Telecom engineers assist tsunami relief effort

As technology companies rallied to support the relief effort following the Indian Ocean tsunami, seven BT engineers flew to Indonesia on Tuesday to help restore telecommunication services in one of the worst-hit regions. The engineers, who left London on Tuesday morning, will work with Indonesia Telekom in the Aceh region of Sumatra, which was devastated by the disaster. Their first task will be to re-establish satellite communications links to a number of islands in the area.

Indonesia was particularly badly hit by the tsunami, with over 94,000 people killed according to the latest estimates. The areas being visited by the BT team are likely to have suffered massive damage. A team on the ground has already set up logistics links and an office in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra.