AT&T: Empowering South Carolina Consumers Through Sustainability

Interactive 2011 AT&T Sustainability Report Highlights EnergyEfficiency Gains, Reduction in Use of Gasoline and a Major Investment inEducation in South Carolina; Provides Opportunities for Consumers toSupport Community-Improving Nonprofits
   
COLUMBIA, SC – July 5, 2012 – American consumers are in the midst of acommunications revolution, and AT&T’s technology has the power tohelp South Carolina and the world operate more sustainably. In the 2011AT&T Sustainability Report, the company demonstrates how it iscommitted to improving our world and empowering consumers to do thesame. The report emphasizes the ways in which AT&T’s employees,networks and customers are working toward creating a more sustainablefuture. Key report highlights include:

• Forty-two million dollars in annualized energy savings through more than 4,500 energy efficiency projects.
• A fulfilled $100 million commitment to AT&T’s Aspire educationinitiative, with the groundwork laid for an expanded $250 millioncommitment planned over five years, announced in 2012.
• Beginning the transition of AT&T-branded accessory packagingto a plastic comprised of up to 30 percent plant-based materials.

As a testament to AT&T’s commitment to connecting customers andcommunities through sustainability, the company launched afirst-of-its-kind interactive report that empowers consumers to engage,share, and at the same time, generate a donation to acommunity-improving nonprofit of their choice. 

“Building and maintaining an outstanding quality of life in SouthCarolina is vitally important to our ability to attract and retainjobs,” said Secretary of Commerce Bobby Hitt. “It is exciting to see theimpact which a major company can have when it is committed toinitiatives which help make this state an even better place to live andwork.”

In South Carolina alone, the following was accomplished:

• AT&T employees and retirees donated 54,743 hours of time to community outreach activities — worth more than $1.1 million.
• More than $8.3 million has been given from 2008 through 2011through corporate, employee and AT&T Foundation giving to benefitprograms in the state.
• Additionally, AT&T invested more than $950 million  in its wireless and wireline networks from 2008 through 2011.

“At AT&T, our commitment to providing outstanding service to ourcustomers is matched by our determination to continue our legacy ofresponsible corporate stewardship,” said Pamela Lackey, President,AT&T South Carolina. “We appreciate the opportunity to serve ourfriends and neighbors and to make a lasting difference for families andcommunities statewide.”

The report, which is hosted entirely online at www.att.com/sustainabilityreport,enables visitors to explore an interactive “city” that is populated bynarratives showcasing the ways people are using AT&T products andservices to operate more sustainably, as well as the inspiring work thecompany is doing to improve communities across the world.

At certain points along their interactive journey, viewers are promptedto answer questions about the report and are rewarded with the option ofdirecting an AT&T-funded donation to   nonprofits dedicated toimproving our communities through the AT&T Causes.com Connect ForGood community.

“By putting consumers in the driver’s seat of this year’s sustainabilityreport, we’re doing more than just sharing with them the significantresults we’ve seen from our multi-year investments. We’re empoweringthem to live more sustainable lives, encouraging them to share thisknowledge and enabling them to support nonprofits though Causes.com,”said Charlene Lake, Chief Sustainability Officer and Senior VicePresident-Public Affairs.

Highlights from the 2011 AT&T Sustainability Report include:

People and Communities: AT&T is committed to strengtheningcommunities through advancing education and by encouraging employees andretirees to donate their time to volunteer activities. 2011 communityhighlights include:

• AT&T met its four-year $100 million commitment to AT&TAspire, the largest education initiative in the company’s history. Theprogram is specifically focused on high school retention and workforcereadiness. It supported more than 1,000 national and communityorganizations, impacted more than one million students and establishedthe groundwork for an expanded $250 million commitment planned over fiveyears, announced in 2012.
• AT&T employees and retirees donated more than six millionhours of time to community outreach activities, worth more than $133million.

Environment: In 2011, AT&T built upon its ongoing efforts tobetter manage energy, invest in alternative fuel sources and encouragethe use of renewable resources. Progress included: 

• Implementation of 4,500 energy-saving projects that resulted in $42 million in annualized energy savings.
• Reaching deployment of 3,469 alternative-fuel vehicles throughwhich AT&T will avoid the purchase of more than 2.5 million gallonsof unleaded gasoline in 2012 and each subsequent year they are on theroad.
• Beginning the transition of AT&T-branded accessory packagingto a new plastic that is comprised of up to 30 percent plant-basedmaterials.

Technology: AT&T is powering technologies that empower others. In2011, the company worked with customers to engineer innovativesolutions that also help address economic, environmental and socialchallenge by:

• Engaging hundreds of companies in a “fast pitch” atmosphere tohear from developers and entrepreneurs with great ideas — and takingthe best of those and helping to make them a reality.
• Through AT&T’s own use of technology, logging more than 2.9million Telepresence minutes, realizing almost $13.9 million in traveldollars saved and more than 8,261 metric tons of CO2 emissions averted.

Connect For Good Community: In 2011, AT&T launched the first-evercorporate Causes.com community, Connect For Good. Through thisplatform, which uses Facebook Connect, AT&T is empowering customersto join the company’s sustainability efforts and share its passion forsocial good. In honor of the launch of the 2011 Sustainability Report,viewers of the report are able to donate to a nonprofit via the AT&TConnect For Good community. Since its launch, the AT&T Connect ForGood Community has:

• Donated more than $239,000 for charities.
• Inspired more than 101,500 actions by its member consumers.
• Empowered consumers to: learn about the dangers of texting whiledriving, dispose of old cell phones responsibly, and support efforts toachieve an end to the high school dropout crisis.

AT&T aligned this report with the Global Reporting Initiative’sGRI G3 Guidelines and AT&T self-declared the report to applicationlevel C. The GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines provide a frameworkfor organizations to report on their social, environmental and economicperformance. AT&T also details in the report a set of goals to helpguide and measure its progress. A complete list of AT&T’scitizenship and sustainability goals is available at www.att.com/csr.

About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holdingcompany. Its subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies –are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and aroundthe world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes thenation’s fastest mobile broadband network, AT&T is a leadingprovider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, vo
ice and cloud-basedservices. A leader in mobile broadband and emerging 4G capabilities,AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide of any U.S.carrier, offering the most wireless phones that work in the mostcountries. It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&TU-verse® and AT&T │DIRECTV brands. The company’s suite of IP-basedbusiness communications services is one of the most advanced in theworld.

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