Skype to the rescue

With six bombs (currently) exploding in London, the Underground is evacuated, the buses being stopped, the sheer number of people using their mobile phones to call friends and collegues to get information and to say they are okay, the networks cannot cope. Even BBC reporters are using satellite phone. This is like being back in Boston on 911. But I have Skype and I can communicate.

I have been lucky. Not on a tube, train or bus today - most days I am - but I have forgotten my mobile phone. How do I call my business, my parents, my friends?

WiFi and Skype to the rescue

Just a couple of days ago, I finally got my account setup on Skype and here I am today with my trusty iBook. Out comes MacStumbler and there is an open WiFi within range. First I call my parents, then my friends, then work and have been trying to make sure my employees are okay. I then get updates on the situation from the BBC website. This report is being written from the side of the road.

WiFi, Skype and VOIP have saved the day. In a an age when mobile phones are prevelant and street public phones are being removed, VOIP and WiFi has been the only way to communicate when the mobile networks are swamped.