Utilization of Telecom Technologies for the Disaster Management in Underdeveloped Coastal Districts of Pakistan

Information and communication technologies plays critical role in all phases of disaster management, and enabler of e-services delivery to the underdeveloped areas. Unfortunately this critical infrastructure is highly prone to disasters. This paper is based on coastal areas of Pakistan, which were badly affected during floods 2005 -2012. Universal Service Fund (USF) Pakistan has started many telecom projects for broadband infrastructure, telemedicine and distant learning to uplift the livelihood of underdeveloped areas. The telecom infrastructure collapsed during disasters and population sustained heavy damages due to unavailability of disaster information. Causes of breakdown of telecom infrastructure are investigated. Remedial options are found from literature review, public’s reports & case studies. Then, these technological options are applied upon Pakistan regulatory & telecom infrastructure context and two separate plans for survival of narrowband and broadband communication are proposed. Another contingency plan for easy deployable temporary infrastructure is given for the case of total blackout of communication. An overview of existing information & communication systems weaknesses & gaps are given, its remedies are discussed for the effective mitigation of disasters. This study can be extended to other underdeveloped regions of the world to serve the calamity struck regions with fewer economic and human losses.