You’ve probably seen the ad in a newspaper or on the side of a bus. A young black man looks at the AT&T globe logo hovering over the New York skyline with the Manhattan Bridge in the foreground. The key phrases that jump out are “$40 a month,” “Unlimited Talk, Text and Data usage,” and “No Annual Contract, No Credit Check.”

“There’s Nothing I Can’t Do” says the slogan at the bottom.

This kind of message used to be the hallmark of MetroPCS and other budget cellphone providers which court a penny-conscious working-class clientele.

But now, AT&T, long considered one of the “premium” cellphone companies with the second largest network and clear, solid connections, is wading into the fray.

Affordable plans are just part of AT&T’s outreach strategy. Their flagship is a “GoPhone” plan which offers 1.5 gigabytes of high-speed data and unlimited talk and text to Mexico and Canada with no annual contract for $40 monthly.

In addition, the company has undertaken a series of programs to promote education, connectivity, and tech savvy in New York City’s outer boroughs. Haïti Liberté recently spoke to Marissa Shorenstein, president of AT&T New York, who is responsible for community relations initiatives across the state.

The majority of New York’s Haitian and Haitian-American community live in Brooklyn and Queens. What are some of the initiatives that AT&T has undertaken in these boroughs?

At AT&T, we are deeply committed to enhancing the educational opportunities for Queens and Brooklyn youth to better prepare them for the jobs of tomorrow, especially in tech. As a company, we have helped build a talent pipeline, by giving nearly a million dollars to local Queens education programs to promote STEM skills and improve graduation outcomes. For one of the programs, Girls Who Code, an intensive summer computer science programs aimed at bridging the gender gap in STEM which places many girls from Queens and Brooklyn, we pledged to donate one million dollars.

Through AT&T’s Aspire program, we have given over $100 million to school programs benefitting more than one million students, since 2008, making it one of the largest corporate educational initiatives in the United States. With more than $850,000 in multi-year grants to high school graduation programs in Queens, including the YMCA’s Y-Scholars program at Flushing International High School, the Sports and Arts in Schools Foundation and Aspira’s Youth Peer Development Program, both of which are focused on students at risk of dropping out. And in Brooklyn, we sponsored the Brooklyn Science Innovation Initiative STEM program this summer at Kingsborough Community College.

We also sponsor the annual Books Beneath the Bridge series, a weekly summer book series with local bookstores held in Brooklyn Bridge Park and is a sponsor of the Brooklyn Book Festival, the largest free literary event in New York and the Northeast’s largest book festival.

Many Haitian families cannot afford an in-home high-speed internet connection. Does AT&T offer services that can help them get high-speed internet?

Ensuring that everyone has access to high-speed internet regardless of background is a priority to our company. That is why we deployed free Wi-Fi and solar mobile charging stations to local parks and beaches across the borough, and were among the first carriers to commit to expanding wireless service to every Queens subway station.

We made available free WiFi for Queens and Brooklyn residents at area parks like Astoria Park, the Queens Zoo in Flushing Meadows Corona Park and MacDonald Park in Queens, and McCarren Park, Herbert Von King Park, Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park and Prospect Park in Brooklyn — and several other parks throughout the City. Our free solar mobile charging stations are located at both Corona Plaza and Rockaway Beach in Queens, and Coney Island and Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn, and allows residents to recharge and stay connected throughout the day at no cost to them.

What are some of the advantages of an AT&T mobile plan over other low-cost plans on the market?