Telephone Access News

Mercy Ships is a nonprofit organization operating medical relief ships that travel to the poorest countries of the world to perform medical services and community development programs. In order to serve such communities, the ships have three basic requirements: a place to dock, fresh water and telephone access. In these poor countries, it is very common to have a wired public phone system that is very old, overloaded, and not readily available at the dockside. However, GSM cellular service is generally available in the port area, so finding a way to use that cellular service has been a must for Mercy Ships. In their quest to access the GSM cellular service…

Mercy Ships announced today from their corporate headquarters that they have secured a strategic alliance with Maritime Telecommunications Network (MTN). MTN will provide all satellite equipment, monitoring, support, bandwidth and logistics. The hardware will be provided by MTN as part of the agreement. Having a reliable, 24/7 communications ability has long been a dream for Mercy Ships, which often sends its ships to locations where adequate communication facilities are not available. Until now, that dream has seemed out of reach. capabilities both in port, and at sea. "We are pleased to provide Mercy Ships with global telecommunication services," stated David Kagan, chief executive officer of MTN. shipboard communication technology aboard their vessel.