Andrew Nimick Point Concept twitter.com/andrewnim

So where has the year gone so far? Is it just me or has everyone been this busy?

I have just returned from a two week holiday in the South Island. It was a lovely trip to parts of the world I had never seen before.

Thanks to mobile technology, work went with me. Now many people will think ‘well that cannot have been a great holiday if you had work along', but actually I relaxed more by spending a few minutes each day keeping in touch with things (we have a lot on) and advising where and when needed.

Then I would head off to activities and really enjoy them.

We visited poor Christchurch a few days before the quake struck and were in Wanaka when it happened. It was a shock for us as we could picture ourselves at so many of the locations we were seeing on the news.

But again, one thing which stuck out was how much mobile technology has changed the way we live, work and deal with disasters.

There where plenty of stories of people texting and calling from inside the rubble, which meant that the mobile operators had managed to keep their services up.

When so much infrastructure was collapsing, thanks to Vodafone, Telecom and 2Degrees, people were able to reach loved ones many miles away and seek support and reassurance.

Support staff and emergency personnel were able to build a picture more quickly and react accordingly.

So I would like to say well done to the people who planned out and built the mobile infrastructure which then kept Christchurch talking in its darkest hours.

Also, in case you have not heard the radio ad, Telecom is asking for any old non mains peered corded phones, which they can send down to people in Christchurch.