PLDT Completes Line Maintenance Ahead of Schedule

By Ian Nicolas Cigaral, Philstar.com
September 29, 2020

MANILA, Philippines — Subscribers should expect network connections to get back to normal after PLDT Inc. completed an “emergency maintenance” a day ahead of original schedule.

“We are happy to report that maintenance activities on the AAG submarine cable have been completed one day ahead of schedule,” PLDT and its wireless unit, Smart Communications Inc., said in an advisory.

“We thank you for your cooperation,” they added.

PLDT triggered online class suspensions, among others, after announcing last Thursday a likely “degraded” internet connectivity among clients during a supposedly 5-day maintenance activities on its Asia-America Gateway, one of the firm’s submarine cable systems.

The emergency maintenance, which started September 26, was initially expected to be finished by September 30, although at the onset, PLDT said the company had “identified alternative cable systems to keep our connectivity resilient.”

Other telco players namely Globe Telecom Inc., Converge ICT Solutions Inc. and SKY Cable Corp. said their services were unaffected by the maintenance activities.

A contingency plan, however, did not stop some PLDT customers to complain of slower internet connection at a time everyone is encouraged to stay and work from home to slow the spread of coronavirus.

But in a separate statement on Tuesday, the Pangilinan-led telco giant assured customers the company is ramping up network improvements, particularly its 4G connection also known as LTE, even with movement restrictions preventing some work from getting done.

Since end last year, PLDT claimed to have lengthened its fiber infrastructure by 19% at 382,500 kilometers in August. A total of 8.1 million homes, up 12% in similar period, were also fiber connected.

Smart, for its part, ramped up its 4G base stations by 15% to 28,200. “This accelerated network rollout has included the firing up of LTE sites in far-flung areas, including Pag-asa Island in Palawan and the town of Kawayan in the island province of Biliran,” PLDT said.