Response strategy:
The public telecommunications infrastructure across Syria has suffered significant damage due to more than a decade of devastating conflict. Efforts have been made to improve telecommunications infrastructure and services, but challenges remain high for availability and reliability in most locations. They are further affected by the worsening electricity landscape.
To address the needs of humanitarian actors and partner organizations, the emergency telecommunications (ETC) sector is sustaining the delivery and support for critical communication services in Damascus, Tartous, Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Deir-ez-Zor and Qamishli. ETC will expand the security communications system to new operational areas and strengthen the system through the adoption of emerging communication technologies. ETC will provide a coordination platform and Information Management (IM) for partners, and maintain, enhance, and expand ETC services in the common operational area in Syria.
ETC will maintain and enhance the in-country prepositioning of critical contingency equipment to support timely and coordinated humanitarian operations. This includes maintaining adequate stock levels, ensuring strategic geographic distribution, and regularly updating inventory based on evolving operational needs and risk assessments.
ETC will continue to provide technical support and develop technical capacity of national information technology personnel of humanitarian organizations. ETC will continue to assess the needs of humanitarian actors and partner organizations on the ground. ETC will prioritise support for humanitarian operations in affected areas to ensure an effective and timely response.
Priority activities:
- Sustain the delivery of critical communication services and solar power systems in common operational areas across Syria.
- Provide a coordination platform and IM for key partners to deliver high-quality and cost-effective ETC services, such as security communication, data connectivity, power supply, and technical support, to enable and support humanitarian actors and operations across Syria.
- Expand the security communication network to include Northwest and Southern Syria, enhancing the humanitarian actors’ safety and security.
- Assess and implement Remote Security Operations Centre (RSOC) across common operational areas in Syria supported by targeted training to enable a smooth transition to the new Security Operations Center solution.
- Establish a secure and reliable communication link between the designated Security Operations Center and UNHAS aircraft to enhance real-time coordination and situational awareness.
- Assess, identify and adopt emerging communication technologies to strengthen the delivery of critical communication systems along with the potential requirement for the new common operational area in Syria.
- Review and analyse the current setup of the security communication system and internet connectivity across hubs in Syria to improve its availability and reliability.
- Provide technical support and expertise to the entire humanitarian community related to ETC services.