NTC to telcos: Ensure immediate repair of services after Carina, Habagat

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has directed telecommunication companies to ensure the immediate repair and restoration of telecommunications services following the devastation caused by Tropical Cyclone Carina and the Southwest Monsoon or Habagat.

In a statement, the NTC, citing a memorandum issued on July 22, ordered all public telecommunications entities (PTEs) to "ensure that there are sufficient number of technical and support personnel, standby generators, tools and spare equipment in the areas which shall be affected by Typhoon Carina, as well as fast track the repair and restoration of telecommunications services in those areas."

The telecommunications regulator said PTEs have reported to the agency that there were mobile and broadband service disruptions in some areas affected by the onslaught of Carina, primarily due to power outages.

"In addition, flooding in many areas is making restoration activities more challenging as surrounding roads remain impassable," the NTC said.

"Nonetheless, round-the-clock restoration efforts are continuously being undertaken by the PTEs, including deployment of power generator sets until such time that commercial power is re-established, which will then hopefully restore regular telecommunications services within 24 to 48 hours," it added.

PLDT-Smart Corporate Communications head Cathy Yang said, "Our network team confirms that sites that are down due to Carina comprise only about 3% of our installed base in those areas, so we consider the impact minor."

"Of these affected sites, 80% is due to lack of power. Once commercial power is restored, we will be able to quickly recover all connectivity," Yang said.

Globe Telecom Sustainability and Corporate Communications chief Yoly Crisanto, likewise, said that "as the weather has improved and floods have subsided, our personnel are now working on quickly restoring services in the few isolated areas that experienced disruptions in their call, text and data services."

Crisanto said Globe has not recorded any damage to its network infrastructure.

The Globe executive said that as of Thursday morning, over 90% of Globe's mobile sites in Metro Manila were up and running, with few facilities down due to power outages, while none of the 3G sites were affected.

In Northern Luzon, more than 95% of Globe's 2G, 3G, LTE and 5G sites were operational.

GMA News Online has requested comment from DITO Telecommunity Corp. regarding the restoration of its affected services, but it has yet to respond as of posting time. — VDV, GMA Integrated News