The wireless communication don has devised a bit of kit compact enough to fit into a backpack that nonetheless allows people to get online at broadband speeds via satellite wherever they are.

The device, dubbed the Network Relief Kit, is being touted as ideal for use in disaster zones, when felled masts or a surge in demand stymies people’s efforts to get in touch with their kith and kin.

According to the BBC, will also relieve the workload on aid organisations, by making it hugely less arduous to reconnect areas affected by cataclysms.

The only stumbling block at the moment, however, is the price of data transfer via satellites, which is currently between £2 and £4 per Mb. Still, were satellite broadband providers to do the decent thing and waive fees for users, the Network Relief Kit promises to be the best thing that’s happened to disaster management since Rudi Guiliani’s cool and empathetic leadership steered New York out of the post 9/11 gloom.