Role of Mobiles in a Disaster - report from the GSMA

Category Business Continuity Management BCM - Role of Mobile Communications in a disaster - News

GSM association examines role and performance of Mobile Communications in Emergency Situations

A spate of natural disasters and other emergencies during the past two years has prompted new interest in how technology can help enhance our security. This report assesses the impact that the widespread availability of mobile phones has had on the recovery from specific disasters and atrocities, such as the Indian Ocean tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, the summer floods in central Europe, and terrorist attacks in Istanbul and London.

The main conclusions are:  

For members of the public, the key lesson is text not talk during emergencies. Text messages are more likely to get through (as they use less network capacity or can be held in a queue and sent when there is free capacity), and their use will also help ease congestion on the network.

Public information campaigns should emphasise the role mobile phones can play in helping recover from a disaster. In the United States, for example, both the Federal Communications Commission and the local operators have posted consumer advisories, telling customers to ensure their handset batteries are charged ahead of an emergency, to have a back-up battery, to keep their phones dry, and to expect the network to be busy in the aftermath of an event such as a hurricane.

Mobile phones tend to play a supplementary role in early warning systems, where prior surveillance, public education and a range of news media, such as broadcast television, radio and the Internet are generally the best way to prepare people for an impending disaster. Mobile phones are not currently an efficient way to broadcast information to large numbers of people, but they can be a useful mechanism for individuals to relay that information on to friends and family who may have missed the initial broadcast. In many countries, there are low-tech, but effective warning systems in place. For example, in the Caribbean, people are warned of approaching hurricanes via radio broadcasts, backed up by annual drills taught each year in schools so that people understand the warnings they are given.

During the hours of impact of a natural disaster or terrorist attack, mobile networks inevitably experience congestion. But network data from operators affected by natural disasters such as the tsunami and floods, and by the Istanbul bombs, suggest this congestion is often similar to that seen at other peaks such as New Year.  Operators need to prioritise calls at such times, and manage other demands on the network. Operators and governments should work together to ensure mobile networks can recover as quickly as possible when damaged, not least because many emergency services rely on mobiles to communicate with each other. Some governments may need to consider allocating more spectrum, for example, for emergency service use.

In the immediate aftermath of a disaster the contribution of mobile is substantial thanks to the speed with which cellular networks can generally recover from damage, usually within hours or at most a few days. It is typically much easier to repair a wireless base station than hundreds of fixed-line connections. This was strikingly demonstrated in the speed of restoration of mobile services to customers in the Gulf region of the United States after Hurricane Katrina. New mobile networks can be set up relatively quickly in places where there was either no network to begin with or the original network was damaged.  During these chaotic situations, mobile phones can help in the process of recovery. They uniquely give affected people and aid agencies the means to find and receive information specific to their needs. After the Tsunami, for example, a Sri Lankan television employee sent out text messages containing on-the-ground assessments of what was needed and where. The experience of many people in the hours and days after the Tsunami demonstrates that decentralised communication is vital for the efficient matching of resources with needs, and reconnecting dispersed people.

Aid agencies are finding text messages and mobile calls are an increasingly important means of fund-raising, giving them rapid access to funds donated by members of the public. However, some countries impose taxes on these calls and text messages. Governments should review this policy.  Mobile use has spread rapidly, especially in some developing countries. Some poor countries are very vulnerable to natural disasters, and many are badly affected when disaster does strike because their infrastructure and emergency response capabilities are often weak.

This report looks at the contribution of mobiles using network data and other evidence. The case studies included here show that the timely spread of reliable information is a vital part of the response to and recovery from a disaster. The nature of communications needs differs at different stages of a disaster, however. The contribution of mobile (and other forms of communication) varies correspondingly. Policy debates should recognise these distinctions.  

Continuity Forum Comment

Without doubt technology can benefit deliver a massive benefit to organisations and communities around the world, but it is important to stress that a diverse and adaptable model needs developed to maintain resilience in response to incidents. Recent esperience has shown that over reliance on any one method of communications can unwittingly introduce a new single point of failure for planners and responders.

Mobile Communications are a VITAL tool in our armoury, but we should not forget that it is not the only one. Proactive communication, rehearsal and training ahead of any incident are of equal importance in the majority of situations, as is diversity in planning and infrastructure in the planning o Telecoms resilience.