Building fit-for purpose networks: Emergency Telecommunications in Action

Zavazava argues that ITU's constitution explicitly recognises connectivity as fundamental to protecting human life, regardless of circumstances. This means universal access to communications, including early warning systems, must be ensured so that humanitarian coordination is possible when disasters strike.

He cited the ITU constitution directly, stating that connectivity is fundamental to protecting lives, and emphasised that universal access and early warning systems must be in place so that coordination of humanitarian action is possible through communications .

Zavazava highlights that damaged telecommunications infrastructure during disasters disrupts the entire communications chain, hampering coordination among first responders and humanitarian partners. This delay in humanitarian response can result in loss of life that could otherwise have been prevented.

He stated that when natural hazards damage telecommunications infrastructure, the loss of connectivity delays humanitarian response with serious consequences, including avoidable loss of life, and that the entire communications chain gets disrupted, affecting coordination among stakeholders, first responders, and humanitarian partners .

Zavazava announced that ITU's office launched a practical guide on 23rd June to assist governments, regulators, and mobile operators in creating national emergency roaming frameworks. The guide addresses the practical challenge of enabling people to connect to alternative networks when their primary network is unavailable during a disaster.

He noted that on 23rd June his office launched a guide to developing a national emergency roaming framework, described as a practical resource for governments, regulators, and mobile operators to establish clear regulatory and operational arrangements for emergency roaming . He explained the practical challenge it addresses: when one mobile network is unavailable during a disaster, people should be able to connect to another national network to make emergency calls, receive alerts, and communicate with loved ones .

Zavazava argues that national emergency roaming frameworks serve as an additional safeguard, maintaining continuity of essential communication services when networks fail during crises. He also noted that regions switching off 3G are wisely retaining 2G for emergency purposes.

He stated that national emergency roaming frameworks provide an additional layer of resilience helping ensure continuity of voice, SMS, and data services during critical network failures . He also noted that as regions, particularly Europe, switch off 3G in favour of 5G, many are leaving 2G operational for emergencies, which he described as important .

Zavazava uses the 2010 Haiti earthquake as a cautionary example of what happens when emergency telecommunications actors operate without coordination. NGOs and operators deployed independently without consulting the national regulator Conatel, resulting in severe frequency congestion and interference that rendered communications impossible until order was restored.

He recounted that after the major earthquake in Haiti in 2010, many operators and NGOs came and operated without consulting Conatel, causing a lot of congestion and interference to the extent that none of them could communicate until order was restored and all players were invited to go to Conatel to be allocated appropriate frequencies . He described the handover of Haiti's national emergency telecommunication plan to Conatel as an important recent milestone .

Zavazava explains that ITU actively supports countries in developing national emergency telecommunication plans (NETPs) that bring together policy, regulatory, and operational elements. These plans include standard operating procedures so that all actors know their roles before a disaster strikes, preventing chaotic responses.

He stated that ITU helps countries design national emergency telecommunication plans that take into account policy and regulatory frameworks and incorporate standard operating procedures so that there is no panic when a disaster strikes and as countries prepare for emergencies .

Zavazava argues that national emergency telecommunication plans are critical tools for pre-crisis preparation, as they define who does what and how during an emergency. They establish the coordination mechanisms and regulatory arrangements that allow emergency measures to be activated swiftly when a crisis occurs.

He explained that national emergency telecommunication plans can play a critical role enabling countries to define clear roles and responsibilities, establish coordination mechanisms, and set out the regulatory and operational arrangements needed to activate emergency measures when a crisis occurs .

Zavazava highlights Haiti's NETP as a concrete example of ITU's work in least developed countries, representing progress in ensuring that future disasters are met with a coordinated, regulated response rather than the chaos seen in 2010.

He noted that ITU recently reached an important milestone in handing over Haiti's national emergency telecommunication plan to the national agency Conatel, describing Haiti as the only least developed country across the Atlantic .

Zavazava identifies spectrum management as a major challenge in disaster response, where multiple actors deploy communications equipment without seeking proper frequency allocation from regulators. This causes congestion and interference that can completely disable communications, as demonstrated in Haiti.

He noted that spectrum is a big issue in the field because many players come and deploy without seeking frequency allocation from the regulator, causing congestion and interference . The Haiti 2010 example illustrated this vividly, where the lack of coordination with Conatel caused such severe congestion that none of the actors could communicate .

Brown argues that the role of mobile connectivity in emergencies has grown significantly over recent decades, with both emergency responders and affected communities now heavily reliant on it. Connectivity is used for a wide range of critical functions including calling for help, finding family members, and receiving humanitarian cash assistance.

She noted that things have changed in humanitarian action significantly over past decades, and that emergency responders and affected communities now rely on connectivity to call for help, find family members, and receive humanitarian cash assistance .

Brown argues that the extraordinary reach of mobile networks makes them the most effective channel for disseminating early warning information to the majority of the world's population. When combined with other channels, the aim is to reach everyone.

She cited that 96% of the world's population is covered by a mobile network and there are 5.8 billion unique mobile subscribers, making mobile networks the channel through which the majority of people in the world can be reached with life-saving information in advance of a disaster .

Brown highlights cell broadcast technology as a particularly powerful tool for early warning because it can deliver geolocated alerts to millions of people within seconds. Crucially, unlike other communication methods, it is not affected by network congestion, which is especially important during disasters when networks are under strain.

She described cell broadcast technology as an older technology that is able to reach millions of people within seconds with geolocated alerts, and noted that it is not affected by network congestion, making it very impactful .

Brown points out that despite the effectiveness of cell broadcast technology, its global deployment remains limited. With only around 37 countries actively using it for early warning, there is a substantial gap that requires continued effort and collaboration to close.

She noted that around 40 to 45 countries (by ITU's numbers) have cell broadcast technology in place, with around 37 of those using it for early warning alerting, indicating that significant work remains to implement the technology globally . She cited GSMA's work in the Pacific Islands, Nepal, Tanzania, Madagascar, and Kenya as examples of ongoing implementation efforts .

Brown highlights an emerging and innovative financing approach where universal service funds — levies on telecommunications sector revenues — are being used to fund cell broadcast technology for early warning. This model, demonstrated by Argentina and Thailand, offers a replicable solution to the financing barrier many countries face.

She noted that Argentina and Thailand have recently used their universal service funds, which are levies on telecommunications sector revenues, to finance cell broadcast technology for early warning, describing this as great innovation and progress .

Mayberry argues that regulatory frameworks for emergency roaming should be developed collaboratively, ensuring that operators' knowledge of their own systems and risks is incorporated. Critically, these arrangements must be established before a crisis occurs so that operators have clear agreements, roles, and processes in place without regulatory uncertainty.

He stated that GSMA supports a clear and collaborative approach to regulation so that operators' own experience about their systems and risks are factored into arrangements, and emphasised that it is crucial this happens ahead of a crisis so that operators have agreements, know their roles and responsibilities, and can put in place processes without concern about regulatory uncertainty .

Mayberry points to existing implementations of national emergency roaming in Canada, Chile, and the US as practical evidence that such frameworks are achievable and effective. He references the ITU guidance document as containing useful information about these country examples.

He noted that the ITU's recently published guidance on creating national regulatory frameworks for emergency roaming contains useful information including principles, definitions, and information on countries that have already implemented national emergency roaming, such as Canada, Chile, and the US .

Mayberry outlines a range of operational challenges that operators encounter during emergencies, which vary by region and context. These include physical damage to infrastructure, power failures, inability to access sites for repairs, supply chain issues including customs clearances, and surges in demand that strain already compromised networks.

He listed operational challenges including infrastructure damage, power supply failures (noting backup systems can become depleted during prolonged events), access constraints where roads are blocked or conditions are unsafe, supply chain challenges including customs clearances for imported equipment, and demand spikes when people seek information during disasters .

Mayberry argues that traditional business continuity frameworks assumed a recovery period between disaster events, but this assumption is increasingly invalid. The experience of recent years, including extreme weather events compounded by the pandemic, means resilience planning must now account for sequential and compounding shocks.

He explained that business continuity frameworks historically assumed a recovery interval between events to allow repairs, restocking, and restoration, but that recent experience in some countries challenges this assumption, citing extreme weather events followed by the pandemic as an example of compounding and sequential events that affected team systems and budgets .

Mayberry argues that network resilience planning must extend specifically to the early warning systems that rely on mobile networks, since warning lead time is a key determinant of whether warnings translate into protective action. This requires performance testing, geographically distributed alerting infrastructure, and satellite-based backhaul options.

He stated that warning lead time is a key determinant of whether a warning translates into protective action, making early warning time-critical, and therefore resilience of mobile networks must consider the resilience of mobile-enabled early warning systems. He suggested this could include performance testing and simulations of early warning delivery, geographic redundancy for alerting infrastructure such as servers, and using satellite networks for early warning backhaul .

Mayberry highlights the GSMA Humanitarian Connectivity Charter as an industry-level initiative that establishes shared principles for improving resilience and preparedness among mobile operators. The charter focuses on three core principles: preparedness, collaboration, and response.

He noted that GSMA launched the Humanitarian Connectivity Charter in 2015 to set out shared principles for the industry on how to best improve resilience and preparedness among operators, with the HCC focusing on principles of preparedness, collaboration, and response .

Dr. Imanaka describes Japan's multi-channel approach to early warning, which enables the government to send nationwide warnings within seconds. By using a combination of mobile cell broadcasting, television, radio, and public loudspeakers, Japan ensures that critical information reaches people immediately, even in the early moments of a disaster.

He explained that Japan's system enables the government to send nationwide warnings within a few seconds, with alerts automatically delivered through multiple channels such as mobile phones via cell broadcasting, television, radio, and public loudspeakers, ensuring critical information reaches people immediately even in the early moments of a disaster .

Dr. Imanaka emphasises that even the most advanced technological systems are not sufficient on their own — people must know how to use them. Regular disaster drills and education in schools are essential to ensure that communities can respond effectively and use communication systems efficiently when emergencies occur.

He stated that technology alone is not sufficient, and that in Japan, regular disaster drills are conducted nationwide and students are educated on how to respond and communicate during emergencies, helping ensure that systems are used efficiently and effectively when needed .

Jameel unpacks the concept of coordination from a humanitarian standpoint, arguing it is not a vague aspiration but a concrete process requiring specific actors to engage in advance scenario planning. This includes considering communities that may be lower-priority users or located in areas with fragile infrastructure.

She explained that coordination means humanitarian entities, government responsible bodies, regulatory bodies, and the private sector coming together to think about disaster scenarios before they occur, including scenario planning for communities that might not be the highest-paying users or might be in places with fragile infrastructure .

Jameel identifies a systemic problem observed across multiple countries and contexts — from Madagascar to Mongolia to Mozambique — where national disaster management authorities and telecommunications regulatory bodies operate in silos. This lack of relationship and mutual understanding leads to chaos when emergencies strike.

She noted a similar pattern from Madagascar to Mongolia to Mozambique to Venezuela and DRC, where national disaster management bodies are the lead entities for disaster response but are not the most robust or resourceful, and that connections with private sector and regulatory bodies are often established without any link to national disaster management authorities . She cited the Jamaica example, where a robust regulatory body with good private sector connections had no coordination with the National Disaster Management Authority on telecoms equipment importation, and that facilitating dialogue between the two entities helped immensely .

Jameel argues that investing in pre-disaster relationship building between duty bearers and local authorities is a long-term but essential commitment. When these relationships are strong and roles are clear, local actors can manage disasters effectively without requiring external humanitarian intervention.

She stated that humanitarian action does not need to be kicked in if infrastructure and duty bearers and local authorities are fully in place, know what to do, who to contact, when, and how to respond to emergencies, and that strengthening these relationships beforehand is a very continuous and long-standing investment .

Comas Barnés explains that Resolution 100 was designed to address the practical problem of people not knowing local emergency numbers when they are in a foreign country during a crisis. A single common emergency number across Africa would remove this barrier, as there is no time to search for local numbers in an emergency.

She explained that Resolution 100 was approved by the World Telecommunications Standardization Assembly in 2022 with the aim of having a common emergency number for the whole of Africa, so that anybody moving from one country to another would not need to ask for local numbers in case of an emergency .

Comas Barnés highlights the high response rate to ITU's survey as evidence of strong African country interest in the resolution. The survey results also provided a clear direction for implementation, with 112 emerging as the primary emergency number and 911 as the secondary.

She noted that 52 out of 54 African countries replied to the survey, which she described as a very high rate demonstrating strong interest, and that the outcome was that in most cases 112 would be the primary emergency number and 911 the secondary one .

Comas Barnés argues that while the technical aspects of implementing a common emergency number fall within Study Group 2's remit, the broader implementation requires far more actors and resources. Ministries of telecommunications, health, and interior, as well as operators, must all be involved, and serious political will is essential.

She explained that implementing Resolution 100 involves numbering and programming networks, but also requires many actors in the country including the Ministry of Telecommunications, Ministry of Health, Ministry of the Interior, and operators, as well as legislative frameworks, financing, and setup for operation and management of emergency services, all of which require serious political will .

Comas Barnés describes a concrete upcoming action: BDT's publication of an updated guide to national emergency telecommunication plans, which will include an element on emergency numbers. This guide will be disseminated to all African member states to support implementation of Resolution 100.

She stated that BDT is publishing an update to the ITU guidelines for national emergency telecommunication plans, planned for release in September, and that Study Group 2 will ensure this publication, which includes an element on emergency numbers, is disseminated to all member states in Africa . She also mentioned plans for a follow-up workshop with the African Telecommunications Union in February of the following year to clear remaining doubts about implementation .

Delgado underscores that NETPs serve as the foundational coordination mechanism for emergency telecommunications, enabling national stakeholders to align on roles, responsibilities, and the use of technologies. She frames NETPs not merely as documents but as tools for structured national coordination.

She summarised the BDT Director's remarks by highlighting the importance of national strategic frameworks, which she referred to as National Emergency Telecommunication Plans, noting that they allow national stakeholders to come together and discuss the importance of having clear roles and responsibilities and to use technologies in a coordinated manner .

Delgado argues that having resilient connectivity in place is the foundation upon which mobile-based early warning systems depend. Without resilient networks, the ability to disseminate life-saving alerts through mobile technologies is compromised.

She thanked Kimberly Brown for highlighting the importance of having resilient connectivity in place so everyone can use mobile technologies to deliver early warning alerts, and for emphasising the use of cell broadcasts to deliver important information to people so that they can save their lives and livelihoods .

Delgado draws attention to the practical operational measures that underpin network resilience, including backup power and fuel, and emphasises that these must be arranged before disasters strike. She also links these measures directly to the functioning of early warning systems.

She acknowledged Joey Mayberry's points on the importance of having roles, responsibilities, and resilient measures such as backup power and fuel in place, and noted that having customs clearance processes pre-arranged before disasters strike is very important . She further connected network redundancy to the implementation and use of mobile networks and early warning systems to disseminate alerts .

Delgado highlights the Tampere Convention as the only international treaty specifically designed to facilitate the importation of equipment that supports emergency telecommunications. She presents ITU's support for countries in implementing this convention as a key element of disaster preparedness.

She noted that ITU supports countries to implement the Tampere Convention, describing it as the only international treaty that allows and facilitates the importation of any equipment that can support emergency telecommunications in the aftermath of disasters .

Delgado emphasises that technology and systems alone are insufficient without community-level training and simulations. If communities do not know how to react when they receive an alert or warning, the entire system fails to achieve its life-saving purpose.

She highlighted Dr. Imanaka's emphasis on training and simulations with communities as critical, stating that if people do not know how to react when they receive specific information, then even the best systems in place will not result in action, and without action, nothing has been achieved .

Delgado argues that disasters are not the sole responsibility of any single stakeholder, and that communications are cross-cutting, meaning all sectors and actors must be involved. Coordinated use of communications technologies across this broad stakeholder base is what ultimately enables lives to be saved.

She stated that when talking about disasters, it is not only about national disaster management authorities, and that everyone must come together, with roles and responsibilities being critical when it comes to telecommunications. She emphasised that communications are cross-cutting and that if used in a coordinated manner, technologies can be used in the best way to save lives .

Delgado underscores that without political commitment, even well-designed technological solutions and frameworks cannot be implemented effectively at the national level. She frames political will as a foundational enabler of all other emergency telecommunications efforts.

She noted that Maite Comas Barnés had highlighted an important topic, which is political will, stating that if there is no political commitment to use technologies for disaster management, then it will be very difficult to get something implemented at a national level .