Telcos restore services in more areas

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Telecommunications companies Smart Communications and Globe Telecom have restored services in more areas in Visayas following the onslaught of Typhoon Yolanda (international codename Haiyan).

Ramon Isberto, public affairs head of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), said units Smart, Talk ‘N Text and Sun have restored 82% of their services in Visayas.

“We’re stepping up the deployment of network equipment to more areas so that we can restore rapidly services at strategic areas such as dense population centers, relief operations centers and vital facilities like airports,” he stressed. 

Isberto said the PLDT group’s services have been fully restored in Bohol, Guimaras, Southern Leyte as well as Palawan except Coron.

The progress of restoration efforts in other areas is as follows:

• Coron – 50%
• Aklan – 88%
• Antique – 94%
• Biliran – 38%
• Capiz – 65%
• Cebu – 98%
• Eastern Samar – 14%
• Iloilo – 89%
• Leyte – 51%
• Negross Occidental – 94%
• Northern Samar – 95%
• Western Samar – 81%

 

“As majority of the provinces in the affected regions have already been mostly restored, we’re focusing on the remaining provinces that were in the path of the storm and were hardest hit so that we can assist in the emergency humanitarian efforts in these areas,” Isberto said.

On the other hand, Globe said 50% of its base stations in Visayas have been reactivated.

In the hardest-hit provinces of Samar and Leyte, a total of 30 Globe cell sites have been restored.

Provinces with restored 3G- and 2G-enabled Globe cell sites are as follows:

3G sites

• Antique – 12
• Bohol – 68
• Capiz – 8
• Cebu – 252
• Guimaras – 6
• Iloilo – 59
• Leyte – 2
• Negros Occidental – 117
• Negros Oriental – 57
• Southern Leyte – 8
• Western Samar – 11

2G sites

• Aklan – 6
• Antique – 18
• Bohol – 76
• Capiz – 7
• Cebu – 268
• Iloilo – 75
• Leyte – 5
• Negros Occidental – 145
• Negros Oriental – 67
• Northern Samar – 9
• Southern Leyte – 22
• Western Samar – 12

On Friday, November 8, one of the world’s strongest typhoons ever struck the Philippines, destroying homes and buildings, toppling power and communication lines, and killing and displacing thousands of people.

Dead bodies lined the streets of affected areas as government and international groups scrambled to provide aid to desperate survivors.

Government said the lack of communications has hampered relief efforts and surveying of casualties and damage. – Rappler.com

 

Visit rappler.com/typhoon-yolanda for the latest updates on the aftermath of the typhoon.

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• WRAP: Yolanda brings monster winds, giant waves
• Yolanda weakens further on way out
• UN, gov’t send communications teams to Tacloban
• Yolanda traps Our Lady of Fatima image in Eastern Samar
• Globe: Yolanda downed 26% of Visayas network
• More than 50,000 evacuated in Negros Occidental
• Yolanda 5th major global storm to hit PH since 2007
• Smart, Globe services in VisMin ‘interrupted’
• Yolanda cuts power in Visayas provinces