Following a 68-year stay in Italy, the Axum Obelisk, a national treasure of Ethiopia, was returned to its homeland with the help of Inmarsat‘s Regional Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) service.
The Axum Obelisk, standing 82 feet tall and weighing 176 tons, is more than 1,700 years old and dates back to the Axumite Kingdom. It is carved with “doors” and “windows” and is thought, like Stonehenge, to have a role in making solar or astronomical measurements.
Italian dictator Benito Mussolini’s troops seized the national treasure in 1937 during Italy’s occupation of Ethiopia and relocated the Obelisk to Rome. A 1947 U.N. agreement cleared the way for the Obelisk to be returned to Ethopia, but its journey did not begin until April 19, when Rome-based shipping contractor Impresa Lattanzi shipped the first of three separate segments via an Antonov 124 aircraft to Axum, a remote town in the northern part of Ethiopia.
Inmarsat’s Regional BGAN service played a role in three aspects of the event.
Impresa Lattanzi used Regional BGAN to coordinate and monitor the flight, sending e-mails that included data used to track the flight and provide updates on the status of the aircraft and its cargo.
“The contractor needed to plan and coordinate crucial stages of the shipment, including the landing and take-off and movement of the Obelisk from the plane,” said Riccardo Moro, business development manager for Radiomarelli, an Italy-based Telenor service provider. “The contractor is now using three Regional BGAN terminals and is able to send pictures and data to coordinate the entire operation in such a remote location.”
A second Regional BGAN terminal was provided tothe local hospital in Ethiopia to provide support services for the influx of visitors who have descended on the town to celebrate the Obelisk’s return. Axum’s existing telecommunications infrastructure is primitive and the Regional BGAN offered additional connectivity to support hospital operations.
A third terminal was used by Italian journalist Massimo Ablerizzi, the African correspondent for Corriere delle Sera, to send photos and coverage of the event.
–Gregory Twachtman
(Thomas Surface, Telenor, 301/838-7805)
