Westlake Village Firm Lets NATO Troops Phone Home

Franklin Telecom in Westlake Village said it is making available free FNet calling cards to NATO troops stationed in the Bosnia, Albania and Macedonia areas who have special needs to contact family and friends.

Ronald G. Weaver Sr., vice president of worldwide sales, is scheduled to deliver the cards during a trip to the Balkans. The cards will be given to chaplains, hospital officials and welfare officers for distribution to the appropriate NATO soldiers.

Franklin Telecom subsidiary FNet, a telephone network, is often the only link NATO troops have to their families, company officials said.

Franklin has four employees based in the Balkans to monitor, maintain and repair the company’s 15 ground-based stations. When the NATO troops were recently moved to a new base for safety reasons, this team was asked to make sure that their phone service followed.

In addition to the 15 stations in Bosnia and the Kosovo border region, Franklin is acquiring another nine sites. Three stations are also scheduled for deployment in northern Albania.

“For soldiers, many of whom are halfway around the world from home and family, being able to talk to their loved ones is crucial for maintaining morale,” Weaver said.

Franklin Telecom manufactures communications hardware and software.