Even without electricity, the tool, presented in Montpellier earlier this week after being experienced in Mayotte or during floods in the Valence region, ensures continuity of communication. Other uses that the resilience of the networks appear.
Pure chance of the news, when Éric Cluseau takes out the “Starlink” satellite antenna from his large Orange suitcase, the alerts on smartphones announce a huge blackout in Spain and Portugal. A major crisis which, in addition to electricity, suddenly deprives our European neighbors of all means of communication. “We couldn’t be more in the subject”, notes the director of strategic development of Orange Events, who came to Montpellier on Monday to present, to communities of the region, the latest innovation of the historic operator.
This “safetycase” – rescue suitcase in French – was indeed thought of as a response to the dramatic storm Alex who ravaged the valleys of Vésubie and Roya in 2020. Communes had been cut off from the world for several days, the mobile and fixed networks having been carried away by the waves like all electrical installations. “Communications are absolutely vital in any crisis management. It is even the nerve of war for a command PC, ”recalls Eric Cluseau in the preamble before opening the compartments of his suitcase. “Our SAFETYCASE represents a complete solution which allows, in just thirty minutes and without any particular technical knowledge, to restore a functional communication network”.
Concretely, the deployable antenna allows you to connect to the Internet by Satellite Starlink of the SpaceX company and thus create a local Wi-Fi network, while ensuring an outside connection. “It can also use the frequencies of civil security radio amateurs, even in hostile environments”. And this, even in the event of a power cut, the lithium batteries allowing autonomy from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., “Be the time that state services organize the emergency services”.
Tested in Mayotte
Designed two years ago, the device has already been experienced during the Valence floods or after the devastating cyclone of Mayotte. “Ten safetycase were deployed by the army. One of them notably made it possible to run a country hospital for three months”, says Éric Cluseau.
In front of representatives of the Hérault department or the town hall of Assas, his colleague Pierre Sanavio, director of relations with the local authorities of Hérault, transposes the usefulness of the tool on the territory. “In our region which should undergo increasingly violent Cévenols episodes, which is faced with significant risks of forest fires, this rescue suitcase can become the n ° 1 element of the activity plan and the communal safeguard plan”he promote. To convince, he relates a recent exercise, conducted in the Gard on the side of Uzès, where a nuclear attack was simulated “And the Safetycase showed all its usefulness there.” “It can also be deployed to ensure a waterproof network in the event of a cyber attack, for example on a hospital”completes Christophe Larbere, Business Manager Grand Sud for Orange Events.
Up to 55,000 €
The suitcase obviously represents an investment: € 55,000 for that which weighs 70 kilos of technology, € 19,900 for the more compact mobile unit. The cost includes two years of maintenance, including one test per quarter, and the guarantee of replacing the equipment in the event of evolution. The technician of the commune of Assas makes a rapid calculation. “This represents 12 € per inhabitant, this is a large sum”. But he sees an interest in it. During a violent fire in 2023, “About half of the village had been deprived of electricity, therefore communication”he rewinds. He will therefore submit the idea to the community of communes of Pic Saint-Loup. Other Hérault communities, since their discovery of the tool this week, could also test it.
Especially since in good VRPs of their rescue suitcase, Orange representatives also evoke the new uses that appeared in its deployment. “The City of Marseille is considering its use this summer in the sormiou creek where there is no network, only to allow women to access an application that prevents help in the event of aggression. The AG2R cycling team has embarked on the races to stay permanently connected to its runners, even in white areas. The state could also secure a strategic drug storage site”.
Data sovereignty
On the condition, however, for the latter case, not to depend on the satellites of Elon Musk in the name of data sovereignty. “”We should soon be able to rely on the European solution Oneweb which launched 634 satellites in low orbit “. The networks would only be more resilient.
