Leveraging deployable assets to support the response efforts of public-safety and critical-infrastructure entities in areas where communications have been compromised by a disaster (or coverage never existed in the first place) has been done for years. Unfortunately, the limitations of traditional deployable equipment are well known, as they historically have taken several hours (or days) to become operational and could only be located in spots that can be reached via good roads.

Today, the landscape for deployable options in the field is changing rapidly. Robust broadband communications are now available within minutes of responders arriving at a site, and the solutions come in a variety of form factors that provide unprecedented flexibility in their ability to be transported to even the most remote sites. In addition, a new wave of satellite technology promises to provide responders with a expanded variety of backhaul options—both in terms of throughput speeds and latency—in the near future.