Broken undersea cables fixed - Smart, BayanTel

Smart Communications Inc. and Bayan Telecommunications Inc. reported on Monday that repairs have been completed on their cable stations damaged by the strong earthquake off Taiwan in late December. BayanTel, the phone unit of the Lopez group, said in a statement that its operations have been stable since last week and subscribers of their Internet service now have full access. BayanTel had said its total backhaul capacity for international Internet access was reduced by 10 to 15 percent due to the fiber break in the APCN and APCN2 cable systems. Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) and Globe Telecom earlier said they would be able to fully restore damaged submarine telecommunications cable systems in the latter part of February. Customers’ Internet connections notably slowed down following the 7.1 magnitude earthquake off Taiwan on Dec. 26, 2006. Smart, the mobile phone unit of telecommunications giant PLDT, reported that repair of Shantou, China-Tanshui, Taiwan and the Lantou, Hong Kong-Chongming, China links under APCN2 cable system was completed last January 30 and February 10, respectively. The company said the SMW3 cable system and the China-US links were fully restored last month while 100 percent restoration of APCN cable system was reported last February 2. PLDT and Globe Telecom earlier said they would be able to fully restore damaged submarine telecommunications cable systems by February 21. “The repair of other segment faults of the affected cable systems will continue and is expected to be completed on a staggered basis up to February 21," said PLDT first vice president Alfredo Carrera. The earthquake which shook Taiwan damaged six undersea cables. PLDT said 66 percent of its circuits were affected by the damage incurred by the APCN2; 77 percent from SMW3; and 48 percent from APCN. In late January, telecommunications companies announced that they had repaired three of six undersea cables damaged by the Taiwan earthquake. The overall impact on PLDT’s services indicated that 30.69 percent of voice traffic was affected; 51.05 percent of its data service; and 41.38 percent of its Internet-related services. Globe spokesman Jones Campos earlier said that most of the repair works have been completed, but full restoration is expected to happen within this month. “Total or 100 percent could be mid-February as per international consortium, depending on weather and other controllable factors," Campos said. PLDT said it has used the Guam-Philippines cable, which was the only Philippine-terminating submarine cable unaffected by earthquake. Arrangements have also been made with other foreign carriers to enhance capacity to extend the link from Guam to the US and Japan. -GMANews.TV