AT&T: Invites Wisconsin wireless users to recycle wireless phones and provide free phone cards to military members away from home

For more information, contact:

Jeff Bentoff, AT&T Wisconsin

Office: 414-227-6985

E-mail: jeffrey.bentoff@att.com

Madison, Wis., November 10, 2009 – AT&T* is inviting wireless users throughout Wisconsin to honor veterans by recycling cell phones in all 21 AT&T-owned stores in the state. AT&T’s cell phone recycling program supports Cell Phones for Soldiers, a charity that uses recycling proceeds to buy and send free phone cards to military members stationed away from home.

Every time a wireless customer recycles a used wireless phone with AT&T, part of the proceeds support Cell Phones for Soldiers to send free prepaid phone cards to troops overseas. Since July 2008, recycling has helped the charity send more than 350,000 free phone cards to military members away from home. With the help of wireless customers throughout the country, AT&T will match its 2008 recycling totals with the charity, year to year, through 2010, aiming to provide Cell Phones for Soldiers with $1 million in proceeds in that time.

“With the holidays just around the corner, being able to stay connected with their families back home is even more important than ever to our brave men and women serving overseas,” said Scott T. VanderSanden, President of AT&T Wisconsin. “I am proud to join forces with Senator Mark Miller — the author of a new law on the recycling of consumer electronic goods and a retired lieutenant colonel who served our country as a pilot in the Air National Guard – as well as the AT&T Pioneers and Cell Phones for Soldiers to help make the season brighter for our military personnel and their families.”

“On Veterans Day we’re reminded to pay tribute to the sacrifices made by our men and women in uniform,” said Sen. Mark Miller. “For their families and friends back home, every day is Veteran’s Day. Cell Phones for Soldiers affords all of us an excellent opportunity to give something back to our troops and their loved ones.”

“Being able to talk to family and friends is so important to the men and women serving to protect us overseas,” said John Scocos, Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs. “Donating a cell phone may seem like a small thing, but the calling cards they will provide translate into precious time for our soldiers to connect with their loved ones back home.”

During a November 10th event at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum in Madison, local veterans and military family members joined former military pilot and retired Air National Guard Lieutenant Colonel Sen. Mark Miller, AT&T Wisconsin State President Scott T. VanderSanden, and the AT&T Pioneers – a volunteer group of AT&T employees and retirees — to launch a holiday donation drive across Wisconsin – just in time for Veterans Day. In an effort to support military families with more free phone cards, AT&T is asking state wireless users to recycle their used phones through the holiday season and beyond.

Since July 2007, AT&T has been offering wireless users two simple ways to donate phones for the cause. Wireless customers from any carrier can drop off used cell phones and accessories at any of the 2,000-plus AT&T-owned stores across the U.S. Or, they can download free shipping labels from http://www.att.com/recyclewireless. Free online tools are also available to support community groups and help individuals launch and conduct their own donation drives with a new electronic “starter kit,” available on the web site.

In its second year of work with AT&T (July 2008-July 2009), Cell Phones for Soldiers has recycled more than 2.1 million phones, an increase of more than 43 percent versus the same time last year. And, the charity used its 2008-2009 recycling proceeds to send more than 350,000 prepaid phone cards to the troops to help them stay in touch with friends and family for free.

In addition, the AT&T Pioneers — a network of more than 300,000 AT&T volunteers — has been working since 2008 to expand the charity’s cell phone donation drives into communities across the U.S. Since last spring, the Pioneers’ efforts have generated more than 25,000 wireless phones for recycling, and volunteers continue to collect phones in corporate offices and community locations throughout the country.

For more information about AT&T’s efforts to support military families, please visit http://www.att.com/troopsupport.

For more information about AT&T’s sustainability efforts, please visit http://www.att.com/sustainability.