IT&E: Making a positive impact is a part of our purpose

Visit an IT&E customer service person at their office in Chalan Lau Lau or call one from wherever you are and you can expect an answer that greets you, “We are happy to help.” This and other small touches create rich customer experiences that lead to long-term relationships that is based on trust and confidence. And that extends to not just caring for their customers but also to the community that knits everyone.

“Making a positive social impact is a part of our purpose. It is our duty as members of the community and as a group of people that love and care about our islands. IT&E is committed to doing its part to help the community thrive, protect and develop our youth, promote health and wellness, preserve the environment and honor the vibrant cultures of the Marianas,” said IT&E general manager Rose Soledad.

“As the needs of our community change, so does IT&E’s strategy for community giving. We do our best to allocate our support to the causes that will most benefit the community. … While IT&E does not have a team in charge of Corporate Social Responsibility per se, community giving initiatives and requests for support are a top priority for IT&E’s marketing team and its Employee Social Events Committee. In addition, many associates at the management and other levels in the company are involved with our mission to give back to the people we serve,” Soledad added.

For IT&E, community outreach has no fixed schedule and no time limit as they donate communication services to organizations for lengthy durations. These organizations include the Commonwealth Cancer Association, the CNMI Community and Youth Centers, 500 Sails, and other programs to support their goals and mission that improve the quality of life for our community.

IT&E also does its best to support events that promote the youth, sports, care for the environment, economic growth, health, women empowerment, to name a few, by supporting these organizations: NMI Basketball Federation Interscholastic League and other youth sports, MINA’s Green Gala, Saipan Chamber of Commerce, Tan Siu Lin Foundation, Marianas Visitors Authority, Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands, Marianas Health LLC, CNMI Women’s Association, and more. Most recently, IT&E was designated as a drop-off location for Toys for Tots.

Soledad said that when the pandemic started, many things were put on hold but IT&E continued to help the community by overcoming challenges. “In partnership with the Division of Youth Services, IT&E increased the bandwidth of the donated internet services at all the functioning Youth and Community Centers in the CNMI. This was done to provide internet access for students’ online learning program that was implemented as a result of the pandemic,” she said.

“From March to May 2020, IT&E removed data caps for all subscribers so that students can continue online learning, employees could work from home, and families could stay connected with loved ones and get important pandemic-related news and updates. During this time IT&E also did not apply payment deadlines, late fees or suspensions to alleviate the financial strain for subscribers and then actively worked with subscribers on payment plans for balances,” she added.

Aside from helping its subscribers with their bills payment and extra services, IT&E also went out of its way to help the CNMI achieve the 80% vaccination rate by making some of their offices available as COVID-19 vaccination sites. “IT&E supported the vaccination effort by also white-listing the Vaccinate CNMI websites for mobile subscribers so that they can register to get their vaccinations and access more information online without using up their data buckets,” Soledad said.

“Our social responsibility programs truly inspire IT&E employees. By giving back to our community, we show our associates that they are a part of delivering connections that matter in more ways than one. …We collect feedback and input with a grassroots approach to our CSR. We connect personally with members of our community directly and we use this feedback to understand what needs must be met and decide how we can step in to assist.”