Emergency assistance
As with utilities providers, mobile and fixed-line telecommunication operators have obligations to plan and respond to emergencies in partnership with the emergency services and local authorities. In the UK this falls under the Civil Contingencies Act.
In government terms, this means protecting the resilience of the national infrastructure, including services which, if compromised, could cause large loss of life, harm to the economy or carry grave social consequences.
O2 Germany provides access for authorities or special industries in case of emergency, in accordance with the law. Several emergency agencies have chosen O2 Germany as their telecommunications service provider.
O2 UK worked with authorities to help trace customers who had been affected by natural disasters, such as the South-East Asia tsunami in 2004 or the more recent earthquake in Asia in 2005 (Pakistan). We also notified people in affected areas of outbound and emergency flights.
In Germany we are supporting the Bjoern Steiger Foundation’s LifeService, a free location-based service that transforms the mobile handset into a search and rescue device. The foundation has set up the system on the emergency number 112 free of charge. We have included information in our customer communications to encourage as many as possible to join the scheme.
O2 Ireland sponsors the Dublin Wicklow mountain rescue team.
O2 and the other mobile network operators are currently producing an information pack on emergency planning.
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