GTA TeleGuam Customers Save $26,000 on Japan Relief Calls, Text Messages
New GTA investor makes matching gift to Japanese Red Cross to aid disaster victims
TAMUNING, Guam--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- GTA TeleGuam customers saved more than $26,000 in free international calls and text messages from Guam to Japan in the month after the devastating earthquake and tsunami.
As an added goodwill gesture, Advantage Partners, the Japan-based private equity firm that plans to take ownership of GTA TeleGuam later this year, agreed to make a $26,195 matching contribution on behalf of GTA TeleGuam customers in Guam to the Japanese Red Cross Society to aid disaster victims.
“In this instance, one plus one equals three as victims of the disaster benefit from the outpouring of caring and support from afar and near,” said Marie Mesa, executive vice president of people for GTA TeleGuam. “GTA TeleGuam made it worry free for our customers to connect with their friends and loved ones in Japan. Advantage Partners stepped up with a 100 percent matching gift to aid victims of the disaster.
“We hope all Guam customers who saved on calls and text messages to Japan, in return, will make a donation to the Japanese Red Cross relief fund,” Mesa said.
International calls and text messages from Guam to Japan more than tripled during the month after the earthquake and tsunami compared to the average monthly calling volumes.
GTA TeleGuam is waiving international long-distance charges for calls and text messages placed by its landline and MPULSE wireless post-paid customers for the full month following the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11.
Post-paid customers are those who receive a regular monthly bill for their wireless services.
“Two of the things that attracted Advantage Partners to GTA TeleGuam were its people and their commitment to community goodwill,” said Ichiro Otobe, a principal for Advantage Partners based in Tokyo.
“Although the transaction with GTA TeleGuam is pending final approval, we are pleased to come together during this time of great humanitarian need,” Otobe said.
GTA TeleGuam and its employees also have made individual contributions and participated in numerous Japan Relief fund raising campaigns hosted by various local companies and organizations in Guam.
Advantage Partners, for its part in the relief effort, pledged up to JPY 10 million (about $117,000) in matching gifts from its partners, investors and company employees. Advantage Partners also intends to match individual gifts from GTA TeleGuam employees to the International Federation of Red Cross Societies or directly to the Japanese Red Cross.
About GTA TeleGuam
GTA TeleGuam provides complete communications services on Guam. These include local and long-distance telephone service, 3G wireless, DSL Internet access, and advanced digital television, or IPTV. The company also operates a data center in Guam for offering business data storage and managed wide area networking. Based in Tamuning, Guam, GTA TeleGuam is privately owned and locally managed. Shamrock Capital Advisors, a California-based private equity firm founded as the Roy E. Disney Family investment company, provides financial backing to GTA TeleGuam. The company’s website is www.gta.net. Phone: 1-671-644-4482.
CONTACT:
GTA TeleGuam
Cora Yanger Bejado
1-671-644-0106 (o)
1-671-488-2672 (m)
cora@gta.net
KEYWORDS: United States Asia Pacific North America Australia/Oceania California Guam Japan
INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Technology Networks Telecommunications Mobile/Wireless Philanthropy Other Philanthropy Foundation Fund Raising
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