MCI WorldCom Joins Codetel To Offer Hurricane Relief Victims Free Calls In The Dominican Republic
SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - October 23, 1998 -
CODETEL, the Dominican Republic's leading telecommunications
services provider and MCI WorldCom announced today that the two
companies will sponsor a program for Hurricane Georges victims to
make free calls to their relatives in the United States. The program
will consist of providing the services through two mobile calling
centers visiting the most affected areas of the country. The program
represents over US$700,000 in savings for Dominican callers. To
assist in covering the costs of the program, MCI WorldCom donated
1,000,000 minutes worth of termination charges to the United States.
CODETEL is preparing the mobile calling centers that will span the
whole country until December 31, 1998. The centers will use
Codetel's state-of-the-art wireless technology, which is
massively deployed over the Dominican Republic's territory and
all calls will be completed in the US over CODETEL and MCI MCI
WorldCom's best-of-breed international facilities.
"In the aftermath of such a destructive storm, our company is
committed to providing assistance in every way possible for the
relief of the victims," said Carlos Espinal, president, CODETEL.
"We deeply appreciate MCI WorldCom's contribution in helping
us provide the most affected Dominicans with free US calls."
"Ensuring that island residents have universal communication
access to loved ones and relief agencies is critical in restoring the
Domincan Republic," said Seth Blumenfeld, president, MCI
WorldCom International Carrier Services. "MCI MCI WorldCom
values Codetel's grass-roots commitment to serving its customers
when they need it most," he added.
MCI WorldCom is a global telecommunications company with revenue
of more than $30 billion and established operations in over 65
countries encompassing the Americas, Europe and the Asia-Pacific
regions. MCI WorldCom is a premier provider of facilities-based and
fully integrated local, long distance, international and Internet
services. MCI WorldCom's global networks, including its
state-of-the-art pan-European network and transoceanic cable systems,
provide end-to-end high-capacity connectivity to more than 35,000
buildings worldwide. For more information on MCI WorldCom, visit the
World Wide Web at
www.mciworldcom.com
.
Codetel is the leading full service telecommunications provider in
the Dominican Republic, wholly owned by GTE of the United States.
Codetel provides local, wireless and international voice and data
services to more than 500,000 residential and business customers
throughout the country. For more information on Codetel and GTE,
visit internet sites
www.codetel.com.do
