Before 2018, there were few structural ways for communications to be rapidly restored after a major disaster struck a community. But the satellite industry understood how vital communications are as the first response to a disaster. It established the Crisis Connectivity Charter, a collaboration between the satellite industry and the humanitarian relief community to make satellite-based communications more readily available to affected communities. The Charter established a pre-planned set of systems that allow for an immediate response at the time of a disaster.

The Crisis Connectivity Charter, which won a Better Satellite World Award in 2018, was developed by members of the EMEA Satellite Operators Association (ESOA) and the Global VSAT Forum (GVF) and their members, in coordination with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC), which was led by the World Food Programme (WFP). At the time of creation, the Charter aimed to foster efficient cooperation between the satellite industry, local governments, non-government organizations (NGOs) and the broader humanitarian community in the initial stages of a disaster, allowing for better communication planning, increased connectivity and support for emergency responses. The Charter prioritized access to bandwidth during disaster responses by allocating pre-positioned satellite equipment and transmission capacity into high-risk countries. It also provides training and capacity-building for the humanitarian community around the world.

What have been the results of this historic agreement and Charter to date? In this fourth episode of Bridging the Broadband Gap, we hear from David Meltzer, Secretary General of GVF and James Matthews, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility at Eutelsat Group, who discuss the Charter and its effects thus far.

David Meltzer has 30 years of experience in the satellite and humanitarian industries. Mr. Meltzer currently leads GVF which is the sole global trade association for the commercial satellite industry representing the entire ecosystem. As GVF’s Secretary General, he leads advocacy efforts on behalf of the industry with national and international regulators while providing members with benefits in areas such as online and classroom training, organizing industry conferences and online webinars, and leading industry working groups. Prior to GVF, Mr. Meltzer served as Intelsat’s General Counsel and Executive Vice President for Regulatory Affairs during a sixteen-year career at Intelsat and also served for thirteen years at the American Red Cross leading its international disaster relief and development activities and as the American Red Cross’ General Counsel for over five years.

James Matthews is Director of Corporate Social Responsibility at Eutelsat, a position he took on recently after more than 20 years at the company. In his current role, he is responsible for ensuring the definition and delivery of Eutelsat group’s Corporate Social Responsibility policy. Throughout his time at Eutelsat, James has held a variety of roles, beginning as a Project Manager before being promoted to Head of Project Management & Service Monitoring and then Head of Traversal Programs and Teleport Infrastructure. Before joining Eutelsat in 2002, He served for nearly 2 years as Head of Project Management for Neos Networks.

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