When disaster — whether it’s flood, fire or cyclones — strike, the first thing many of us do is try to communicate. But what happens when the communication towers are down, drowned or just plain overloaded? In Telstra’s case, it starts MEOWing. Now updated with pics of the MEOW purring along.
MEOW here in the sense of Mobile Exchange on Wheels; and as Telstra’s Exchange Blog points out, the company has just introduced its second generation MEOW unit. It’s smaller than the original MEOW, which makes it both cheaper and easier to move into disaster ravaged sites. Each MEOW Mark II can temporarily replace up to 330 landline services and 330 ADSL 2+ services for users.
The colour scheme isn’t just Telstra marketing; it’s also designed so that it’s easy to spot from the ground or the air even in the most dire circumstances.
Update: Telstra’s sent me through a few more pics of the MEOW Mark II.
[Telstra Exchange]
Image: Telstra