T-Mobile returns as head sponsor of the Life Ball

The Vienna Life Ball 2012 celebrates its 20th anniversary on 19 May this year under the motto “Fight the Flames of Ignorance”, and for the third year in a row, T-Mobile is the main sponsor of the event.

The daughter company of Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile Austria, is sponsoring the Vienna Life Ball – the largest charity event in Europe. The ball celebrates life and the fight against HIV and AIDS.

The sponsor is joining in on the fire themed entertainment by staging a fiery production on the theme “net”, meaning the “net of the future” – which stands for the best network coverage enjoyed by the 4,06 million T-Mobile customers who stand behind the “Life Ball 2012” project.

Since the first Life Ball, the goal of the event has been to gather donations to help fight HIV and AIDS, and to make donations as simple as possible, T-Mobile has set up a “donations hotline.”

Hollywood stars Melanie Griffith and Milla Jovivich are to attend as well as singers Natalia Kills and Aura Dione, Musicians Randy Crawford and Al Jarreau and ex US president Bill Clinton –a long time supporter of the event – now celebrating its 20th anniversary.

Customers of any mobile network operator in Austria will be able to donate between 1 and 70 Euro by sending a text message to +43 676 800 7676 until the 10th of June. The money will go to the AIDS LIFE Association after that date.

The proceeds of the donation hotline will also support the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI). The goal of CHAI is to reduce the number of new HIV infections in babies in Uganda and Sambia as much as possible until 2015.

Even though instances of mothers passing on the virus to their children are virtually non-existent in the west, the numbers are much higher in developing countries, where the rates of mothers passing on the virus are 25-40 per cent.

The campaign for these babies is carried out in co-operation with ORF, Ö3 and T-Mobile and aims to collect 700,000 Euro.

T-Mobile customers have a chance to win 100 exclusive Life Ball tickets. The tickets are valid for the opening ceremony at the Rathausplatz and the following pre-party in the Friedrich-Schmid Hall as well as for the entrance into the City Hall around 01:30.