NTC tells telcos to ensure repair, restoration of services amid storm

National Telecommunications Commission (NTC)

MANILA, Philippines — The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has directed the country’s public telecommunications entities (PTEs) “to ensure quick repair and restoration” of their services amid the effects of Severe Tropical Storm Kristine (international name: Trami).

In a statement on Thursday, NTC said it issued a memorandum last October 21 to brace for Kristine’s impact on the country.

Under this memorandum, NTC instructed PTEs “to provide sufficient personnel, standby generators with extra fuel, necessary tools, and spare equipment in the areas to be affected by Typhoon Kristine.”

“PTEs were also mandated to ensure quick repair and restoration of services in the event of disruptions brought about by the Typhoon,” the NTC added.

READ: LIVE UPDATES: Severe Tropical Storm Kristine

Aside from this telecommunications entities were likewise asked to activate “libreng tawag” (free call) and “libreng charging stations” (free charging stations) in Krsitine-affected areas nationwide.

Citing data from PTEs, NTC said that minor outages were observed in Calabarzon and Northern Luzon regions as of October 23.

“The primary reason for these telecommunication services disruptions were commercial power interruptions, which were either pre-emptively initiated by power companies/electric cooperatives or naturally caused by the Typhoon,” the commission explained.

NTC mentioned a report from Globe Telecom showing that Catanduanes, Camarines Sur, Albay, and Camarines Norte experienced 75 to 92 percent of outages in its services.

Meanwhile, Smart Communications also had issues with its services and delays in restoration due to flooding in the Bicol region.

Smart also reported that 21 families in Daet, Camarines Norte took shelter in a PLDT Cable Landing station.

“Dito Telecommunity also suffered critical outages in Northern Luzon, Southern Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao,” the NTC said.

“Converge also experienced service disruptions in the Bicol Region, Cagayan Valley, Calabarzon, Central Luzon, the Cordillera Region, Eastern Visayas, and the Ilocos Region.

Generator sets were deployed to provide temporary power to the network. However, some restoration efforts have been delayed due to impassable flooded roads,” it added.

Restored services

Based on the latest report from Globe, it has so far restored 12 and 17 percent of its services in Leyte and Southern Leyte, respectively.

On the other hand, Converge also reported 32% restoration of the total affected areas as of 6 p.m. on 23 October.

“PTEs have reportedly already placed the necessary personnel on standby in areas severely affected, awaiting safe deployment to conduct fast repairs and rectification. For areas where it is safe to conduct repairs, service restoration efforts are already ongoing to minimize service downtime,” the commission assured the public.

“SpaceX Starlink also extended to the NTC its offer of aid in the form of Starlink internet services for Filipino first responders to utilize during rescue and relief operations. Further, the PLDT Smart Group reported that it is gearing up to deploy relief goods with PLDT and Smart volunteers and Alagang Kapatid Foundation,” it added.