IBM technology to send weather alert without net connectivity

BENGALURU: IBM and The Weather Company, an IBM Business, today announced the launch of the Mesh Network Alerts technology in India. The mobile alerting platform can deliver weather and disaster alerts to remote places without Internet.

Designed for low bandwidth environments, the Mesh network technology enables people in low internet connectivity area to exchange messages.

The technology developed by IBM, links the user's mobile phone with other nearby phones, allowing devices to talk to each other without using cell towers. The network provides weather information, maps and alerts via The Weather Channel app.

In the Mesh, each smartphone becomes a node that stores the message and passes it to the next nearest device, eliminating the need for a cellular network, a press release said.

“Today, India has the second largest smartphone market in terms of active smartphone users but at times of severe weather the cellular networks get congested, connectivity is intermittent and data access is often limited,” said Himanshu Goyal, India Sales & Alliances Leader, The Weather Company.

“Mesh Network Alerts networking technology is so appropriately designed to address these challenges and to notify of potential severe weather events or disasters -- even in areas with limited Internet connection, or cellular networks are disrupted due to an outage,” he added .

While other mesh networks use hot spotting, IBM and The Weather Company chose not to turn devices into individual access points to avoid excessive battery drain, the press release said.

Goyal said that the Mesh Network Alerts can help send notification of an upcoming disaster that could help people and their families stay safe. It’s a matter of great pride for us as this technology is first introduced in India.