T-MOBILE DOUBLED THE VOLUME OF HELP TO PRIMARY SCHOOLS. QUICK DATA GIVES 20,000 NEEDED STUDENTS FOR FREE FOR 3 MONTHS

• The announced 10,000 SIM cards were dismantled by primary schools in less than two days
• Due to the huge interest from all over the country, T-Mobile has doubled its assistance to schools
• The operator donates another 10,000 SIM cards with unlimited data for students for 3 months free of charge

Prague, November 3, 2020 - Due to huge interest, T-Mobile has decided to increase its assistance to primary schools to 20,000 SIM cards with unlimited data for students who cannot attend online classes and their families are in a difficult financial situation. In response to the government's announcement of the extension of school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the operator last Thursday, October 29, announced that 10,000 students would receive unlimited data for 3 months for free. However, the avalanche of interest from all parts of the country significantly exceeded the available number of SIM cards, which was used up in less than two days.

"Czech education is not ready for distance learning and we knew that one of the reasons is the lack of a fast connection in socially weaker families. However, the huge interest of primary schools in the form of hundreds of emails a day surprised us. In order to accommodate other applicants for help, we have decided to double the number of data SIM cards, "said Juraj Bóna, T-Mobile's Executive Director for the Czech Republic. "In the future, the current approach to the digitalization of education and distance education is not sustainable. Schools should be covered by a fast connection network with a transmission capacity of 1 gigabit per second, "said Bóna on the topic of digital education at today's press conference of the Confederation of Industry and Transport of the Czech Republic.

The Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, Robert Plaga, described the help of T-Mobile as a great example of social responsibility in practice, and said: “T-Mobile, after last week, provided schools and schoolchildren with 10 thousand data SIM cards, this week will distribute another 10,000 to schoolchildren. Together with CZK 1.3 billion for equipment from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, we are succeeding in improving the conditions of distance education."

Digital education should be a service accessible to everyone, the press conference of the Confederation of Industry and Transport of the Czech Republic was also said today. "Our members help to provide internet connection for children in disadvantaged families, they have made online teaching tools available to schools. But now the government needs to make the digitization of education one of its main priorities and use the funds from the National Recovery Plan for this. Because quality education is the best investment, "said Milena Jabůrková, Vice President of the Confederation of Industry and Transport of the Czech Republic.

Representatives of primary schools can contact T-Mobile from last week at the e-mail address skoly@t-mobile.cz, which was set up especially for this occasion. The operator will assign a maximum of 20 SIM cards to each school that requests assistance, along with access to a special microsite and a unique code. The school principals decide on the distribution of unlimited data among families. Parents of children who receive a unique code and the right to unlimited data from their school will find all the necessary information here and will carry out both the order and the activation of the SIM card.

In addition, T-Mobile, in cooperation with Unicorn, offered the How to Teach Online? training for teachers, which they receive completely free of charge. By the end of November 2020, the companies had jointly extended selected free online courses at Redmonster.cz.

T-Mobile Czech Republic, a member of the international telecommunications group Deutsche Telekom, has almost 6.2 million customers, the number-one operator in the Czech market. T-Mobile is an integrated operator: in addition to telecommunications services, it offers comprehensive ICT solutions not only for companies, but also for other organizations and individuals. It provides outstanding services in the high-speed network, which was proved repeatedly by benchmark testing performed by umlaut (former P3) with Best-in-Test seal.

T-Mobile Czech Republic places emphasis on taking a responsible approach to the environment and society. It adheres to fair business practices, helps beneficial applications and services to see the light of day, supports non-profit organizations, small businesses and individuals, and lends a helping hand whenever crisis situations arise. The company’s employees serve as volunteers in many places across the entire Czech Republic.

More information about the company is available at www.t-mobile.cz, www.t-press.cz (the portal for journalists) and www.t-mobile.cz/pomahame (information on the company’s CSR activities).

Contact details of the press unit: press@t-press.cz.