The Vodafone Foundation has sent its Instant Network team with a portable ‘mobile network in a backpack’ to the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal to help restore communications to some of the areas worst affected by last weekend’s earthquake. The Vodafone Foundation has also announced that it has made a donation of £100,000 to the UK Disaster Emergency Appeal (DEC) to support the relief effort in Nepal.
The Instant Network Mini, an 11kg mobile network in a backpack which can be set up in just 10 minutes, has arrived in Kathmandu with the Instant Network team leader on a commercial flight. According to Vodafone, the Instant Network team will offer support to local operators to help restablish mobile communications, helping aid workers communicate during the relief effort and enabling people to contact their loved ones following the devastating earthquake. The Instant Network Mini which works within a radius of 100 metres, connecting up to five mobile phone users can be taken as hand luggage on commercial flights and deployed by non-technical staff. A larger Vodafone Foundation Instant Network which can provide coverage within a radius of one kilometre, is light enough to travel in the back of a car or on commercial flights, enabling a quick response to disasters.
Andrew Dunnett, Vodafone Foundation Director
Establishing communications in the aftermath of a natural disaster is crucial, both for the coordination of aid and to enable those affected to reconnect with family and friends. Through our Instant Network programme, we are able to deploy our people and our technology to provide communications support at a critical time.
