Whitbread Around the World race. The $2 million sponsorship was considerable for a small company engaged in expensive battles with Telecom. And because the race would extend over two years and be closely followed by more than 90% of the New Zealanders, it was a logical choice for support. Support for the Crippled Children's Society (CCS) was also given for commercial as well as community reasons. Clear customers were able to contribute to CCS by making calls on the Clear network as part of Friends of CCS fundraising program. When a customer joined the fundraising program Clear donated 3% of his or her monthly bill to CCS. Similarly, Clear linked with the Pakuranga Rotary Club to encourage the planting of native New Zealand trees with the launch of a national Trees for Survival program. To support the programme, Clear offered an affiliation scheme for Rotarians so that 5% of the Clear toll account would be paid by Clear to the Trees for Survival Programme. Education The important area of education was also selected by Clear for support. Observing the pressure on schools to find the extra money to undertake worthwhile projects, Clear provided parents and members of the community who were Clear customers with a way of directly supporting the primary school of their choice. Friends of the School was launched in Wanganui in September 1992. Clear customers could nominate a primary school on the programme to receive 5% of their monthly Clear toll payment. The Friends of the School programme became nationwide, with 1100 school participating from kindergarten through to high school. By mid-1993, Clear furthered its commitment to education by sponsoring Spellbound, a spelling quiz that benefited schools financially. An annual school essay with prizes up to $5000 was also launched. 1991 Following interconnection, Clear opened its Christchurch sales office in June 1991. The purchase of the DMS300 switch for international service followed in July and the 10,000th customer signed up in August. Staff numbers had reached 200. Just 12 months before there had been 15 people in Auckland and four in Wellington. By December, the Dunedin sales office opened, the first direct international service came online with 60 circuits on satellite, quickly followed by expansion to 120 circuits, and Clear's 30,000th customer signed up. In January 1992, Clear's network capacity to Christchurch increased with the commissioning of fibres in the Transpower cable. In December 1991, Clear began