Emergency communications and relief
Keeping people contactable when a flood, cyclone or earthquake takes the network down - and getting relief agencies a working line within hours.
< 12 h
Target time to first link
9
Responses supported
31
Pre-staged kits
24×7
Operations desk during a response
What the problem actually is.
In the first seventy-two hours of a disaster, the scarcest thing is not food or blankets. It is information: who is where, what is needed, which road is passable. When the towers go, that information stops moving and the relief effort slows to the speed of rumour.
This is the one area where a telecom foundation can do something almost nobody else can. We keep pre-staged kit - satellite terminals, portable base stations, power - and a roster of engineers who can be moving within hours of a request from the district administration. Dollu Ltd's NOC gives the response team a real operations desk rather than a phone tree.
We work only on request from the competent authority. Uninvited responders consume the very capacity they came to add, so our default is to stay out of the way until asked, and to hand over to the permanent network operator the moment they are ready.
Who this is for: Communities in declared disaster districts, and the government and NGO agencies responding there.
The work, specifically.
Each of these is funded with its running costs included - stipends, repairs, follow-up - because that is what decides whether it survives past the first year.
Rapid connectivity deployment
Satellite terminals and portable base stations pre-staged in cyclone and flood-prone districts.
Free calling for affected areas
Arranged with the parent network so displaced people can reach family without credit.
Relief coordination desk
A staffed operations line supporting district administration and relief agencies during an active response.
Family reconnection
Help for displaced people, particularly children and older adults, to trace and contact relatives.
Preparedness drills
Annual exercises with district authorities before the monsoon and cyclone seasons.
< 12 h
Target time to first link
9
Responses supported
31
Pre-staged kits
24×7
Operations desk during a response
Named projects inside this programme.
Odisha · since 2021
Signal in the Storm
Pre-staged emergency communications in cyclone-prone coastal districts, ready before the season starts.
How it works →
Three things that would make a difference here.
- Fund a pre-staged kit for a district ahead of monsoon season.
- Join the engineer roster if you hold relevant field experience.
- Partner with us if you are a relief agency needing communications support.
Contributes to
- SDG 11 Sustainable cities and communities
- SDG 13 Climate action
Related programmes
Fund it, staff it, or send us your old laptops.
Tell us which programme interests you and roughly what you have in mind - money, equipment, time or expertise - and we will come back with something specific rather than a brochure.
