Across the world, humanitarian agencies and groups strive to deliver aid to people and communities in need. Frequently, workers for humanitarian organizations operate in areas that have suffered damage to their infrastructure or in places that never had that infrastructure, to begin with. Regardless of the reason, humanitarian organizations and the workers that make their efforts possible often have to work in places where communication by conventional means is impossible or extremely difficult. Luckily, satellite communication offers aid groups a means of communicating while in areas that lack internet and cellular service or landlines.

            UStronics offers a wide range of satellite solutions available for use by humanitarian groups. These include satellite phones, including ones with push-to-talk capabilities, and satellite terminals. Satellite phones are capable of functioning in areas without cellular coverage; it does not matter if it is because the network is down or if one was never established. Standard satellite phones in an area without mobile coverage can make calls to phones outside the area that are still connected to a network. Push-to-talk phones, however, have an additional advantage in that they can send messages and make calls to other satellite phones, wherever they are. Push-to-talk phones can allow for a group of aid workers in an area without network coverage to communicate with each other, allowing for a level of communication comparable to that in areas with substantial communication infrastructure.

Satellite communication is not just limited to phones. While the capability for sending messages and making calls is of great value to any humanitarian organization, accessing the internet is arguably just as important, if not more so. For that purpose, UStronics offers a wide variety of satellite terminals that can be easily adapted for use by humanitarian organizations. Satellite terminals provide internet access via a connection to a satellite. There are a wide variety of terminals suited for use by humanitarian organizations. For individuals or groups consisting of a few workers, terminals like the Iridium Certus can provide primary access to the internet. For purposes that require higher amounts of bandwidth, there are VSAT’s which offer an excellent solution.  Humanitarian organizations can make use of three forms of VSAT’s, fixed, drive-away, and fly-away, all of which can be provided by UStronics. Fixed VSAT’s offer large amounts of bandwidth, but cannot be moved and may take some time to set up; this makes them best suited for use in areas where humanitarian organizations are likely to be present for extended periods. Drive-away and fly-away VSAT’s are portable and offer substantial amounts of bandwidth, making them suited to quick deployment in areas without functioning internet. In short, satellite communication offers a wide range of benefits for humanitarian purposes, making satellite capabilities a valuable asset. UStronics provides many satellite solutions that can be used to significant effect by humanitarian organizations, allowing them to deliver aid better.