Ericsson and Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) today announced a partnership to provide emergency communications services to support disaster relief efforts in South and Southeast Asia through Ericsson Response.

This is a world''s first operator partnership for Ericsson Response. The primary role of Ericsson Response, a volunteer initiative, is to establish essential mobile communications to support humanitarian agencies and other partners in carrying out their humanitarian and natural disaster relief work. Ericsson Response works in collaboration with several organizations such as the United Nations (UN) to meet their communication needs.

Under this partnership, SingTel will provide satellite services from countries where its regional mobile associates operate. In addition, the SingTel Group's associates, Advanced Info Service (Thailand), Bharti Airtel (India), Globe Telecom (Philippines), Telkomsel (Indonesia) and Warid (Pakistan) will provide local resources to assist Ericsson Response's relief efforts. This will allow for faster deployment of emergency communications services in the event of disaster.

"We have chosen to partner with Ericsson Response because of its expertise in disaster relief, and its existing relationships with the UN, the IFRC and NGOs in the region. This partnership is a demonstration of the SingTel Group's commitment to provide readily available resources for disaster relief," said Hui Weng Cheong, SingTel CEO International.

Rima Qureshi, Senior Vice President of Ericsson Group and Head of Ericsson Response, said, "The SingTel Group is one of Ericsson's most important global customers and we are honored to be their partner for their corporate social responsibility undertaking in South and Southeast Asia. We welcome this opportunity, together with the SingTel Group, to support humanitarian operations and the citizens of the region with standby disaster communication services, should the need arise.”

In Southeast Asia, Ericsson Response has already supported projects in Vietnam, Indonesia and Pakistan. The team was called on following the Asian Tsunami of 2004.

Other countries where the initiative has been deployed include Haiti, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iran, Panama, Sudan, the US, Turkey, Kosovo and Lebanon.