Telefirmaer siger, at de er gode til at hjælpe nødhjælpsabejderne i indsatsen for orkanofrene i Filippinerne, men Røde Kors slår koldt vand i blodet og siger, at det ikke er det samme som at nå ud til selve ofrene på de mange spredte øer.
BANGKOK, 29 November 2013 (IRIN): The rapid deployment of engineers by international and national telecommunications companies to hard-hit areas of the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan demonstrates the private sector’s increasingly vital role in relief efforts.
With more mobile phone subscriptions (abonnenter) than people in the Philippines (107 mobile phone subscriptions per 100 people), and industry estimates of at least one billion text messages sent daily, analysts say the telecommunications industry is not only able to re-connect the estimated 3,8 million displaced people with their families, but is also an ideal vehicle (værktøj) for raising relief funds.
Telecommunications play a critical role in disaster preparedness and response by disseminating (udbrede) early warning messages, tracing survivors and providing vital aid information, said Kyla Reid, the head of disaster response at the London-headquartered Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA).
GSMA is a trade organization representing more than 800 mobile network operators worldwide.
Within 72 hours after Typhoon Haiyan (locally known as Yolanda) hit the central Philippines on 8 November, international mobile companies Vodafone and Ericsson deployed teams equipped with emergency kits to help local providers get the network running again.
Philippine mobile carriers Globe Telecom and SMART Communications together control 99 percent of the national mobile phone industry.
“We worked with various government agencies and even the military in order to get network equipment parts and infrastructure up and running,” said Ma Yolanda Crisanto, Globe’s head of corporate communications.
Four suitcases did the job
Vodafone Response, the company’s charitable arm, sent a 100 kg portable (transportabel) instant network contained in four suitcases (kufferter) to set up satellite terminals in Palo region, just south of Tacloban.
Within five days of the typhoon, engineers had restored the mobile phone network of three humanitarian hubs in and near the city of Tacloban, the epicentre of the storm damage.
Here all of its 138 subdivisions were affected and nearly 206.000 of the city’s estimated 221.000 population (2010 figures) are displaced (hjemløse). In less than one week, 59 percent of mobile coverage had resumed citywide.
“At least we are able to talk to our people in the cities,” Gwen Pang, the secretary general of the Philippines Red Cross, told IRIN.
“It is helpful to the extent of getting in touch with our operators, but not helpful for communicating with beneficiaries (modtagerne af nødhjælp),” she said.
On 20 November, the Red Cross noted that only around 20 percent of total mobile coverage to affected areas— spanning eight islands— had been restored, according to Pang.
Re-booting the network
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http://www.irinnews.org/report/99234/telecom-led-relief-in-the-philippines
