Typhoon victims receive satellite help

Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF), the Inmarsat-sponsored aid agency, completed its mission to the Philippines, which was recently hit by a typhoon. They provided a communications lifeline to more than 1,000 victims.

The aid agency deployed with satellite communication equipment including Inmarsat BGAN, and Mini M, in regions affected by typhoons Ketsana and Parma.
"We set up temporary calling centres enabling more than 1,070 calls," said Oisin Walton, TSF's head of mission in the Philippines. "Two thirds of these were international calls - people were able to get hold of family loved ones to let them know they were safe and to request money."

With landlines in rural areas still disrupted three weeks after the storms, the Mini M terminals proved invaluable.

The two typhoons killed 849 and affected millions more and TSF worked closely with local authorities and governing bodies to set up satellite-based communication centres to support the relief effort following the storms.

Source: Inmarsat