South Worcester Flood Rescue, a volunteer organisation providing specialized flood and search and rescue services, has received a generous donation of 1,000GB (one terabyte) of mobile data from the KeySIM Foundation. The donation will support the deployment of a new connected situational awareness system, designed to enhance the organization’s operational capabilities.
The new system, based on ATAK technology, will allow operational teams to share real-time location information and video from the field. This will provide commanders with a live view of personnel and activity during deployments. The project is a joint effort between GoTAK, BaseCase, Instant Connect Enterprise, and KeySIM, which will provide the necessary mobile connectivity.
One of the key challenges faced by search and rescue teams is operating in areas with varying mobile coverage. To address this issue, South Worcester Flood Rescue required connectivity that was not dependent on a single UK mobile network. KeySIM’s multi-network IoT SIMs, which provide access to Vodafone, O2, EE, and Three without imposing a preferred network, were the perfect solution. Additionally, the service uses sovereign UK breakout, ensuring that mobile data remains within the country.
The donated data and KeySIM connectivity will support the transmission of ATAK data, including device locations and video, between personnel in the field and the organization’s command center. Ed Smart MICPEM, Head of IT at South Worcester Flood Rescue and also a member of The Air Ambulance Service, expressed his appreciation for the KeySIM Foundation’s contribution: “Our teams can be deployed to incidents in very different locations, so we needed mobile connectivity that wasn’t dependent on one particular network. Having access to the UK mobile networks through one SIM is a good fit for the way our equipment will be used, and the KeySIM Foundation’s allocation of 1TB of data means we can make full use of the system, including video, without the data cost falling on the charity.”
Graham Robinson, Managing Director of KeySIM, highlighted the practical use case for an unsteered multi-network SIM in this project: “Their equipment can be deployed anywhere they’re called, and the mobile network with the strongest coverage may be different from one incident to the next. That’s a practical use case for an unsteered multi-network SIM.” He also expressed the company’s pleasure in contributing to the project alongside other organizations providing technology and equipment.
The donated data and KeySIM connectivity will now be integrated into South Worcester Flood Rescue’s wider ATAK deployment as the organization introduces the new capability across its devices.
