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MINNESOTA TELEPHONE ASSOCIATION Telecommunications Guide November 2000
Minnesota Wireless Foundation
established Wireless companies in Minnesota, in cooperation with the Minnesota Telephone Association, formed the Minnesota Wireless Foundation (MWF), a philanthropic 501(c)(3) organization whose goal is to educate the public about the safe, responsible use of wireless phones. The new foundation was launched during Wireless Safety Week, an annual nationwide safety campaign sponsored by wireless carriers who belong to the MTA and the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA). Dee Ryberg, director of corporate communications and public affairs for AT&T Wireless Services, was named the foundation’s first president. “We’re very excited about this,” she said about the new organization. “The wireless carriers in Minnesota have a history of coming together to promote wireless safety each May during Wireless Safety Week. The foundation will take that concept and develop a year-round program that will educate consumers about using their wireless phones wisely.” The MWF’s seven founding members include wireless companies that provide service to nearly every county in Minnesota. The foundation’s first board of directors (see back) includes representatives from those companies as well as up to three representatives from statewide organizations that focus on safety.
The MWF founding members are: The first project of the Minnesota Wireless Foundation will be to donate curriculum materials – on managing driving distractions and using wireless phones safely – to each of nearly 400 public and private driving schools so they can integrate the information into their instruction course. Developed by The Network of Employers for Traffic Safety, each NETS Distracted Driver Tool Kit contains a video, Leader’s Guide, Rate-Your-Risk Quiz, incentives and other useful tools and information. The one-hour training program shows techniques drivers can use to minimize distraction and stay focused on the essential task they need to pay attention to – driving. MWF is also donating a copy of NETS’ Novice Driver training program. Not limited to consumer education, the foundation’s most recent project will benefit Minnesota’s domestic violence victims through donations of reconditioned wireless phones. By partnering with CTIA, the foundation hopes to collect over 2,000 used phones at their retail stores by the end of the year. The phones will be reconditioned, activated with necessary airtime and distributed early next year to domestic violence prevention organizations who loan them out to their clients for emergency situations. In the future, the foundation will fund other projects that educate the public on the safe and responsible use of wireless products. MWF will also support projects that promote wireless phones as a crime-fighting tool and the use of wireless services in educating students. The idea is that the programs the foundation initiates and oversees will make communities safe, families more secure and teachers more effective. To achieve its goals, MWF will partner with other safety awareness groups and state agencies. Another project that the foundation is working on in partnership with the Metropolitan 911 Board and local Public Safety Answering Points will help publicize the “unintentional” 911 calls issue. That’s when certain pre-programmed buttons on your wireless phone get pushed accidentally, automatically dialing a 911 dispatcher. Contact the Minnesota Wireless Foundation at 1650 World Trade Center, 30 E. 7th St., St. Paul, MN 55101, or on the Web at minnesotawireless.org.
Minnesota Wireless Foundation Board of Directors The following individuals represent the first board of directors of the newly established Minnesota Wireless Foundation. Dee Ryberg (President) AT&T Wireless Services Robert Eddy (Vice President) Cellular Mobile Systems of St. Cloud Michael Nowick (Secretary) Minnesota Telephone Association Chuck Ashbeck Nextel Communications Gary Christopherson Midwest Wireless Matt Middlebrooks Qwest Wireless, LLC Ann Newhall Rural Cellular Corporation Jerry Wilke HickoryTech Carol Bufton Minnesota Safety Council Maureen Janke Minnesota Dept. of Public Safety
Tips for Safe Travel with Your Wireless Phone To help you remember to use your wireless phone safely, the wireless industry recommends these 10 safety tips when using your wireless phone. 1. Get to know your wireless phone and its features, especially speed dial and redial. 2. Use a hands-free device, if possible. 3. Position wireless phones within easy reach. 4. Always let the person you’re speaking with know you’re driving; suspend calls in heavy traffic or hazardous weather conditions. 5. Don’t take notes or look up phone numbers while driving. 6. Assess traffic so you can dial sensibly; if possible, place calls when you aren’t moving or before pulling into traffic. 7. Don’t engage in stressful or emotional conversations — they could be distracting. 8. Use your wireless phone to call for help. 9. Use your wireless phone to help others in emergencies.
10. Call roadside assistance or a special non-emergency wireless
assistance number when necessary.
MTA Member Profile: TDS Telecom - New London Mid-State Telephone, one of the TDS Telecom family of companies, does business in 11 west central Minnesota communities under the name TDS Telecom-New London. The company has about 10,000 customers in a 1,000-square mile area that includes New London, Spicer, Hawick, Danube, Kerkhoven, Pennock, Murdock, Sundburg, Brooten, Sedan and Terrace. Those customers have access to advanced services, including wireless phones, pagers, digital satellite TV and the Internet. The company also offers systems to businesses in Willmar. TDS Telecom-New London and its 25 full-time employees actively support the United Way. The company also makes regular donations to schools in its area, helps pay for municipal fireworks and parades in the communities it serves and is a corporate sponsor of the March of Dimes. The company also provided the fiber optic lines and terminal equipment for the Little Crow Telemedia Network, which makes distance learning a reality in three school systems (New London-Spicer, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sundburg, Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa). Another way that TDS Telecom-New London helps the communities its serves is by offering low interest loans obtained from a USDA Rural Utilities Service revolving loan fund. Cities then put the money to work by making improvements to municipal projects that will help attract new businesses.
More information about the Minnesota Telephone Association can be found online at www.mnta.org.
(c) 2001 Minnesota Telephone Association
Published by the Minnesota Telephone Association (MTA) |