Vodafone to deploy Instant Network in area devastated by Hurricane IRMA

Vodafone Foundation is preparing to deploy Instant Network equipment in Hurricane IRMA affected area Guadeloupe to connect rescue workers and to enable affected families to contact their relatives.

Guadeloupe is the nearest island to the areas worst affected by Hurricane Irma, including St Martin, St Barts and Barbuda.

The Vodafone Foundation Instant Network is being taken to Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe to provide communications support in the areas worst affected by Hurricane Irma.

The Instant Network team will offer support to local operators and will work alongside NGO Télécoms Sans Frontières to help restablish mobile communications, helping aid workers communicate during the relief effort and enabling people to contact their loved ones following the devastating hurricane.

The Vodafone Foundation will deploy: Instant Network 3G, a mobile network in four suitcases with 3G connectivity; two Instant Charge devices – an outdoor mobile charging station which provides 66 charging points; and Instant Classroom Xtra, the Vodafone Foundation’s ‘digital school in a box’, which is being repurposed to create an emergency cybercafe to enable communities to contact their loved ones and to support the humanitarian relief programme.

The victims of Hurricane Irma will be able to use the emergency cybercafes to borrow tablets, charge their phones for free and connect to free Wi-Fi.

This will be the eleventh emergency response mission for the Vodafone Foundation Instant Network team

The Instant Network was deployed in Nepal during the 2015 earthquake and in the Philippines in November 2013 during Typhoon Haiyan. Instant Charge has recently been deployed in refugee camps, including in Lesbos and Samos Islands in Greece, where 84,600 devices were connected.

Andrew Dunnett, Director, Vodafone Foundation said, “Through our Instant Network programme, we are able to deploy our people and our technology to provide communications support at a critical time. Ensuring people are able to communicate in the aftermath of a natural disaster is crucial, both for the coordination of aid and to enable those affected to reconnect with family and friends.”