For further information:
Bob Nersesian
908-234-4548 (office)
nersesian@att.com
Jim Byrnes
908-234-8754 (office)
jbyrnes@att.com
FOR RELEASE THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2005
BEDMINSTER, N.J. – The AT&T Foundation, the philanthropic arm of AT&T Corp., said today that it will donate $500,000 to the American Red Cross to aid victims of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina throughout the Gulf Coast.
The Hurricane 2005 Relief Fund enables the Red Cross to respond immediately, providing shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to disaster victims in the United States.
Additionally, the AT&T Foundation will match AT&T employee contributions of $25 or more to the Hurricane 2005 Relief Fund or the National Disaster Relief Fund for up to a total of $100,000 in matching funds for emergency relief and response efforts related to Hurricane Katrina. Further, the company will set up a fund through the AT&T Pioneers to assist its own employees directly affected by the hurricane. AT&T and its employees have a long tradition of responding and assisting in times of natural disasters.
AT&T also said it is assuring that its network services remain in operation for businesses and consumers by replenishing fuel to generators and recharging batteries in areas where commercial power has been interrupted.
The company dispatched several Emergency Communications Satellite Units into the area to support relief efforts. One of those units was made available to the State of Louisiana for emergency operations and is currently being used by the Louisiana State Police. AT&T’s Network Disaster Recovery equipment, which is designed for quick mobility to restore essential telecommunications services, has arrived in southern Louisiana and Mississippi for use as needed.
AT&T’s Internet and data networks have remained in service without interruption from the hurricane, and the company said it is experiencing some minor call blocking in its voice network in areas of the southern U.S. affected by Hurricane Katrina. The majority of this blocking is due to outages in local telephone company end offices and facilities.
About AT&T
For more than 125 years, AT&T (NYSE ‘T’) 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.
