CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- The National Telecommunications Commission in Northern Mindanao (NTC-10) is eyeing to include the power lines in the underground cable development here as part of resolving the ‘spaghetti wires’ or overlapping wires and cables along the major streets in this city.
The NTC-10 met with Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Rolando Uy and Misamis Oriental Governor Peter Unabia in a meeting and the two local executives agreed on the NTC-10’s proposal to use the underground cable ducts of the defunct Misamis Oriental Telephone System Inc. (Misortel).
NTC-10 director Teodoro Buenavista Jr. said in a phone interview Saturday, August 6, that they first need provisions from power companies as power lines have different ducts from telecommunication lines.
“Dili man gud na basta-basta pud kay mu-create mana og EMF nga mu-interfere sa telecommunication mao nang naay distance between sa power lines ug iyahang telecommunication lines,” Buenavista said.
(It is not that easy because it would create an EMF that would interfere with the telecommunication lines. That is why there is a distance between the power lines and its telecommunication lines).
The said plan will be discussed in future meetings of the Cagayan Electric Power and Light Company, Inc. (CEPALCO) and Misamis Oriental Rural Electric Service Cooperative, Inc. (MORESCO).
The proposal to use the underground cable ducts of the defunct Misortel was initiated by the NTC-10 as mayor Uy, Buenavista said, signed an executive order during the said breakfast meeting, which was held in mayor’s office on Friday, August 5, for the reconstitution of the ‘CDO ICT Task Force on Cables and Wires.’
The said task force also known as ‘Task Force Hapsay Kable’ was formed through the Executive Order No. 172-2017 signed by former city mayor Oscar Moreno in November 2017. Buenavista said Uy also wants to change its task force name.
The NTC-10, together with the representatives from the provincial and city government will have their first meeting next week. After that, they will formulate strategic planning to provide a timeline for the completion of the said development.
The Misamis Oriental government-owned Misortel, in partnership with Samsung, a South Korean company, had laid underground fiber optic cables in the 1990s. These ducts, however, are no longer in use after the landline telephone firm became non-operational.
The underground cable ducts were initially assessed. However, the NTC-10 needs joint assessment by tapping professional groups and organizations for further evaluation.
The priority areas in this development would be the Don Apolinar Velez street and Claro M. Recto Avenue, specifically from Barangay Lapasan to Barangay Cugman. These areas have an existing ducts system, Buenavista said.
Apart from cleaning the overlapping wires, the said initiative also aims to prevent any accidents in the streets.
“Aside sa (from) aesthetics, Ato gyung (our) goal kanang wala nay magbitay-bitay kay makadisgradya og mga tao (is that no more dangling because it can cause accident to people), especially nga naay mga dagko nga sakyanan (that there are big vehicles),” Buenavista said.
After the creation of the task force in 2017, the operation in removing unused cables and wires in the streets has been continuing for the past years despite the threat brought by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.