By Joseph D'Urso
LONDON, May 12 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Buildingswrecked by Tuesday's earthquake in Nepal, already weakened bylast month's huge quake which killed over 8,000, will take yearsto rebuild. But another type of infrastructure will bounce backmuch sooner: communication networks.
Enabling aid workers and civilians to access the internet,make a phone call or send a text is now seen as a vital part ofany humanitarian response. The World Food Programme (WFP) hasdeployed some innovative kit to make this possible in Nepal.
The WFP, in collaboration with the Luxembourg government,the phone company Ericsson and Nethope, a grouping of NGOs, hasdeveloped mobile data antennas small enough to be taken on acommercial flight.
"They look like beach balls," said the WFP's Mariko Hall,describing them as "inflatable, light and quick to deploy". Theywork like a wifi network, providing an internet connection toteams in remote areas where existing signals are down.
The teams can then collect, upload and analyse data ondeaths, disease and damage to buildings, with help from teamsoperating remotely, enabling fast response techniquesunthinkable a decade ago.
Phone lines get congested when disasters strike, so responseteams in Nepal have a tactic of "text not talk". Using the beachballs, they can also email, which is quicker than trying to geta call or SMS through a clogged network.
"In situations like now where you have an aftershock, youcan speak to teams and they can say 'you know what, we're OK,we're fine'," said Hall, who had been in touch earlier in theday with teams in Chautara, badly hit by the latest quake.
NO COLD CALLS
With serendipitous timing, telecoms experts from around theworld gathered in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, in mid-April for aconference on how the country's phone network could prepare forthe big earthquake they knew would come one day.
"Although we knew the risk of an earthquake in KathmanduValley was very high, we never expected it would be so soon,"said Kyla Reid, head of disaster response at the GSMAssociation, a worldwide grouping of mobile operators.
The 7.8 magnitude quake struck just nine days later, onApril 25. There had been no time for long-term networkimprovements, but the fact that staff of phone companies, NGOsand the government had met so recently was helpful, said Reid.
Despite the power of the quake, the phone network largelystayed functioning, and "is holding up pretty well" even afterTuesday's shock, said Henrik Westman of Swedish companyTeliaSonera, which owns NCell, Nepal's largest telecom operator.
According to Westman, after Tuesday's quake "300 sites haveproblems, mainly with power supply. But nearly 90 percent of themobile network is running good, although congested."
NETWORK IN A BACKPACK
British phone company Vodafone has sent "Instant Network"equipment - portable devices enabling mobile phones to connectto the network when regular coverage is down - to areas in theKathmandu valley worst affected by the April 25 earthquake.
The Instant Network Mini is an 11 kg (22 lb) battery-powereddevice in a backpack which can be set up in just 10 minutes,providing a phone signal within a radius of 100 metres, Vodafonesaid in a statement.
The larger Instant Network, weighing 100 kg, can travel in acar or on commercial flights and provides mobile coverage withina radius of one kilometre (0.62 mile), Vodafone said. The sametechnology was used in the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan in2013.
"I don't think you can say mobile is a single silver bulletfor emergency preparedness or response, but it's critical thatit's prioritised," said Kyla Reid of the GSM Association. (Reporting By Joseph D'Urso; Editing by Tim Pearce) )
Vodafone (VOD)