ReliefSource

I’m digging into disaster telecommunications, behind which there’s a huge body of knowledge which I won’t bore you with. I will scream if I hear the words ‘Tampere Convention‘ again this year. Instead, here’s a short list of what all the kids are using in Pakistan:

• Voice. Well, duh. The main finding so far of this assessment is startling - aid workers prefer talking to each other.
• Landlines. In some places, service was uninterrupted; in most places, service was resumed within 1-2 days. Many NGOs are using dial-up internet service from various towns, although there is plenty of residual distortion due to earthquake damage.
• Cellphones. As above, the network was disrupted for a couple of days. Most people report satisfactory and consistent service, although I hear it’s very patchy around Bisham, and when travelling on the road. Yet this remains the primary means of communication for a lot of people, which ties in with the findings of the GSM Association, who have just released a report on mobile communications in emergency response. (Interesting aside: Oxfam have started equipping laptops with GPRS, giving individual staff access while mobile.)
• Thuraya. I wish I had shares in Thuraya. As the lightest and easiest satellite phone on the market (and the easiest to get past customs), it seems to be indispensable - which is why it was worrying to find that there still weren’t enough of them to go around, even in the biggest NGOs. Having said that, there still seem to be some problems with registration, and besides, who wants to stand outside in a snowstorm just to make a call?
• RBGAN. This fella comes into its own in the early stages of response; it’s frequently the only means of deep field communication. It’s still far too expensive, although hopefully the prices will come down as Inmarsat rolls out the new BGAN units.
• VSAT. Licensing and customs regulations in Pakistan - holy heck. The UN was able to get them in fairly quickly, while NGOs have been stuck for weeks. However VSATs started to clear about two weeks ago, so they’ve now started springing up left, right and centre. More co-ordination needed, please. VSAT is still the best technology for more stable environments, particularly as you can determine your own level of bandwidth, and the market is open enough that you can choose from a range of providers.
• Two tins with a piece of string tied between them. Face it, nobody can beat it for a “communications solution.”