The GSM Association has just issued a new report, The Role of Mobiles in Disasters and Emergencies. Since it is published by the global trade association of GSM operators, some of the conclusions need to be taken with a grain of salt. Nevertheless, there are interesting case studies of the use of mobiles in the tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, and terrorist attacks in Istanbul and London. The report concludes that text messages get through much better than voice during peak loads in the midst of a disaster. Analysis of network data showed that the peak loads, while high, were comparable to those at other peak times, such as New Years. The study shows that mobiles may be the first operational communications system available to the affected communities during the recovery phase, and can play a vital role.