Indian Ocean tsunami warning system employs ViaSat technology

DULUTH, Ga., 15 Oct. 2007.ViaSat Inc. and customer Smart Digital Communications Bhd played key roles in a tsunami alert warning system following an earthquake during the second week in September in the Indian Ocean. Telemetry and tracking information was transmitted over a ViaSat LinkStar satellite network operated from the Smart teleport in Kuala Lumpur. Terminals on the Cocos-Keeling Island and Christmas Island, Australian territories located to the Northwest of the mainland, collected real-time data to validate the accuracy of tsunami predictions.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology had predicted the heightened waves would hit Cocos-Keeling at roughly 12:30 pm local time, and data gathered by the Smart network showed the prediction to be correct.

The tsunami warning system terminals are owned by the Australian BoM and information is shared with agencies in Malaysia and Indonesia.