Albeit weak, mobile signal returns to Tacloban, ending isolation

(Updated 11 p.m.) American Alex Bowman, 24, was in Tacloban to visit a friend when Super Typhoon Yolanda smashed into the Visayas on Friday morning. For nearly 48 hours, he could not be reached by frantic family and friends in the United States, incuding his Filipina fiancée, Michaela Mortel.

They were among the many around the world worried sick about the possible fate of their loved ones in the province, where the Red Cross has estimated about 1000 dead.

Power was out in much of Leyte and mobile communications were dead after Yolanda's powerful winds knocked down cell sites. Survivors had resorted to hand-written notes sent through reporters.

With desperation growing, both Globe and Smart Communications, the country's leading mobile service providers, were rushing to restore services throughout the region, especially Tacloban, Eastern Visayas' densely populated commercial hub.

On Sunday morning, Alex was able to use someone else's phone with a Globe number to assure the outside world that he was safe. "Alex has called. He was able to find someone with a Globe number that worked. He said people are lining up to call," his friend Chito Villa-Real told this reporter via Facebook. "He is working on getting a flight back to Manila."

Globe restored at least partial communications services in Tacloban with a temporary site at the city's Hotel Alejandro with a weak 2G signal that can accommodate only SMS and calls of nearby users. On the other hand, Smart's communications chief Mon Isberto told GMA News on Sunday afternoon that his company expects to restore partial mobile services in the city in "less than 48 hours."

There is yet no Internet access in Tacloban.

With the gradual return of mobile services and with road access from the north restored to Tacloban via the San Juanico Bridge on Sunday, Leyte's isolation in the wake of Yolanda's onslaught has ended.

Libreng Tawag

Meanwhile, Smart is offering a "Libreng Tawag" service at the PLDT office near Tacloban's city hall to residents anxious to let their loved ones know they survived the fiercest storm the region has ever experienced.

Mobile services of both telco giants have been restored in other parts of the Visayas that had been isolated by the telco blackout, including Ormoc and Bantayan Island in northern Cebu.

The desperation of people in the outside world with relatives they cannot contact is a stark illustration of the public's dependence on the two big private companies that dominate telecommunications in the country. Relief agencies, government personnel, and media trying to perform their duty in Tacloban and other areas were virtually paralyzed by the absence of mobile communications.

GMA News had considered as many as 13 field personnel in Leyte, including reporters Micaela Papa and Love Añover, missing for hours because they could not be contacted until they were reached by colleagues.

Both telcos have flown additional technical personnel and equipment to the region in an effort to speed up the restoration of services.

Globe has sent two 3G "cellsites on wheels" to Tacloban, one by land that is set to arrive on Monday and another by sea scheduled to be in the city's port by Tuesday, according to Globe's communications head Yoly Crisanto.

Crisanto said her firm had actually activated its first site Saturday night but did not inform the public immediately so that relief and rescue teams would have exclusive use of the signal. Otherwise, she said, "Baka bumagsak (ang signal)," if many mobile users started to make calls.

As Alex Bowman's family and friends can attest, the signal stayed up. Many around the world are still awaiting similar calls.  – Howie Severino/ BM, GMA News