MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – With non-stop rain pummeling Metro Manila and parts of Luzon, the quality of phone service has been affected in flooded areas, according to telecommunications firms.
Globe Telecom mobile phone subscribers can expect momentary “degradation” of service in parts of Quezon City, the most affected area in the metro as of Tuesday, August 7.
Meanwhile, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co (PLDT) landline users in “severely” flooded areas in Navotas, Malabon and Caloocan will have experience interrupted service, said a top executive.
Both companies said they have learned lessons from typhoon Ondoy in 2009 and are prepared to meet the challenges of severe weather disturbances.
To assist families displaced in Tuesday’s floods, the two are offering free calls on their networks.
Globe phone services
Out of Globe’s entire Metro Manila network, “Quezon City is the most affected as of now,” said Globe’s Enterprise and Business Continuity Director Edgar Hapa, adding that affected areas are experiencing “degradation of service.”
“It’s not a complete outage in those areas and not the whole part of Quezon City,” he said in a phone call with Rappler on August 7.
He said Globe has already deployed operations personnel to look into outages at ordinary cell sites, which could have been brought about by power failure or other causes.
He said other areas of the Globe network are “generally okay” and should have normal reception.
Given that parts of Quezon City are flooded, Hapa said that the cell sites could be fixed relatively quickly unless there are safety concerns in the affected areas.
“It really depends on the cause of the outage and the situation in the area. Even if our people are ready to respond, which they are, if there is no go signal to go there because of security or safety concerns they would have to wait. Nevertheless, if it’s safe to go there we can bring back the service in probably an hour or 2 hours. It depends on the severity of the outage.”
He said company personnel have been deployed to several strategic areas to deal with potential anticipated outages.
Hapa explained that Globe has a number of backup plans and emergency procedures in place. “If there is physical damage because structures have hit our towers that will take some time but Globe can also deploy wherever possible our cell site on wheels to provide emergency services.”
He encouraged users to give feedback over the phone or via Twitter. He explained that network operations centers had already captured outages but they wanted to check in with customers and know how they are affected.
PLDT landlines affected but not cell sites
PLDT’s mobile arm Smart Communications has not yet experienced interruptions or outages in its cellphone sites according to Ramon Isberto, Head of Smart’s Public Affairs.
Since there have been no outages in cell phone sites, users should experience normal service.
“First of all the network is functioning normally there has been no damage, the only problem in some areas may be the lack of power but that has not affected service,” he said in a phone call to Rappler.
Isberto said that PLDT “landlines in the severely hit areas have been affected because those are street side.”
He explained that in some areas the street cabinets, that act as a distribution point, for roadside landlines had been submerged because of serious flooding.
“If the cabinet is submerged in water that will knock you out for awhile, if the batteries run out that power those cabinets that will also knock out the services,” he added.
Free calls
Incessant rain has been battering Metro Manila and other parts of the country, affecting nearly 200,000 families, many of whom are now staying in evacuation centers.
Heavy flooding hit several areas in the capital, especially Marikina, Navotas, Rizal and Quezon City.
To assist displaced families and individuals, PLDT and Globe have deployed their “Libreng Tawag” services where one can send text messages or make quick domestic and international calls to any network for free.
In a statement, Globe said it deployed the service in the following areas:
- Concepcion Integrated School, Concepcion, Marikina
- Daanghari Elementary School, Navotas
- Victory Liner, Cubao, Quezon City
PLDT also deployed the service in:
- H. Bautista Elementary School for Barangay Tumana and the Malanday Barangay Hall for Malanday in Marikina,
- Sta. Ana covered court in San Mateo, Rizal
PLDT said arrangements are now being made to provide the service in severely affected areas in:
- Bacoor, Cavite
- Caloocan
- Malabon
- Navotas
- Valenzuela
– Rappler.com
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