L-Istrina, fully supported by GO’s Communications Infrastructure

December is an especially demanding month for GO, as the annual fund-raising L-Istrina approaches. The event sees the company mobilising a large team of employees, mainly from its technical department, to set up the infrastructure required to handle the large volume of calls during the event.

“GO is a private telecommunications company. We are not compelled or obliged to support L-Istrina. We do it because we really believe in the value that it brings to the community and we want to do our part. Furthermore, the magnitude of L-Istrina necessitates a particular technical setup. Being the only company serving an end-to-end fibre network, GO is a natural match to service the fund-raisers’ very demanding technical requirements,” said GO Chief Executive Officer Nikhil Patil.

“If we had to quantify the value of GO’s support in terms of logistics, manpower and the technology provided, an approximate round figure could reach over a quarter of a million. And this is not taking into account the cost of all the phone calls and text messages for which GO also waives the cost,” he added. As in previous years, GO also donated €80,000 to L-Istrina but this donation is over and above the physical and logistical support that the company lends to the annual event.

GO’s Fixed Access Corporate Services Manager, Pierre Attard, now considered a veteran when it comes to the L-Istrina campaign’s logistical setup, explained how this year’s setup required 220 telephone lines including donation lines, hot lines, pledge lines and transmission lines, as well as 15 ADSL lines for internet connections. Three direct fibre links and some 40 new telephone lines have been added in previous years.

“All of this requires meticulous planning – from site identification, to technology provisioning – to ensure that everything works perfectly on the day. The setup is usually ready four days before the event, which is when we start carrying out daily tests of the systems while remaining ready for any eventual changes that occur even during the actual event. However, our work does not stop at the end of the event. My team continues working throughout the night, dismantling the network that was installed during the previous days,” he explained.

“L-Istrina’s success would not be possible without the generosity of the Maltese people who, every year, donate to this worthy cause. However, at GO we enjoy the same sense of pride knowing that part of this success has been enabled by our state-of-the-art technology and communication infrastructure and logistical support, and a team of professionals who – year in, year out – continue to dedicate their time and energy to this worthy cause. This year was no exception,” concluded Nikhil Patil.