Etisalat announced its exclusive sponsorship of EnviroFone, the UAE national mobile phone and e-waste recycling campaign, 'The Environment – It’s in Your Hands'.

With this, the total amount pledged by Etisalat in the campaign has gone up to Dh5 million ($1.36 million), said a company official.

“Etisalat has supported campaigns and initiatives that support the environment for many years.Envirofone is one example of these initiatives and has been so successful that it has so far recovered 200,000 phones and over 52 tons of waste,” stated Ahmed bin Ali, vice president, Corporate Communications.

Envirofone was launched in 2007 under the patronage of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and in partnership of the Federal Environmental Agency.

"2009 will bring programmes such as a world first – 'The UAE Green Makeover', a College and University Educational campaign and many Business and Corporate services to promote the recycling of e-waste," added Stuart Fleming, managing director of EnviroFone.

Envirofone encourages consumers to deposit their old mobile phones, batteries and devices in a safe manner.

UAE residents are encouraged to bring their devices to one of the Etisalat regional head office buildings, or retail outlets of the other participating organizations, where the device will be collected, sorted and transported out of the country for processing.

Etisalat, through its subsidiary UT Technology, is now working to introduce green building regulations, setting the criteria for developers who are beginning to design or construct their projects.

“In Etisalat we are deploying NGN fibre to every home in the UAE. In doing so, we offer greater access to broadband services. This also allows us to provide additional services to our customers including (video conferencing, TV broadcast, VOIP, etc),” explained Saleem Al Marzouqi, chief of UT Technology.

“Replacing old networks will reduce their negative impact and space needed for infrastructure. We are also going to build smart buildings that help in providing energy through by a central command centre responsible for monitoring electricity, water and gas usage,” he added.

“Smart home applications save around 30 per cent of electricity and 50 per cent in terms of space requirements for technical infrastructure,” he concluded.-TradeArabia News Service