As the US prepares for Hurricane Rita, Inmarsat is playing a vital
role in emergency response plans

As the Gulf Coast braced itself for the arrival of Hurricane Rita, local emergency services, government agencies and businesses were activating emergency response plans underpinned by Inmarsat satellite communications.

The plans were designed to ensure a swift response in the event of a disaster. The US authorities had been keen to act early, aware of the devastation and chaos caused when New Orleans and other coastal areas were caught unprepared for Hurricane Katrina.

Inmarsat distribution partner France Telecom Mobile Satellite Communications (FTMSC) reported that its Florida office and its US partners had mobilized to support the many government and local emergency agencies standing by for search and rescue work.

FTMSC Americas director Eric Verheylewegen reported that many more Inmarsat mini-M and Global Area Network (GAN) terminals than normal had been shipped to end-users along the entire Gulf Coast - including Texas and Louisiana.

There is a huge media presence in the region, Eric confirmed - with many reporters still on location in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Many journalists are reporting live from different areas along the Gulf Coast and are using GAN terminals for broadcasts. In addition, the various different government agencies are using Inmarsat GAN Mobile ISDN services for video-conferencing.

Meanwhile, Inmarsat partner Telenor reported that its US subsidiary GMPCS, headquartered in Florida, had dispatched a team of communications experts and communications equipment - including Inmarsat GAN and mini-M terminals - to Houston, Texas.

The team is poised to help with the relief effort - including the emergency services and local businesses - if required.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina - which devastated much of Louisiana, Mississipi, Alabama and western Florida - Inmarsat put its weight of its expertise and resources behind the relief effort.

Inmarsat's on-demand mobile satellite telephone connections and high-speed data links are completely independent of the normal fixed-line and cellular networks.

These services proved indispensable to relief workers during the crisis when the conventional communications infrastructure had been crippled.

In response to the surge in demand for Inmarsat GAN and mini-M services in the wake of Katrina, Inmarsat reallocated satellite capacity to make additional channels available in the disaster zone - ensuring that users of both systems experienced the best possible levels of service to support them in their missions.

Inmarsat was maintaining these additional channels as a precaution as Hurricane Rita swept in across the Gulf of Mexico.

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