INSTITUTIONAL RELATIONS COMMITMENT TO SOCIETY Institutional Relations are part of Euskaltel’s idiosyncrasy, which applies the commitment to the market and proximity as the philosophy in the relations with all interest groups. As such, every year Euskaltel carries out a Society Survey in order to subject its activity to social examination on the internal and external level, so as to find out how the market values its activity beyond the customer-provider relationship. Sponsorship is another formula for social commitment to the customers, the subscribers and society in general. Here sport is a key element in Euskaltel’s commitment and in 2007 it has been present in cycling, Basque pelota, mountaineering and surfing. Euskaltel’s participation in the fiestas of the three Basque capitals has been particularly relevant in the International Firework Festivals. It has not only been involved in the fiestas from the most ludic point of view, but also encouraging, from responsibility, participation in sustainable fiestas. Other initiatives have been extended into the family ambit, like supporting the Large Families; the Garbide programme to promote respect for the environment from the pedagogical ambit between parents- educational centres-children and the Euskera (Basque language) fiestas (Ibilaldia, Kilometroak, Araba Euskaraz and Nafarroa Oinez. Internally Euskaltel has promoted an inventory of associations and entities in which the employees altruistically take an active part. As a result, it has implemented policies in favour of disabled people, corporate volunteer policies and actions which take the internal commitment to Society. Institutional Relations Since Euskaltel joined the market ten years ago not a single day has gone by without contacting one of the institutions which represent and interact with the Basque market. In 2007, for management efficiency reasons and based on criteria of excellence, we have identified the activity on a departmental level, recognising the criticalness and importance of “doing it properly”, raising it to the same category as the sponsorship activities or Euskaltel’s foundational activity. We understand that the public relations in themselves generate a level of credibility and reaffirm what is said. It is the most natural and direct way for transferring messages, objectives, business challenges, strategy and brand interests. There are therefore many activities performed within this area. All of this is united by integrated management which draws together the synergies between operative marketing, advertising, sponsorship, public relations, the institutional activity and communication, and culminates in producing greater coherency in the messages sent to the market and a more homogenous and concentrated brand image. “Euskaltel es para ti” (Euskaltel is for you) seeks to become a reality and not just a marketing slogan. This has been a management objective and during 2007 two fronts have materialised; organisational and operative. Institutional Activity Both the institutional activity and the public relations go together in Euskaltel. In 2007 Euskaltel prepared an external communication calendar in order to measure the frequency of “noise and news intensity”. Within this forecast of landmarks are the institutional visits. These visits took place at Euskaltel’s headquarters twice every month. Their aim is to maintain a permanent line of communication with the key institutions, companies and entities for the development of our business activity. It is also an objective to be the top reporter to our interest groups. Nobody can report about “us” better than ourselves, without external interpretation and coming from the “horse’s mouth”. Apart from this initiative of company rapprochement, every year Euskaltel performs a Society Survey in order to subject our internal and external activity to public examination. We are interested in finding out how the market values us beyond the customer-supplier relation. We want to find out what we provide to the development of the local economy, if our environmental work (recycling mobile phones, reducing energy and paper consumption, making better use of hardware) is valued by society. We want to know if we are recognised as a committed company, which respects the use of Euskera (Basque language), which is present at social, cultural and sports events and activities, which communicates and listens. All of this brought us to measure ourselves, establishing more and more ambitious indicators and challenging ourselves to achieve them. Together with this Society Survey, during 2007 Euskaltel also interviewed a group of eighty social leaders with the aim of finding out finer qualitative aspects and is then able to adjust the day-to-day management based on their impressions. Without forgetting that Euskaltel participates in a great number of initiatives with the institutions in order to promote activities of public interest, as well as others which although younger provide new values in the three territories. Every step with the institutions is a step of commitment for us. This has been the same since we started ten years ago. Sponsorship Sponsorship is another formula for social commitment where our customers, our subscribers and society in general get to know us, and see in these activities an operator’s point of reversion to society in the most mercantile sense of the word. There are many initiatives which take place in the territories in which we operate and it is never easy to select those that best coincide with our values. The fact is that sport has always been a key element in our sponsorship activity. We understand this and we are strongly committed to Country specific initiatives like cycling, Basque pelota, mountaineering and surfing. Young People During 2007 we have extended the scope of the sponsorship repositioning our activity towards the younger public. The pro surf in Zarautz, the Billabong Pro in Mundaka, are risky commitment in which we have felt identified and responded to. One of our classic sponsorship activities is Euskaltel’s presence at the fiestas in the three capital where we contribute both economically and with our presence, where we are active in the juries for the International Firework Festivals. Not only are we involved in the fiestas from the most ludic point of view, but also encouraging, from responsibility, participation in the sustainable fiestas. Thus in Vitoria-Gasteiz we collaborate in glass recycling campaigns during the fiestas and in Donostia-San Sebastian promoting the use of bicycles during those days of pedestrian and traffic saturation. Family Ambit Other family orientated initiatives are the fiestas in favour of Large Families, the Garbide programme to encourage respect for the environment from the pedagogical ambit between parents-educational centres- children, the fiestas in favour of Euskera (Basque language) which we support at the four annual encounters (Ibilaldia, Kilometroak, Araba Euskaraz and Nafarroa Oinez) and collaborations like that with EHIGE (Parents Association of Euskal Herria – the Basque Country), to encourage responsible use of the technologies. There are also the children’s stories competitions for school children, the support for regulated walks or local initiatives, which are a sample of our many activities for the “general public”. Sports Apart from the repositioning activities that we explained above (surf, sailing), there are other activities that Euskaltel has been developing for quite a while and which are now a social reference. Like for example the “Marea Naranja” (Orange Tide), which has gone from the Pyrenees to summer and there are many people waiting with anticipation for the new design of the T-shirt that we give away every year. 2007 saw a significant change to our T-shirt. We eliminated our corporate trademark, but not the now well-know “Euskaltel orange”, placing festive elements in the design, we increased the range of sizes, we placed colourful elements on the sleeves and collars and we use ecological silk screen painting. An example of how the classic can be innovated year after year with the aim of pleasing the fans and everyone who wants to use it. Apart from cycling we maintain our presence at pelota courts extending our scope of interest into Navarra, where Euskaltel now operates since 2007 with the mobile telephone product. And we must not forget races which are becoming increasingly popular. The Bilbao-Bilbao, the Behobia-San Sebastián, the Donostia Marathon, the Herri Krosa in Bilbao, the Igorre Ciclocros and many others, where we are present in one way or another. Social We must not overlook our presence at social events and acts in support of those must in need. At Euskaltel we have internally promoted an inventory of associations and entities in which our employees altruistically take an active part. And from these Euskaltel prioritises from amongst the requests. We have already implemented policies in favour of disabled persons and corporate volunteer policies, actions which clearly transfer the internal commitment to the Society. EUSKALTEL FOUNDATION 2007 saw the activity of the Euskaltel Foundation adapt in order to place it in line with the current phase of the Euskaltel project, as stated in the objectives of the 2008-2010 Strategic Plan. Hence it was decided to bring the Sponsorship activity previously performed by the Foundation to Euskaltel. The Foundation will be devoted to carrying out projects which help to fulfil its Mission of “promoting activities of technological