Cagayan De Oro, Misamis Oriental leaders join hands vs ‘spaghetti wires’

Cagayan de Oro mayor Rolando Uy sits in a breakfast meeting with Misamis Oriental Governor Peter Unabia, his staff, and NTC-10 officials on Friday to find solutions to the ‘spaghetti wires’ problem in the city. PHOTO FROM CITY INFORMATION OFFICE

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—In a historic coming together, the leaderships of Cagayan de Oro City and Misamis Oriental province agreed to work to solve the problem of ‘spaghetti wires’ in Northern Mindanao’s regional capital.

Over breakfast at City Hall on Friday, Cagayan de Oro Mayor Rolando Uy met with Misamis Oriental Governor Pedro Unabia to discuss a proposal from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to solve the mess of wires and telecoms cables in the city.

Joining the two was NTC-10 regional director Ted Buenavista Jr., who told them that the unused underground cable ducts of the defunct Misamis Oriental Telephone System, Inc. (Misortel) could be used to contain the wires that hang along and across the streets through the utility posts.

“We checked the ducts, and (these are) still in good condition,” Buenavista told Unabia and Uy during the meeting.

Sources at City Hall said NTC-10 dished out the proposal in 2018, but it fell through as the former leaders of Cagayan de Oro and Misamis Oriental were at odds politically.

The Misamis Oriental provincial government owns Misortel, which operated beginning in 1991. In late 2016, the provincial leaders decided to shut down its operation due to heavy losses.

If the plan is implemented, the provincial government will earn from lease payments from telecoms firms for the use of the underground ducts.

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