Cellular connectivity in Masbate and Cebu has been restored following recent calamities, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) announced on Tuesday, Oct. 7.

Earlier, Cebu was rocked by a magnitude 6.9 earthquake, while Masbate was battered by Tropical Depression Opong.

During a Palace briefing, Secretary Henry Aguda said the DICT worked closely with the Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Transportation (DOTr), and the National Electrification Authority (NEA) to fast-track the restoration of disrupted cell sites.

“‘Yung status po ng connectivity, nagagalak naman po akong ihayag na ito po ‘yung status ngayon, ito po ‘yung official, pupuwede pong ‘pag end of the day, 100 percent na po lahat ‘yan (As for the status of connectivity, I’m pleased to announce that as of now, this is the official update, by the end of the day, it could already be 100 percent restored),” he said.

He expressed gratitude to various departments whose coordination made the restoration possible.

“Gusto kong pasalamatan din ‘yung ibang departamento na kasama namin. ‘Yung DOE, ‘pag wala hong power, wala rin kaming capability mag-connect. DPWH, kung hindi nila naayos ‘yung mga daan at nagawa ‘yung clearing eh tatagal po ‘yung restoration. DOTR po, ‘yung mga naglagay nung mga tao natin at relief goods sa kanila, at saka National Electrification Authority po (I also want to thank the other departments that worked with us. The DOE — because without power, we can’t connect. The DPWH — if they didn’t repair and clear the roads, restoration would take much longer. The DOTr — for helping deploy our personnel and deliver relief goods, and of course the National Electrification Authority),” he said.

“So, whole-of-government approach po ‘yan. Immediately after the President called the Cabinet to action, mobilized na po kami doon (This was a whole-of-government approach. Immediately after the President called the Cabinet to action, we were already mobilized).”

Aguda said that, as of Oct. 6, Globe Telecom and DITO Telecommunity have fully restored their cell sites in Masbate and Cebu.

Meanwhile, he said SMART Communications, which operates the most cell sites in the affected regions, is in the final stages of repair.

“Si Smart is 98 percent. Pero si Smart po kasi, in fairness to them, sila po ‘yung may pinakamaraming cell site po sa Cebu at nakikapag-ugnayan po ako sa kanila. Baka hindi matatapos itong linggo na ito, 100 percent na rin po sila (Smart is now at 98 percent. But in fairness to them, they have the most number of cell sites in Cebu and I’ve been in close coordination with them. They might complete everything by the end of this week),” said Aguda.

To strengthen resilience in disaster-prone areas, Aguda bared that the DICT is also coordinating with telecom providers to bury fiber optic cables underground, a long-term measure to protect vital communications infrastructure from damage during calamities.