In the ongoing saga of communities coming together in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, it’s good to see high tech companies bringing their own resources to bear in the relief effort. Rednova is reporting that Intel is pledging its own relief, by donating over 1500 wireless-enabled laptops, 150 wifi access points and 50 mesh antennas. The main access points will be at the airport and downtown New Orleans. Intel is also providing on-sote support personnel to ensure issue-less deployments and use.
SBC is also partnering with Intel in providing the backbone network connections.
Now if Cisco could get in there and get some routers and switches in place, this could be taken to the next level.
Wifi is such a great technology, especially at this time. No matter how many buildings, network lines, data centers or homes are damaged, wireless networks just don’t care. They work just as well.
Imagine if Katrina struck 10 years ago? What would we do?
Update: Other Tech Company Conributions
- SBC is doing their part, providing cellphones with free local and long distance to Astrodome Evacuees as well as installing a wireless network and high speed DSL access for the evacuees.
- T-Mobile may still be providing free wifi at all of their normal Hotspot locations in the affected areas (Borders, Starbucks, Kinkos, Etc). Usually, they charge. The free coverage was until Sept 2, but they may have extended that offer.
