The increasingly violent heat waves, which are falling feverishly around the world, are accelerating the number, magnitude and complexity of disasters around the world. It is only in the past few weeks that we have seen record heat in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, the has resulted in hundreds of deaths – with more heat on the way.
Heat waves, forest fires, hurricanes, typhoons, and many other types of weather-related disasters pose major challenges for infrastructure providers such as utilities and telecommunications companies who, even in the midst of some cases, must keep availability for their customers as close as possible to one of the most difficult environments humans have ever experienced to have.
To that end, Verizon (which, as a reminder, is currently the ultimate parent company of ProWellTech) today announced the first demo unit of its THOR vehicle for Tactical Humanitarian Operations Response. THOR was developed on a Ford F650 pickup truck chassis and offers highly mobile and resilient connectivity for emergency services and citizens at the forefront through wireless technologies such as 5G ultra wideband and satellite uplinks.
Verizon’s THOR vehicle can use wireless technologies such as 5G and satellite uplinks to quickly provide connectivity for first responders. Image Credit: Verizon
The company developed the prototype in partnership with Department of Defense NavalX and SoCal Tech Bridge, and unveiled the prototype last week at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, north of San Diego.
In addition to wireless connectivity, THOR can potentially use a variety of drone functions. For example, a vehicle could use a drone for search and rescue operations, or provide firefighters with information about how a wildfire has developed over time.
As I discussed a few weeks ago, telecommunications companies like Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile are increasing spending on a variety of resilience initiatives, from rapid cellular deployment to novel solutions like AT & T’s FirstNet One, an airship that Flying nearby can be a disaster area to provide wireless services.
DisasterTech, as I have christened it, has recently attracted more attention from investors and corporations, large and small, as governments, the private sector, insurers and individuals face and respond to the increasing nature of storms worldwide.
