolete handsets to T-Mobile shops and receive a CZK 100 top-up coupon in return. In five weeks, 2,379 unused handsets were collected.
"Thanks to the great interest of our customers, the project finished earlier than we expected, as we ran out of top-up coupons," said Jitka Chocova, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at T-Mobile, adding: "In five weeks people returned nearly 2,500 old mobile phones, whereas last year in total only 1,754 handsets were collected."
T-Mobile started the initiative at the Rock for People festival, where music fans handed in 355 handsets in four days. Since 15 July, another 2,379 handsets have been collected at T-Mobile shops. In total, T-Mobile has collected 2,734 mobile phones during the summer.
The vast majority of all handsets are less than five years old. However, they also include rare pieces, such as Alcatel HC500 from 1996. Although this handset is not able to send an SMS or identify an incoming call, back then it cost CZK 12,000.
The most active were customers from big cities: coupons were no longer available as early as at the end of July at selected T-Mobile shops in Prague, Pardubice, Hradec Kralove, Chomutov, Teplice, Trutnov and Tabor, whereas the remaining shops ran out of coupons in August.
By handing in obsolete mobile phones, customers not only helped to recycle their handsets the right way, but also supported a gorilla rescue project in Africa. This project was launched by the Prague zoo this year in cooperation with REMA System, a company dealing with environmental disposal of electronic waste. Extraction of raw materials used in the production of mobile handsets and MP3 players plays a significant role in the continuing reduction of these animals' natural habitat. REMA System will therefore contribute CZK 10 to the gorilla rescue project for each returned handset.
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.
