Typhoon Mangkhut caused many casualties and a lot of damage in the Philippines. Telecom networks in the country are also no longer working. An international Vodafone Foundation 'Instant Network' team has been sent to the Philippines to help restore communication.

With the 'Instant Network' program Vodafone Foundation provides equipment and employees who can build up a temporary mobile network in disaster areas. This group of volunteers consists of international employees of Vodafone. Seven British, Hungarian and Dutch colleagues have arrived in the Phillipines and they've started their work. The team works together with the local telecom provider SMART, Telecom Sans Frontière and the local authorities with the aim to make communication possible for the residents and aid organisations.

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Harm Kanters, Technical Solution Architect of VodafoneZiggo, is part of the team. "We immediately contacted the aid organisations and got the technique going as soon as possible. Emergency equipment like Instant Wifi takes care of wifi coverage in Itogon, where rescue missions are taking place because of landslides. Instant charge enables 60 phones to be charged at the same time for people devoid of electricity."

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13th time
This is the thirteenth time that the Vodafone Foundation's Instant Network Team is taking action after a disaster. The team was previously deployed in Nepal (2015), in the Philippines (2013) and on St. Maarten (2017).