The NTC issued a Memorandum on Oct. 21 anticipating the upcoming entry of Typhoon “Kristine” (international name: Trami) within the Philippine Area of Responsibility by proactively directing the country’s public telecommunications entities (PTEs) to undertake measures in ensuring continuity of telecommunications services to the Filipino public.
Within the Memorandum, the NTC instructed PTEs to offer sufficient personnel, standby generators with extra fuel, essential tools and spare equipment within the areas to be affected by Typhoon Kristine. PTEs were also mandated to make sure quick repair and restoration of services within the event of disruptions led to by the Typhoon.
As well as, the PTEs were tasked to right away activate the Libreng Tawag and Libreng Charging Stations in areas that can be affected.
As of noon of Oct. 23, 2024, PTEs have reported suffering significant service outages in Provinces inside the Bicol Region and Eastern Visayas. There have been also reports of minor outages within the Calabarzon and Northern Luzon Regions.
The first reason for these telecommunication services disruptions were business power interruptions, which were either preemptively initiated by power corporations/electric cooperatives or naturally brought on by the Typhoon.
Globe Telecom reported 75% to 92% outages of its services in Catanduanes, Camarines Sur, Albay, and Camarines Norte. Smart Communications reported the difficult challenge brought by severe flooding within the Bicol Region that hampered its restoration efforts.
Smart Communications also reported to the NTC that 21 families in Daet, Camarines Norte have been given shelter in the midst of this calamity in a PLDT Cable Landing station.
Dito Telecommunity also suffered critical outages in Northern Luzon, Southern Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao. Converge also experienced service disruptions within the Bicol Region, Cagayan Valley, Calabarzon, Central Luzon, the Cordillera Region, Eastern Visayas and the Ilocos Region. Generator sets were deployed to offer temporary power to the network. Nevertheless, some restoration efforts have been delayed on account of impassable flooded roads.
As of 4 p.m. of Oct. 23, Globe reported 12% and 17% restoration in Leyte and Southern Leyte to this point. Converge also reported 32% restoration of total affected areas as of 6:00 p.m. of Oct. 23.
PTEs have reportedly already placed the essential personnel on standby in areas severely affected, awaiting protected deployment to conduct fast repairs and rectification.
For areas where it’s protected to conduct repairs, service restoration efforts are already ongoing to attenuate service downtime.
SpaceX Starlink also prolonged to the NTC its offer of aid in the shape of Starlink web services for Filipino first responders to utilize during rescue and relief operations.
Further, the PLDT Smart Group reported that it’s gearing as much as deploy relief goods with PLDT and Smart volunteers and Alagang Kapatid Foundation.
The NTC is closely monitoring the situation and, with the utmost cooperation of the PTEs, working to revive telecommunication services as swiftly as possible in order that those affected individuals can remain in contact with their family members amidst this severe typhoon.
