AT&T and Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) have announced an agreement whereby AT&T will provide TSF with financial and technical support to pursue and expand its operations throughout the world.

The announcement was made by Betsy Bernard, President of AT&T Business, and Jean Francois Cazenave, President of Télécoms Sans Frontières, during a meeting held between the two organizations in Paris.

Based in Pau, in southwestern France, Télécoms Sans Frontières is a non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to providing emergency telecommunication services. Since its inception in 1998, TSF has applied its expertise and experience around the world to help people in regions afflicted by natural disasters or armed conflicts. Its mission is to supply telecommunications capabilities for humanitarian aid teams on the ground, while enabling victims to restore contact with the outside world by for example, calling their families and friends from whom they have lost contact. Less than 48 hours after learning of an emergency, TSF can arrive on the scene anywhere in the world and set up an operations center within a matter of minutes.

  In addition to financial assistance from the AT&T Foundation, AT&T Business is contributing technical support for the development of TSF initiatives by providing TSF teams with free remote access to the Internet and a supply of AT&T PrePaid Phone Cards. AT&T, a world expert in disaster recovery and business continuity will also lend its skills and expertise to advise TSF in the area of emergency telecommunications.

 "We’re delighted to partner with one of the world’s leading telecoms companies," said Cazenave. "AT&T will not only help us be more effective during emergency operations, but also enable us to develop longer-range projects such as the training and aid we provide to developing countries to help close the digital divide."

"We were very impressed by the efficiency and expertise of Télécoms Sans Frontières," added Bernard, "and are proud to be able to provide them with our support, both on the ground when they respond to immediate crisis and for their longer-term humanitarian projects."

In addition to TSF’s ongoing activities, AT&T Foundation support will also be applied to a new initiative by the charity to set up development projects in remote regions, notably as part of their Natural Disaster Prevention Training Program.

The first such project is now underway in Managua, Nicaragua, where TSF is installing a permanent logistics base to cover Central and South America. These regions are regularly hit by natural disasters and the base will shorten to 24 hours the time required for TSF teams to start operations.

In addition to continuously tracking events in the region and providing emergency response, the office will also train local TSF teams, who can then be deployed in the region or, if needed, anywhere else in the world. Initially trained to use a variety of emergency transmission systems and networks, the teams will later learn to use TSF satellite voice and data transmission systems, as well as digital cameras and video equipment.

As part of its commitment to closing the digital divide in developing countries, TSF will also install Mobile Telecommunication Community Centers (MTCCs) in the region to improve the local quality of life. Roaming MTCC teams will be assigned to go into Nicaragua’s most remote regions, which lack any means of communication, and provide the local population with satellite-based telephone and fax lines, Internet connections, e-mail services and picture or video feeds. MTCCs can already deliver a wide range of applications, such as telemedicine, adult education and training, but if necessary, their capabilities can be expanded to include links with the outside world, economic applications and information access solutions.

Nicaragua is just the beginning. Télécoms Sans Frontières plans to extend this type of project to many other regions and is considering developing a similar program in Asia by establishing a new permanent logistics base in Bangkok.