Mobile News

Today the world's biggest ever mobile phone campaign has been launched. 1GOAL:Education for All is a project of the football world and FIFA-backed legacy for the 2010 World Cup. Mobile companies from across the globe have come together to offer more than 1.5 billion people an opportunity to show their support for 1GOAL with over 1 billion text messages going out to people in the coming weeks.

The launch comes as Telefónica Group - representing some 25 countries and 274 million people - joined up to support the campaign.  Across its territories Telefónica will be promoting the 'education for all' message as part of its long-standing objective to make a positive impact on economic, technological and social progress.

Shakira, 1GOAL Ambassador and Founder of the Barefoot Foundation said: "The World Cup captures the attention and hearts of millions. We must use this moment to raise our voices for 1GOAL and demand that this generation of children have the chance to fulfil their dreams and live up to their full potential through education. I'm honored to be part of this incredible movement."

1GOAL has a target of getting millions of people to show their support for 1GOAL and already some of the biggest names in football such as Alessandro del Piero, Rio Ferdinand, Zinedine Zidane and Michael Essien have joined 8 million others to show their support for the campaign. The outreach via the mobile companies will swell this even further if just 1% of people sign up via the mobile campaign a further 15 million people - the equivalent to the entire population of Holland - could join the campaign. 

Signups from the 1GOAL mobile campaign will be presented as a petition to world leaders at an education summit later this year urging both developing and developed countries to provide further funding for education.  People will be able to sign up by responding 'YES' to a simple free text or by going to 1goal.mobi on their handsets or by sending an e-mail to info@join1goal.org. Handset manufacturers Nokia and Samsung will also be making available a 1GOAL mobile app for their customers.

Her Majesty, Queen Rania of Jordan, Co-founder and Co-Chair of 1GOAL said: "Michael Essien is a great example of how football stars can show their passion for this year's World Cup and for the legacy it strives to create: giving 72 million out-of-school children an education.  But 1GOAL isn't just about the footballers; it's about the fans too. Teaming up with the mobile phone industry, 1GOAL can now reach over a billion people worldwide, making it the largest, cause-related campaign in history.

The mobile campaign is being coordinated by the GSMA, which represents the global mobile industry. It includes a host of soccer related downloads, such as player images and videos, as well as ringtones, wallpapers and smartphone apps, culminating in a text message campaign calling for the support of billions of mobile users around the World Cup. Major Multinational mobile groups and networks supporting the campaign include: AT&T Wireless, Axiata Group Berhad, Batelco Group, Bharti-Airtel, CSL, Hutchison 3 Group, KT, MTN, NTT DOCOMO, Mobitel, Orascom Group, SingTel Group, Smart Communications, SOFTBANK MOBILE, SK Telecom, Telenor Group, Telefónica Group, TMN, Umniah, VimpelCom and Zain Group.

1GOAL seeks to get every child into school by 2015, rallying support from footballers and fans across the world. The campaign is backed by over 140 of the biggest names in football and from the entertainment world Shakira, Jessica Alba and Kevin Spacey are supporting 1GOAL. An estimated $16 billion a year is needed to make universal education a reality, but currently only $4 billion is spent on primary education and 1GOAL is calling for further funding from both developing and rich countries to get every child in to a classroom.

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