Globe has strengthened its collaboration with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), the Department of Public Works and Highways, and the Cagayan de Oro City government to prevent disruptive fiber cuts linked to roadworks.
Through an inter-agency task-force headed by Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Rolando “Klarex” Uy, Globe has been working with officials from the city government, the NTC and the DPWH to ensure that fiber cables are not damaged in diggings and other road repairs.
The collaboration was prompted by a spate of inadvertent fiber cuts due to diggings and other roadworks, with a total of 54 cases recorded in Cagayan de Oro City from January to end December 2024, the most in all of Northern Mindanao.
“We commend Globe for being the first telco to collaborate with us for an inter-agency effort to prevent fiber cuts due to roadworks These incidents cause disruptions that affect households and businesses. And with many government and commercial transactions and processes now online, fiber cuts also impact the delivery of public services and take a toll on the local economy,” said Uy.
Teodoro Buenavista Jr., Regional Director at NTC Region 10, shared how the task force has led to faster coordination among its members, making sure that roadwork plans consider existing underground and aerial cables to prevent unintentional fiber cuts.
“These unintentional yet highly disruptive fiber cuts are easily preventable through a simple solution: talking to each other. This task force has proven to be an effective platform to facilitate quick coordination among its members so that diggings and road repairs won’t end up damaging fiber cables,” said Buenavista.
He said the task force could serve as a model that other LGUs may replicate to address similar problems.
The DPWH, meanwhile, aligned its district engineers on the task force’s goal of sparing fiber cable from roadwork damage.
“On the part of the DPWH, coordination with telecommunications companies like Globe, has led to better planning. Our contractors know spots to avoid when doing road repairs and other roadwork.” said Lilibeth Aparecio, DPWH Region 10 Regional Director.
Globe, meanwhile, thanked the Cagayan de Oro city government, NTC, and DPWH for providing a venue to collaborate on ensuring undisrupted connectivity in the city.
“We are grateful to our partners for the smooth collaboration towards our shared goal of protecting our fiber infrastructure. With connectivity now a basic necessity, we must work together towards preventing downtimes caused by factors outside the scope of telco providers,” said Joel Agustin, Globe Head of Service Planning and Engineering.
With 14 fiber cuts recorded so far in CDO from January until March this year, the task force continues with its work towards attaining zero incidence.
“If we work together, we believe this is possible. It’s all about will, consistency, and teamwork,” said Buenavista.
