New Zealand's Telecom sponsors Santa

New Zealand Telecom said Tuesday record numbers of children are contacting Santa's Web site hosted by the company.

The carrier said that over 520,000 calls have been made to the Santa Line, in addition to 2,000 text messages, while 500 messages have been sent to the Web site, www.santaline.co.nz.

Meanwhile, Telecom hosted a video conference of Santa for children at the Starship Hospital Monday.

"I would have liked to have been there in person to meet with the kids," Santa said, adding, "with less than a week till Christmas it's a very busy time in the workshop and I need to be here to oversee production."

"This was a great opportunity to do something special for a very deserving group of children," said Telecom spokesperson Sam Irvine. "We're very pleased to have been able to bring Santa to the children and hopefully give them something to smile about at a time that must be especially hard for the kids and their families."

Copyright 2005 by United Press International