MOBILE OPERATORS WAIVE DONOR SMS FEES

Prague, 4 September 2013 – Donor SMS are a very popular way of making charitable donations and a Czech phenomenon. Millions of Donor SMS are sent annually to support various charitable causes. In connection with this charitable support, mobile operators have decided to definitively waive the costs of these SMS, thus increasing the volume of funds intended for various humanitarian projects. 

While CZK 27 out of CZK 30, which is the price of a Donor SMS, had until now gone to specific non-profit projects, the amount donated from each Donor SMS will henceforth be increased to CZK 28.50. The remaining CZK 1.50, which comprises the costs of operation and administration of this charitable service, will continue to go to the service provider. 

JOINT EFFORTS
 “We keep thinking about what else we can do to contribute to society,” explains Petra Pavičová, Social Responsibility Manager at T-Mobile, adding: “An intensive public discussion in June this year inspired us to take the decision to provide this beneficial service completely free of charge and we have not been collecting the fee since 1 June this year.” 

“We are very glad that we have succeeded in reaching the agreement. We believe it is natural to support the good deeds of O2 customers, and therefore we have decided to fully cover our costs associated with this service. Thanks to this, more funds will now go to non-profit organisations,” says Dana Dvořáková, Corporate Communication Director at Telefónica Czech Republic. “This step is fully in line with our responsible business strategy.” 

“With this step, we want to support giving in the Czech Republic even further,” says Přemysl Filip, Senior Manager for Social Responsibility at Vodafone. 

“We very much appreciate this helpful measure taken by mobile operators,” says Klára Šplíchalová, Executive Director at the Donors Forum, adding: “Since its inception, the project has respected the principle of minimum costs for its operation. Thanks to this decision, Donor SMS will become an even more effective tool for efficient mobile giving. The remaining amount of CZK 1.50 continues to cover all costs needed to ensure the operation of the service by its provider, support for non-profit organisations and administrative backup of the project.” 

DONOR SMS IS A CZECH PHENOMENON
During its more than nine years in existence, the very successful project of Donor SMS has brought approximately CZK 430 million to Czech non-profit organisations for publicly beneficial and charitable projects. 

The strongest recent year was 2010, when customers of all three operators sent 2,256,690 Donor SMS to support victims of the floods in Moravia and the earthquake in Haiti. This helped raise nearly CZK 61 million for the non-profit organisations organising charitable and humanitarian aid projects. 

Donor SMS is a joint project of the Donors Forum, a civic organisation aimed at promoting philanthropy in the Czech Republic, and the Association of Mobile Network Operators. The Donor SMS system is utterly unique. The Czech Republic is the first country where the service was introduced; other participating countries include Slovakia and Bulgaria. Donor SMS were nominated for the GSM Awards in the category of the “Best Service in the Area of Community Development” and within the GSM Association Awards in Cannes, Czech DMS were recognised as one of the four best publicly beneficial projects in the GSM area.

T-Mobile Czech Republic, a member of the international telecommunications group Deutsche Telekom, has almost 6.2 million customers, the number-one operator in the Czech market. T-Mobile is an integrated operator: in addition to telecommunications services, it offers comprehensive ICT solutions not only for companies, but also for other organizations and individuals. It provides outstanding services in the high-speed network, which was proved repeatedly by benchmark testing performed by umlaut (former P3) with Best-in-Test seal.

T-Mobile Czech Republic places emphasis on taking a responsible approach to the environment and society. It adheres to fair business practices, helps beneficial applications and services to see the light of day, supports non-profit organizations, small businesses and individuals, and lends a helping hand whenever crisis situations arise. The company’s employees serve as volunteers in many places across the entire Czech Republic.

More information about the company is available at www.t-mobile.cz, www.t-press.cz (the portal for journalists) and www.t-mobile.cz/pomahame (information on the company’s CSR activities).

Contact details of the press unit: press@t-press.cz.