DECK THE (MESS) HALLS

Several telecom and equipment manufacturers are donating resources to brighten the holidays for military personnel stationed in Iraq. The project is focused on delivering voice over IP, wireless and satellite communications architecture solely for the purpose of troops contacting friends and family members in the United States.

Edward Bukstel, executive vice president of satellite broadband service provider SkyFrames, said the idea came about from some e-mails he received from a combat support group located near Baghdad. Military personnel there requested support for their “unreliable” e-mail and Internet access. Later a major from the same group wrote to request 45 telephone lines, as well as wireless communications, to allow the troops and their families to communicate.

“That ended up starting a quest,” Bukstel said. “When these moms and dads who are over there speak with their friends and family, in some cases four to six weeks go by at a time. If you're a parent and you have children under five, an e-mail just doesn't cut it. Kids respond to the voices of parents as opposed to an e-mail they can't read.”

Bukstel said several companies, including Vonage, Motorola, Pacific Wireless and SkyFrames, have stepped in to offer $200,000 worth of equipment, services and pledges — but it will take about $650,000 to support 3000 soldiers and families of soldiers stationed in Iraq. The effort spawned a nonprofit organization called Freedom Calls Foundation and a Web site, www.freedomcalls.org, that can accept donations.

“We're still hoping for additional companies to come on line, and our initial target was to have this in place by Thanksgiving, but that date has slipped to the Christmas and New Year's holidays,” Bukstel said. “The military has been extremely helpful in offering to donate equipment they have in their inventory. They've also been helpful in offering to transport the equipment from Ft. Monmouth, N.J., to locations in Iraq.”

Bukstel said there is actually less opportunity now for non-secure communications with family and friends in the United States than there was for soldiers who served in the Gulf War of the early 1990s.

“The telephone companies, which at the time were all doing really well, donated lots and lots of equipment and bandwidth to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars,” he said. “This time around, they're not as free and willing to give things away with no charge for equipment or bandwidth. That's why this situation has evolved.

“There are a lot of folks out there in some tough situations, and we think it's important—especially since the technology exists—that folks have the ability to speak with their kids and loved ones,” Bukstel said. “We're hopeful in this effort, and we're very thankful with the companies that have already become involved.”