PLDT Group restores full service in Yolanda-hit areas

MANILA, Philippines - Dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) has fully restored network services in all the cities and municipalities exactly a month after Super Typhoon Yolanda battered the Visayas region.

In a report to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), PLDT’s Smart Communications Inc. and Digitel Mobile Philippines Inc. (Sun Cellular) have reestablished cellular service in Aklan, Antique, Biliran, Bohol, Capiz, Cebu, Eastern Samar, Guimaras, Iloilo, Leyte, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Northern Samar, Southern Leyte and Western Samar.

PLDT and Smart technology group head Roland Peña said in a statement that services were restored with the help of NTC, the Office of the President, the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine Air Force, and the local governments of the affected areas.

“Having completed the immediate task of restoration, we continue to work on further improving the quality and reach of our cellular services.  We are doing so under conditions where commercial electric power is still not available in several areas or remain unstable in others, particularly in Eastern Visayas,” Peña said.

Furthermore, he pointed out that the PLDT group is taking steps to make its facilities more disaster-resilient in anticipation of future calamities.

Smart and Sun Cellular prepositioned personnel and equipment in key areas in the region for quicker mobilization several days before Yolanda pummeled several provinces last Nov. 8 packing winds of over 300 kilometers per hour.

A day after Yolanda made a landfall, Smart was able to fly additional restoration crew and equipment on the earliest flights to Tacloban with the help of the AFP and the NDRRMC.

Equipped with satellite phones, they immediately assessed infrastructure damages and worked with government agencies and humanitarian organizations in providing communications support for relief efforts.

The first Libreng Tawag stations powered by Smart Satellite Services were also opened for residents that day in Tacloban City and in other hard-hit areas.

In the days leading to full restoration, Smart and Sun Cellular were able to provide about 120 satellite phones to various government and relief agencies with the support of Thuraya Satellite. More than 60 Libreng Tawag stations were also set up in many cities and municipalities in Central Visayas as well as Palawan and Metro Manila.

In addition to the satellite-powered public calling stations, Smart and Sun Cellular were able to reactivate network signal as well as Long Term Evolution (LTE) 4G services in downtown Tacloban just two days after the disaster.

Likewise, Smart and Vodafone Foundation engineers fired up the first post-Yolanda mobile signal in Borongan, Samar, Palo, Leyte as well as Guiuan, Eastern Samar.