Instant Network Emergency Response

We have connected over 84,700 devices, and offered free data equivalent to 2.2 billion WhatsApp messages since November 2015 

In Serbia and Macedonia, our NGO Partner, TSF, and Vodafone Foundation connected 241,199 devices and provided 19,932 GB of free data through their free Wi-Fi access points since September 2015.

Vodafone Foundation also deployed 8 Instant Charge units enabling thousands of refugees in camps to charge their phones. Instant Charge was specially designed for the response to the refugee crisis and will be also used in disasters combined with free networks Vodafone Foundation deploys to reconnect aid workers and victims.

 “I remember people coming to us and asking for charging and WiFi before they asked for any of what we would see as their basic needs.  The most important thing to them, was to be able to connect with their families.” reported UNHCR, our partners, working on the ground in Greece.

Over 10 days, 1,487 calls were make, supporting 7,250 people or 25% of the island's households. This was done with four volunteers from New Zealand.

Cyclone Pam was a category 5 tropical storm that crippled the islands’ infrastructure and telecommunications.

The team travelled to Port Vila, Vanuatu’s capital on Wednesday 18 March at the request of local operator Telecoms Vanuatu Limited (TVL), supporting the UN Mission and Telecoms sans Frontieres.

1,487 calls were made totalling 4,156 minutes, supporting an estimated 7,250 people and 25% of the island’s households. Thirteen agencies including World Vision, Unicef, Red Cross also used our connection sharing data ranging from aid distribution spreadsheets to co-ordinates for remote aid drops by helicopters.

‘A service we were able to facilitate with one of our VSATs was for the local bank. By enabling them to make phone calls and use the Internet, we helped them process 2 million Vatu (USD $20,000) in transactions and order 8 million Vatu (USD $80,000) in cash to refill their ATM – just in time for the next government employee payday’.

Over 17 days, 296, 926 calls were made and 578, 994 text sent. This was done with two volunteers from New Zealand.

Two volunteers arrived in the Philippines to assist in the deployment of Vodafone Instant Network, in partnership with Telecoms Sans Frontieres and local operator Smart Communications Inc. (Smart). 

On 8 December Clifford Robertson and Jason Rogers two Vodafone New Zealand employees who trained as volunteers in October, arrived in the Philippines to assist in the deployment of Vodafone Instant Network, in partnership with Telecoms Sans Frontieres and local operator Smart Communications Inc. (Smart).  Clifford and Jason were the first volunteers to deploy to the field as part of the Vodafone Foundation Volunteer programme.

"On the drive to Baganga we encountered total devastation – the scale of the destruction is difficult to comprehend…Most of the local houses are destroyed and only a few concrete structures remain and even some of those are severely damaged… Communications are critical to the coordination of government and NGO relief efforts and we've collaborated with the local mobile operator Smart to reconnect the community of Baganga to the rest of the country. Within seconds of the Instant Network coming online, the compound where the NGOs and government agencies are located lit up with phone calls and text messages. It never felt so good to be a telecommunications engineer” - Clifford.