ZAMBOANGA CITY, July 10 (PNA) — Mayor Ma. Isabelle Climaco-Salazar has brought to the attention of Manny V. Pangilinan, the chief executive officer of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) Company, about this city’s concerns on telecommunication service interruptions.
Salazar’s action came as this city on Wednesday suffered anew almost 10 hours interruption in PLDT’s voice and data services affecting a huge population who rely on telecommunication services for their daily transactions.
In a text message to Salazar, Pangilinan said the service interruption in this city the whole day Wednesday was caused by fiber optic cut.
“Most likely accidental by the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) or private contractors digging the road to/from Zamboanga City,” Pangilinan’s text message said adding that the PLDT in this city will soon “install VSAT as redundancy.”
VSAT stands for Very Small-Aperture Terminal, a two-way satellite ground station or a stabilized maritime VSAT antenna with a dish antenna that can prevent network outages in case of an equipment failure.
Earlier, Gilbert Gaviola, PLDT security inspector, reported to the police that more or less two meters of the plastic pipe casing, including the company’s fiber optic, was cut in Barangay Tagasilay, 61.65 kilometers east of City Hall.
Gaviola discovered the plastic casing was cut by an unidentified person when he conducted ocular inspection around 4 p.m. Wednesday hours after PLDT’s voice and data services was cut-off.
Salazar said the series of service interruptions experienced by this city affected businesses, office and school transactions.
Several subscribers, including the office of the Zamboanga Press Club, Inc. (ZPCI), remain without PLDT’s voice and data services until Friday.
National correspondents and local reporters, who rely with the ZPCI voice and data subscription, have to contend with wireless broadband services in transmitting news to their respective outfits.
It is the thrust of Salazar’s administration to develop this city as a site for information and communications technology, to adapt to global developments, and uplift the local economy for the good of its constituents.
Last month, PLDT also reasoned out the fiber break caused by excavations by contractors working on a DPWH road improvement project as the cause of the series of telecommunication service interruption.
The fiber optic break that happened in the Ipil relay towards this city last month interrupted PLDT’s voice and data services in Siay, Zamboanga Sibugay and this city.
Another interruption also affected this city last month from another fiber cut between Ipil and Pagadian.
PLDT’s fiber optic cables are laid underground and are particularly vulnerable to excavations, construction work, and diggings. (PNA)