Globe to subscribers: Sorry for systems disruption

MAJOR telecom provider Globe Telecom apologized to their Visayas and Mindanao subscribers following a systems interruption that disrupted their broadband and mobile phone services last Monday.

Yoly Crisanto, Globe Telecom Corporate Communications chief, said the fiber cut of their underwater cable that caused the interruption early in the morning was repaired at 9:40 p.m last Monday.

“Gusto namin humingi ng paumanhin sa subscribers sa Cebu pati na rin sa mga subscribers namin sa (We want to apologize to our subscribers in Cebu and our subscribers in) Mindanao,” Crisanto said in a radio interview over dyAB.

She said the underwater cable in Mindoro and another one in Bicol area was hit by a strong wave caused by tropical storm Bebeng.

“It took us awhile to repair because the fiber cut is a sub-sea cable or underwater and the current was strong, dragging the cable and cutting it. The cable wasn’t totally sliced open but the fiber optics was affected,” Crisanto said.

She said damage estimates have yet to be known since Globe wants to ensure full services for subscribers, who were unable to send text messages and make phone calls for several hours last Monday.

The service interruption also affected emergency offices like the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management and the Cebu City Mobile Alarm Response System (MARS) among others. Routine checkups of their networks and their fiber links are ongoing.

“For some reasons, we don’t expect, something happens undersea so we just consider this as an act of God. We just really want to say our sincerest and deep apologies to all our affected subscribers in the Visayas-Mindanao area,” Crisanto said./Reporter Marian Z. Codilla