SMS Proves More Reliable Than Wired & Wireless Phones During Disasters
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Upside Wireless Inc.
will offer free text messaging for one week to those areas that are hit by
hurricane Rita. Starting Thursday, September 22, 2005 at 5 pm PDT the company
provided a channel to communicate with people in the affected areas, currently
speculated to include Texas and Louisiana. This offer is available to members
of Upside's text messaging service, http://www.ipipi.com who send text messages to
mobile phones within the affected areas. If the hurricane changes course the
company will extend the refunds to the affected area.
"At times of distress and natural disasters people, more than ever, need
to communicate. It is invaluable just to hear that a relative or a loved one
is OK," said Branko Zurkovic CEO for Upside Wireless. "SMS can facilitate
this communication when many other more sophisticated services cannot. We
want to make our service available to the people who need it the most."
Text messaging is a function available on almost all mobile phones in use
today. It is very simple to use and it requires a very small amount of telecom
bandwidth. Therefore it can function in the areas where telecom infrastructure
is often damaged and the demand for other services, like voice, exceeds
available capabilities of the remaining wireless towers. This was evident on
December 26th, 2004 when Upside Wireless launched a similar offer to the 12
countries affected by the tsunami in Southeast Asia. Many of the regular
channels were down but SMS remained operational. "We were really glad that we
were able to help connect loved ones in that time of such great distress,"
said Zurkovic.
The company has received many grateful messages from customers who were
recently reunited by SMS in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Tommie Freeman from
Los Angeles wrote, "My daughter called to tell me she was separated from my
grandchildren during hurricane Katrina. The 504 area code to cell phones was
down so no phone could send or receive phone calls. I subscribed to your
service and sent a SMS to my granddaughter. She responded to let me know that
she was in a shelter in Houston, Texas. My daughter was in Killeen, Texas and
was ecstatic when I told her that her daughter had received the text message
that I sent. After receiving the SMS message reply from my granddaughter I
immediately booked a flight to Texas where I was united with my family. I am
so grateful to you and your system."
People that want to take advantage of this offer need to open an account
at http://www.ipipi.com, register their SMS capable phone or email address and
purchase credits in advance. The company will refund any credits used to send
or receive text messages to the affected region within the offer period.
About Upside Wireless
Upside Wireless Inc. is a global mobile messaging solutions provider,
specializing in communication across wireless data networks using text
messaging and cellular phones. Founded in 2000, the company now provides
services to over 200,000 corporate and consumer clients, enabling them to
reach any cell phone on the planet at anytime. With a speedy setup and local
rates, Upside Wireless is leading the SMS market in Canada. The company can
be found on the web at http://www.upsidewireless.com
SOURCE Upside Wireless Inc.
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.upsidewireless.com
CONTACT:
Brigitta Shore of Upside Wireless Inc.,
+1-604-729-9479, or bfshore@shaw.ca
|
