THE PHILIPPINE Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) Co. apologized on Friday to affected customers in Quezon City after a Globe Telecom contractor accidentally cut its fiber optic cables serving Quezon and Timog Avenues.
According to PLDT, voice and data services were unavailable following the accident. Attempts to repair the cut cables the previous night were also hampered by bad weather.
Globe, in a statement, said the accident happened as it was pursing the integration of Bayan Telecommunications which it acquired last year. It said contractor Levinson was tapped to implement the necessary infrastructure works.
In the process of drilling activities on Scout Reyes corner Quezon Avenue, the contractor accidentally hit one of the PLDT lines, Globe added.
“Such accidents do happen in the course of drilling and excavation works to embed terrestrial fiber cables in our public roads. It is inherent in our line of business and all telcos experience these hazards at any time. Fiber cuts could be caused by any telco contractor or even the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) which is why built-in redundancies in our respective networks are important,” Yoly Crisanto, senior vice president for Globe Telecom corporate communications, said in the statement.
Globe said Levinson had deployed teams to expedite full repair of the fiber cables which was expected to be completed by Friday afternoon. Miguel R. Camus