Sony Ericsson is donating 1300 mobile phones to the tsunami relief effort

Ericsson Response is working hard on bringing communication to the areas struck by the Tsunami. So far, two teams of Ericsson Response Volunteers and a mini GSM system are on their way out.

Yesterday, Ericsson Response Volunteers Jan Herremo and Richard Sohlberg travelled to Sri Lanka. They will cooperate with relief organisations in the area and assist Ericsson Sri Lanka in their efforts to help the victims of the disaster.

A mini GSM system is on its way to Aceh in Indonesia. The network in the region is destroyed, and it is a priority to get a communication system up and running. Dag Nielsen, director of Ericsson Response, and Ericsson Response Volunteer Mark Phillips from Ericsson, UK will travel to the area on Sunday. Six satellite phones have been donated from Ericsson Indonesia and a further twenty satellite phones have been sent from Ericsson Response.

To further improve communications, Sony Ericsson has donated 1300 mobile phones to be used by aid agencies in the area. 500 have been sent to Sri Lanka, and 500 are on their way to Indonesia. The remaining 300 are to be kept in Stockholm to be distributed to aid personnel as needed.

With the exception of Indonesia, the communications systems in the affected area are still functioning fairly well, but overloaded. Employees at local Ericsson companies are working hard at repairing the existing systems. more details on: www.ericsson.com/about/ericssonresponse