As soon as news of Monday’s massive earthquake reached China Mobile’s headquarters the company’s highest level emergency response plan was immediately put into action.

China Mobile branches in five provinces immediately dispatched 11 emergency communication vehicles and 160 power generators to the disaster area. Fifteen satellite phones and 10 mobile base stations have also been dispatched to Sichuan.

China Mobile’s disaster relieve command center

China Mobile’s control centre in Beijing

The volume of calls to Sichuan jumped ten times their normal level in the hours after the quake. China Mobile managers in Beijing were able to re-route many of the calls and ease congestion.

The 7.8-magnitude earthquake knocked out 4,457 cell phone base stations but almost 2,000 of them have been repaired are back in service. Mobile communication remains affected over a wide area in Sichuan, Gansu, and Shaanxi provinces.

China Mobile’s power generators being fueled

China Mobile President, Wang Jianzhou, ( far right) at rescue headquarters, Chengdu city

China Mobile President, Wang Jianzhou, cut short a business trip as soon as he learned of the devastating earthquake. He arrived in the city of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, the day after the earthquake struck, where he took command of China Mobile’s emergency response teams.

The general manager of China Mobile’s Sichuan Branch, Li Hua, along with other director’s of the company travelled into the disaster area to coordinate the emergency response plan. All China Mobile employees in the region were organized into communication rescue teams.

China Mobile equipment airlifted to worst hit sites

With many roads and highways still blocked in mountainous regions where the earthquake hit hardest, the only way in is by air.

China Mobile’s emergency response teams have been airlifted to the worst hit areas of Sichuan. China’s military helicopters flew the China Mobile engineers to the earthquake’s epicenter Wenchuan county and to the Qingchuan county in Guangyuan city and Pingwu in Mianyang city, in Sichuan Province.

Relatives at one of China Mobile’s emergency service centers

China Mobile has also set up service centers in the disaster areas where survivors and relatives are gathering. People can charge their phone batteries or get their damaged phones repaired. China Mobile will also not cut phone service when a subscriber’s airtime runs out.

A China Mobile M-Zone kiosk becomes emergency center

China Mobile’s branches offices in the disaster area are using every available resource to facilitate local people and governments in their rescue missions. Two disaster hotlines have been established that provide information to local disaster relief centers and to the local people. The hotlines are collecting and disseminating information to help in the coordination of the relief effort.

All of China Mobile’s technical resources, along with our sympathy and tears, are now dedicated to helping the people affected by this terrible natural disaster.

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