DPWH projects affect telecom services in Luzon, Mindanao

A TELECOMMUNICATIONS company blamed projects by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for causing disruptions in its services in Northern Luzon and in Mindanao.

In a statement on Tuesday, Globe Telecom general counsel Froilan Castelo said: “The growing incidence of fiber cuts is getting to be a major concern for us and we would like to appeal to DPWH and their contractors to be extra cautious in the execution of their projects to avoid recurrence of accidental cuts and damage to our cable facilities.”

On May 21, a Globe underground fiber was damaged by the DPWH soil testing at Agua Grande, Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte, thereby affecting Globe customers in Cagayan, Apayao, Kalinga, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Cauayan City and Tuguegarao.

The following day, some parts of Basilan, Sulu, TawiTawi, Zamboanga Sibugay, Pagadian, Zamboanga del Sur, Zambaoanga del Norte and Misamis Occidental also experienced service interruption after a Globe underground fiber was hit by a backhoe during pile driving activity of DPWH at Butadon Bridge in Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte.

The Ayala- led telco also expressed concern on the impact of this network disruptions, noting this does not only affect the group’s operation but also the delivery of government services such as emergency response (911) and the complaint hotline (8888).

The group added that hundreds of cable cuts because of road constructions continue to disrupt its network operations, including call, text and internet services.