Panamsat announced Sept. 22 it formed an emergency response team (ERT) focused on quickly restoring telecommunications services to government agencies and private industry affected by natural and man-made disasters.

The ERT will be dispatched from Panamsat’s customer service center in Ellenwood, Ga., and will work directly with new and existing customers to re-establish communications links. The ERT is intended to deploy everything from satellite phones to transportable and fixed transmission facilities to help restore voice, video, Internet and routed Internet protocol services within 24 hours of a loss of communications.