• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Qwest Provides Aid to Hurricane-Ravaged Gulf Coast

Posted on: Wednesday, 31 August 2005, 21:00 CDT

With millions of Gulf Coast residents impacted by one of the most catastrophic natural disasters in U.S. history, Qwest Communications International Inc. (NYSE: Q) and its employees are stepping in to help. In addition to providing calling cards, disaster training and technical support, Qwest today announced it will match employee donations to the American Red Cross up to a total of $250,000.

"This is a time when people from all over the country come together to help disaster victims get their lives back together," said Qwest chairman and CEO Richard C. Notebaert. "Many of our employees have been personally impacted by this tragedy and their selfless commitment to restoring telecommunications services and to helping victims of this tragedy is inspirational. Additionally, many of us are responding through contributions of time and money. Our Spirit of Service is not just a tag line, it's how we operate."

"Qwest has been a tremendous partner to the Red Cross over the years, and they were one of the first companies we reached out to when we saw the tremendous need," said James Hamilton, executive director of the American Red Cross, West Service Area. "We could not complete our mission without the generous help of Qwest and the thousands of companies and individuals who contribute time and money to help victims."

To date, Qwest is actively involved in the following activities:

Victim Assistance

-- Qwest will match donations dollar-for-dollar from employees up to a total of $250,000, providing a total potential monetary value of $500,000.

-- A national deployment of American Red Cross disaster response volunteers has been dispatched to assist those affected by Katrina, many of whom were recently trained with a $230,000 grant the Qwest Foundation made to the Red Cross.

-- Qwest is providing the Red Cross with 2,000 free long-distance calling cards to distribute to families affected by the disaster.

-- Qwest employees and Pioneers are actively working with the Denver and Colorado Springs chapters of the Red Cross to staff a phone bank assisting victims of the hurricane.

Service Restoration

-- In anticipation of the storm, Qwest began rerouting voice and data traffic on Sunday to mitigate disruption of service for customers.

-- Qwest technicians proactively secured network infrastructure to protect against storm damage that might impact network equipment.

-- On Monday, Qwest began organizing and staging vital telecommunications equipment in neighboring states in preparation for restoration efforts. Qwest has now moved this equipment into affected areas and has begun restoration work.

-- Qwest technicians from neighboring states are in the affected area and those employees, some personally affected by the disaster, are actively engaged in the restoration process.

-- Qwest is working with local emergency personnel to provide vital communications services during the outage.

About Qwest

Qwest Communications International Inc. (NYSE: Q) is a leading provider of high-speed Internet, data, video and voice services. With approximately 40,000 employees, Qwest is committed to the "Spirit of Service" and providing world-class services that exceed customers' expectations for quality, value and reliability. For more information, please visit the Qwest Web site at www.qwest.com.

Forward-Looking Statement Note

This release may contain projections and other forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements may differ materially from actual future events or results. Readers are referred to the documents filed by us with the Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically the most recent reports which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: access line losses due to increased competition, including from technology substitution of our access lines with wireless and cable alternatives; our substantial indebtedness, and our inability to complete any efforts to de-lever our balance sheet through asset sales or other transactions; any adverse outcome of the current investigation by the U.S. Attorney's office in Denver into certain matters relating to us; adverse results of increased review and scrutiny by regulatory authorities, media and others (including any internal analyses) of financial reporting issues and practices or otherwise; rapid and significant changes in technology and markets; any adverse developments in commercial disputes or legal proceedings, including any adverse outcome of current or future legal proceedings related to matters that are the subject of governmental investigations, and, to the extent not covered by insurance, if any, our inability to satisfy any resulting obligations from funds available to us, if any; potential fluctuations in quarterly results; volatility of our stock price; intense competition in the markets in which we compete including the likelihood of certain of our competitors consolidating with other providers or otherwise reorganizing their capital structure to more effectively compete against us; changes in demand for our products and services; acceleration of the deployment of advanced new services, such as broadband data, wireless and video services, which could require substantial expenditure of financial and other resources in excess of contemplated levels; higher than anticipated employee levels, capital expenditures and operating expenses; adverse changes in the regulatory or legislative environment affecting our business; changes in the outcome of future events from the assumed outcome included in our significant accounting policies; and our ability to utilize net operating losses in projected amounts.

The information contained in this release is a statement of Qwest's present intention, belief or expectation and is based upon, among other things, the existing regulatory environment, industry conditions, market conditions and prices, the economy in general and Qwest's assumptions. Qwest may change its intention, belief or expectation, at any time and without notice, based upon any changes in such factors, in Qwest's assumptions or otherwise. The cautionary statements contained or referred to in this release should be considered in connection with any subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements that Qwest or persons acting on its behalf may issue. This release may include analysts' estimates and other information prepared by third parties for which Qwest assumes no responsibility.

Qwest undertakes no obligation to review or confirm analysts' expectations or estimates or to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements and other statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

By including any information in this release, Qwest does not necessarily acknowledge that disclosure of such information is required by applicable law or that the information is material.

The Qwest logo is a registered trademark of Qwest Communications International Inc. in the U.S. and certain other countries.

Source: Business Wire

More News in this Category