On October 18th the island of Bohol in the Philippines was struck by an earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale. Damage is catastrophic.
Communities on the island are devastated with more than 3 million people affected. ThereBGAN Hughes 9202 Satellite Internet is severe damage to thousands of homes as well as roads and other infrastructure. Some 600,000 families continue to be without electricity due to the landslides triggered by the earthquake.
Some communities located in remote areas of the island are completely isolated due to damage to the communications infrastructure.
Equipped with Inmarsat BGAN terminals, Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) has dispatched a team of telecommunications experts to the island to help with communications related issues.
“We are aware of the need for telecommunications in disaster zones and are reaching out to the most remote areas of the island, to not only help co-ordinate the much needed humanitarian aid, but also to provide means of contact for the many families affected by this disaster,” said a TSF spokesman.
Team members of the emergency telecoms group are equipped with portable Satellite Internet devices via BGAN and Isatphone handheld satellite phones.