Whether it is a natural disaster, such as a hurricane, earthquake or tsunami, or man-made conflicts, in the blink of an eye, an infrastructure that took years to build can be destroyed. The consequences of these events can be felt for years, and satellite services remain one of the first choices when a nation tackles the task of recovering from a disaster and rebuilding its infrastructure.

The perception of satellite technology and its role in rebuilding nations has changed throughout the last few years, says Jean-François Cazenave, president of Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF), a non-governmental organization which provides aid in crisis-torn countries. "Reliable telecommunications is now recognized as a key to successful emergency response and coordination. When we started TSF 10 years ago, people often wondered why people and those helping them needed telecommunications. Now there’s no question around it. In natural disaster situations or in humanitarian crises in isolated areas, satellite is the only fast deployable and reliable solution. Showing the importance of telecommunications in emergencies, the European Commission Humanitarian Office (ECHO), which is the leading humanitarian donor in the world, will fund TSF to share its experience and train more emergency responders on the usage of satellite communications equipment so that more aid agencies have access to reliable communications anywhere in the world and in a matter of minutes," he says.

Travis Mooney, COO, Talia, a satellite voice and Internet service provider, agrees, saying there is a strong understanding of what satellite brings to the table. "The market understands satellite at this point. Terrestrial networks have a huge infrastructure cost. That infrastructure needs to be secured as well. In Iraq, there is a fiber cable running into Northern Iraq from Turkey. It is very easy to disrupt communications that are cable-based, so security and data secrecy have to be concerns. With satellite, you have complete independence from local infrastructure and it’s relative security compared to fiber," he says.

In Use Around the Globe

There are numerous case studies in which satellite has played a pivotal role in restoring communications and infrastructure, says Hamadoun Touré, secretary general of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). "In Afghanistan, satellite services were used to connect Kabul with major provincial cities for government services and official correspondence. The project was funded by the World Bank. The ITU was involved in projects providing training and assistance on spectrum management and creating multipurpose community tele-centers."

Cazenave highlights a food crisis in Africa as an example of where satellite technology stepped in. "In Niger, during the 2005 crisis, the government encountered severe difficulty sending information from remote areas of the country to decision makers due to lack of communications. This was identified as a key problem inhibiting the race to save lives in a food crisis. Funded by the ECHO, we responded to the government’s need by deploying a rapid-response communications team which established a satellite and radio communications network so that information could be sent in real time from even the most isolated regions to the capital…. In Dakoro, a remote town of eastern Niger, we installed a satellite-based communication center for aid agencies, local charities and the population, as there is still no local Internet provider in that area. Before people had to travel four hours to send an e-mail, and now they have connection which is faster than in the capital, Niamey. Our objective is to give communities the same access to technology and communications as in the rest of the country," says Cazenave.

Satellite technology also was used effectively after Hurricane Katrina Gilat is another company playing a role in bringing the benefits of satellite technology to regions impacted by natural disasters, helping provide communications following the earthquakes that hit Peru in 2007 and China in 2008. "The Sichuan Province in China experienced one of the strongest and most tragic earthquakes in recent times. It was important for emergency crews to get to the scene as fast as possible in order to report to the Chinese government and international aid organizations about the needs of the local communities," says Doron Elinav, vice president, marketing, Gilat Satelilte Networks. "Much of the area near the earthquake’s epicenter is mountainous and, even before the earthquake, communications was difficult. The temblor damaged or destroyed most of the remaining communications infrastructure. Gilat’s SkyEdge VSATs were deployed in the affected areas. The remote VSATs and antennae promptly began communicating via satellite enabling connectivity to the affected areas which would have otherwise been out of contact." Gilat’s business unit, Spacenet Rural Communications, aided Peru’s disaster recovery efforts, working with Peru’s Civil Defense Institute to deploy VSAT systems in the army bases of the country’s affected zones and in the central office in Lima. Phones connected to the VSAT network provided the primary communications channels in the days following the disaster said Elinav.

Satellite also is being used to prepare for natural disasters. "Satellite services have proved extremely useful in Bhutan, owing to its difficult mountainous terrain. An ITU project provides satellite uplink from the capital to remote areas for broadcasting," says Toure. "Until then, information took over three days to reach remote populations. The government of India provided space services for this project, and ITU established Earth stations. While these communication links have facilitated good governance, they have also assisted in preparing the country to face situations in the eventuality of a natural disaster."

Satellite technology plays a critical role in many military operations and can be just as important in the aftermath. "Angola, Iraq and other post-conflict countries such as Afghanistan, Liberia, Uganda, and [the Democratic Republic of the Congo] have already identified fixed and mobile satellite solutions and are moving toward expanded adoption," says David Hartshorn, secretary general of the GVF.

One of Hartshorn’s first rebuilding efforts was in Cambodia following the expulsion of Pol Pot’s regime. "One of the new government’s first priorities was to hold democratic elections. The U.N. was helping, and they needed a large network to link the polling stations," he says. "A VSAT solution was deployed, U.N. observers monitored a successful election and, thereafter, the network remained in place and was used to provide routine connectivity amongst the remote communities. It was an elegant solution to kick start the difficult process of rebuilding a country." Technology also played a key role in Angola in the wake of a civil war. "The government reached out to the private sector for a cost-effective means of serving rural populations throughout the country. Now they have deployed a nation-wide satellite network that is elevating standards of education through distance learning, health via tele-medicine and commerce by creating access for Angolan citizens to banking services, the marketplace and the World Wide Web. Through the Internet, Angolans are getting vital information about how to increase crop yields, thrive in animal husbandry and so on."

Arguably one of the biggest rebuilding efforts will need to take place in Iraq, and one of the largest countries in the Middle East presents a unique case study in terms of satellite technology and an infrastructure rebuild. "I think it is important to think about the state that Iraq was in even before the conflict," says Mooney. "You could not even call from major city to major city, so if you wanted to call from Baghdad to Mosul, you could not do it and reserve a hotel room. So bringing in any sort of overall communications, it really transformed society. We have worked with some wireless ISPs and a lot of net cafes that are bringing communications to the reach of everyone. That is pretty outstanding actually."

The next stage is rebuilding Iraq’s infrastructure will see more sophisticated networks based on satellite being deployed. "We have already seen a market shift towards more bespoke solutions, more dedicated connectivity, as opposed to shared platforms," Mooney says. " I am not saying shared platforms are not right for the region — they occupy an important part of our portfolio and are a very good product. I think what we are seeing now is organizations that can afford it go towards something with service guarantees. A lot of governmental organizations are looking for private RF networks. There are a couple of deals I know that are going on in Baghdad for fully private, fully autonomous networks. The problems with these things are the lack of capacity, but if you have capacity, that definitely is the way the market is turning."

The security aspect also will be an important advantage for satellite-based solutions, says David Bettinger, CTO of iDirect. "The constant riskiness of conflict and insurgency in war-torn countries perpetuates a need for satellite communications. Insurgents seem to find terrestrial infrastructure to be a particularly attractive target, and often vandalize cables or towers. Satellite communications does not share the same risks. The hub infrastructure of an iDirect system can either be built well outside of an insurgency zone or our ruggedized hub offering can be built on a mobile platform and moved to a safe area when needed….

Working with Other Technologies

Along with more powerful satellites, satellite technology has evolved to make a strong solution for nations looking to rebuild. "The efficiency of DVB-S2 technology has freed up a lot of new satellite capacity and given operators the opportunity to add new clients and increase revenue based on existing space capacity. This, along with new satellite launches, mean that operators can continue to offer coverage to developing or rebuilding nations," says Bettinger.

Technologies such as WiMax also can also be used to rebuild infrastructure, working with satellite solutions. "WiMax provides an excellent complementary technology to satellite communications," says Bettinger. "Relief agencies often use WiMax or Wi-Fi to provide a local canopy of connectivity to an area and use satellite for backhaul. Very often, military convoys or first responder vehicles take advantage of this. Satcom is not often used for covering shorter distances; WiMax is better suited for this. However, though the distance capabilities of WiMax are growing, it still can’t handle the growing number of applications that people need to run; satellite can. There are also many sites where WiMax still won’t be an option."

Cooperation between different technologies also can lead to long-term opportunities. "Vietnam provides a good case in point. Last year, one of GVF’s member companies, IPStar, helped deploy a VSAT-WiMax network in the rural village of Ta Van," says Hartshorn. "Proof-of-concept funding was provided by the Vietnamese government and the U.S. Agency for International Development. The network provided subscription-based broadband access for villagers and small local enterprises, and it was demonstrated that the network was sustainable, technically and financially. As a result, the Vietnamese government earmarked $65 million per year to roll out broadband in rural areas over the next three years," he says.