PACTEC Provides VSAT
Communications for Tsunami Disaster Relief
(15 February 2005) PACTEC now
has two emergency communications centres in operation in Indonesia providing
support for tsunami relief workers.
The centres are
located in United Nations Base Camps in Banda Aceh and Meulaboh. Both centres,
referred to as Internet Cafés, use Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT)
satellite systems to provide high-speed Internet data and voice services for
relief workers. The Cafés can also offer long range wireless LAN links
to other organisations and individual aid workers within 20 km of the
centres.
Reliable communications among relief organisations and with
the rest of the world is essential, and the Internet Cafés are being
used heavily. Relief workers are able to use laptops furnished by the centres,
connect their own laptops to the network, or access the VSAT system with
wireless communications. The Cafés will remain in operation as long as
they are needed during relief and reconstruction.
Close co-operation
with AirServ International and the support of several other organisations were
instrumental in overcoming financial, operational and logistics challenges when
deploying the Internet Cafés. PACTEC staff provides ongoing hardware,
software and communications support for aid workers.
Both Internet
Cafés will operate long-range wireless local area network access point
using Tranzeo equipment. Electrical power is provided by redundant generators
in the camps, backed up by uninterruptible power supplies with large external
battery backup to operate over extended periods without generator power. The
cafes are open from 7am to 9pm or later, and the wireless access is available
24 hours a day. Each site also includes two Cisco VoIP phones for voice
communications.
The VSAT service is provided by SDN Global of
Charlotte, NC. The space segment is provided by Loral Skynet, which donated two
months of free bandwidth on T10 for initial operation. The PACTEC service is
using 1 Mb/s downlink and a 768 kb/s uplink. The system uses C-band frequencies
to eliminate rain fade problems typical of tropical regions. The satellite
equipment for both Internet Cafés was donated by iDirect of Herndon, VA,
which provided two Netmodem II+ systems and the associated outdoor
electronics.
The staff of PACTEC has VSAT experience world-wide, the
majority from installing nearly 100 systems under difficult conditions in
Afghanistan. PACTEC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit humanitarian aid organisation
which provides communications and aviation support to hundreds of relief, aid,
and development organisations world-wide.
(source: PACTEC)
