Taiwan quake disrupts PLDT, Globe services

The Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) and Globe Telecoms said Wednesday their operations had been disrupted by a powerful earthquake that jolted Taiwan Tuesday. In a statement, PLDT and its mobile network Smart said that the international cable facilities they are using "suffered major cable breaks" causing interference in their operations. "As a result, IDD and broadband Internet services are currently intermittent," the joint statement said. Domestic PLDT and Smart voice and data services, however, are operating normally. The statement assured that restoration work is being undertaken. "The international consortium operating these cable systems has already mobilized cable ships to repair the affected segments, and restoration work is being conducted round the clock," the joint statement said. Second largest mobile network Globe Telecom also said that their services, particularly to Taiwan, Japan , Korea and the United States, have been disrupted by the earthquake. The quakes damaged some undersea cable systems off the cost of Taiwan thus affecting communication services in Asia. Globe is doing everything possible to restore fully its services," Globe said in a separate statement. The earthquake jolted Taiwan late Tuesday, prompting a tsunami alert on the second anniversary of the Dec. 26, 2004, waves and quake that killed 230,000 in south Asia. No large waves materialized but two people were killed when their home collapsed. The quake damaged two of the seven undersea cables near Taiwan used by several countries to route calls and Internet traffic. Hong Kong telephone company PCCW Ltd., which also provides Internet service, said the quake cut its data capacity in half. Many Internet users were unable to access Web sites in parts of America, Taiwan and South Korea. Calls to Taiwan were not going through. In China, Internet access was cut or had become extremely slow, said an official from China Netcom, the country's No. 2 phone company. The official, who would not give his name, said the cause was thought to be the earthquake. Businesses in various parts of the city also said they were experiencing Internet access problems. -GMANews.TV