IEEE Spectrum: Engineers Race to Restore Communications after Haiti Quake.
But in an ironic twist, it turns out that Haiti’s Internet connectivity is robust precisely because its telecommunications infrastructure is so underdeveloped. Specifically, most Haitian ISPs connect to the Internet via satellite and are not dependent on the country’s lone undersea fiber optic cable link, which was knocked out the during the quake. The challenge for engineers now is the proverbial last mile–getting local connections to satellites restored so NGOs can get online.
Ironic? Only if you haven’t been keeping up. Internet and cellular connectivity is more robust than traditional telecommunications in a lot of places. Please open your doors to new Baltimore customers, Clearwire! Looking forward to two fewer wires over my backyard.
