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12th July 2005:
BT
Broadband
Nortel, BT help Tsunami-ravaged Sri Lanka guest house and
catering business get up and running
HONG KONG – A popular
family-run beachside guest house on Sri Lanka’s tsunami-devastated
southwest coast now has the communications system it needs to rebuild its
tourist business and provide catering for a nearby industrial park thanks to
the donation of a new PBX system by Nortel* [NYSE/TSX: NT] in association with
BT broadband.
The new Nortel Meridian PBX has been installed in the
23-room Sri Gemunu Guest House & Restaurant on Unawatuna Beach, five
kilometres south of the tourist city of Galle. Owned and operated by four
brothers and virtually destroyed by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, Sri Gemunu
employed more than 30 staff, serving guests and providing up to 1,200 boxed
meals a day to factories operating in the nearby Koggala Free Trade
Zone.
"Colleagues at BT in Hong Kong approached us about donating a new
telephone system to the Gemunu family who helped well over 100 foreign tourists
following the tsunami," said Rick Seeto, vice-president, Enterprise Networks
Asia Pacific, Nortel. "The Gemunu family even chartered several small aircraft
with their own funds to evacuate the most badly wounded to Colombo. Their
remaining savings were used in rebuilding the guest house, but they were too
stretched to re-equip office and communications systems so we stepped in to
help."
While major aid organizations continue to contribute to countries
affected by the tsunami, thousands of small and medium-size businesses are
relying on other means of support to get themselves back on their feet.
Reliable communications are essential to business which, in the case of the Sri
Gemunu Guest House & Restaurant, entails providing telephone services for
guests, receiving inquiries and reservations from tourists, as well as catering
orders from Koggala Free Trade Zone.
"Employees from both BT broadband
and Nortel were personally affected by the tsunami, and each company and its
staff has been very active in donating money, services and products to help
communities recover in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, the Maldives and Thailand," said
Allen Ma, president, BT Asia Pacific. "The donation of a world-class PBX will
help make the Gemunu family self-sufficient once again so they and their
employees can continue to provide services that support the wider
community."
Before the tsunami struck, more than 21 companies in the
Koggala Free Trade Zone employed over 8,000 people in light industries such as
jewellery and garment manufacturing. Since then several factories have closed
but others remain in operation. Having supporting services, such as the
catering provided by Sri Gemunu Guest House & Restaurant, can make a
significant contribution to the Free Trade Zone's recovery and so to the
economic well-being of the Galle district.
The Nortel Meridian 1 Option
11C Mini is a digital PBX for enterprises, delivering advanced applications and
traditional voice and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications.
Expandable to 700 lines, the Meridian 1 Option 11C Mini supports desktop and
system features of larger Meridian 1 systems as well as the full range of
Meridian 1 applications, including Meridian Mail, CallPilot unified messaging,
Symposium Call Center, Conference Bridge, Recorded Announcement, and Personal
Call Director solutions.
About Nortel
Nortel is a
recognized leader in delivering communications capabilities that enhance the
human experience, ignite and power global commerce, and secure and protect the
world’s most critical information. Serving both service provider and
enterprise customers, Nortel delivers innovative technology solutions
encompassing end-to-end broadband, Voice over IP, multimedia services and
applications, and wireless broadband designed to help people solve the
world’s greatest challenges. Nortel does business in more than 150
countries. For more information, visit Nortel on the Web at
www.nortel.com.
[BT Broadband]
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