Written by / Compiled by KMI Media Group staff

MIT 2010 Volume: 14 Issue: 2 (March)

Amid the severe damage to the communications and other types of infrastructure in Haiti following the catastrophic January 12 earthquake, satellite and communications companies have stepped forward to provide vital capabilities for relief and recovery efforts.

Engineers and technicians at Inmarsat, for example, quickly went into action, reallocating bandwidth on its network to make capacity available for the international rescue operation. In the hours and days that followed, the company optimized its satellite and network resources together with its distribution partners and customers so that the Inmarsat Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) could support the increasing number of terminals being used in the crisis.

Inmarsat’s support of urban search and rescue operations and ongoing recovery efforts has continued, as the company has drawn on its experience about traffic requirements in previous disaster responses. By monitoring its 24/7 operations centers, Inmarsat has adapted and optimized the network in order to provide critical satellite communications capacity and network solutions to government and first-response agencies.

In the first week of the response, Inmarsat was able to support a rapid increase in government first-responder and non-governmental organization (NGO) usage by providing more than 150 percent more bandwidth than typically used in Haiti. These organizations needed Inmarsat’s network and services to replace their usual cellular communications that were not fully operable. Once the critical communications and power began to function again during the second week after the disaster, the organizations still needed the Inmarsat network for data and Internet communications.

U.S. government Inmarsat users, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Coast Guard, Navy, Military Sealift Command and other agencies, have all played critical roles in the Haiti response. From the USS Comfort hospital ship, U.S. disaster experts assisted with the coordination of a wide range of NGO-government activity, using BGAN for many of their critical communications needs as medical teams went ashore.

Other governments and organizations also provided essential search and rescue support. A European Union team from Belgium used BGAN for its activities. The Canada Department of National Defence, another long-time Inmarsat customer, dispatched several Canadian Navy ships with relief teams and supplies, and several other Navies responded to the disaster as well. Inmarsat also sponsored Telecom Sans Frontieres (TSF), an NGO that provides first-in communications support and humanitarian calling. TSF established a Wi-Fi hub in Haiti that supported a range of government and NGO communications requirements in the first days after the earthquake. TSF also provided Inmarsat BGAN terminals to the Haitian president and prime minister, as well as the national police, to restore essential government communications.

Intelsat, within hours of the first customer request for assistance following the earthquake, established two communication networks— one in C-band and one in Ku-band—to provide critical communication links. The two networks, established via Intelsat’s satellite and terrestrial network infrastructure, including its GlobalConnex Network Broadband service, supported a wide range of efforts countrywide.

Intelsat rapidly deployed broadband connectivity using its GlobalConnex Network Broadband service via capacity on its Intelsat 907 and Horizons 2 satellites.

CapRock Government Solutions, meanwhile, received a contract with the U.S. Navy’s Naval Beach Group (NBG) to provide emergency satellite communications services as part of U.S. military relief efforts. Services were to run on CapRock’s recently unveiled COTS communications suite, CommandAccess, at a significantly reduced rate to the U.S. government.

CapRock partnered with fixed satellite services operator Telesat to provide the dedicated Ku-band CommandAccess network supporting the Navy. The CapRock service is providing critical communications to the NBG, which supplies Navy personnel and equipment for amphibious operations including evacuations, the delivery of food and medical supplies after natural disasters, and other missions that involve moving bulk goods and resources from ships off-shore to land.

CapRock is providing all iDirect hub resources and Ku-band teleport services, while Telesat is providing space segment to support the NBG’s voice, data and video applications.

In addition, Sprint continued its support of relief efforts with a donation of critical wireless and long-distance equipment and services, including mobile cell-site equipment such as portable generators, cell towers and mobile shelters, to aid various Haitian communications carriers in providing wireless voice and data services, and wireless devices and long-distance services to the Greater Washington Haitian Relief Committee to assist the organization’s phone bank and relief coordination efforts. ♦

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