HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Residents should expect better coverage and fewer dead zones after Guam’s three major telecom providers reported that 90% of cell sites, if not more, are back up and running.
Exact numbers on cell site restoration have been harder to pin down since the Federal Communications Commission on June 15 ceased issuing status reports on Typhoon Mawar recovery. At the time, 17.1% of cell sites were offline, down from about 70% of the island’s cellular infrastructure offline in the days just after Mawar.
Lack of power has been reported as the main barrier to getting cell towers up and running. The Guam Power Authority reported Wednesday that 92.4% of customers are back on island power.
Home and office customers who continue to lack internet, phone and television services may have to wait longer to get back to normal. Telecom providers have stated fixed services rely on restoration of power and repair of any physical network damage in the villages.
GTA
GTA had about 90% of its cell sites up and running as of Wednesday, Chief Operating Officer Andrew Gayle told the Post. Just six sites are running on backup power, he said.
GTA President and CEO Roland Certeza said efforts are now concentrated on getting the “last mile” pieces up and running — the parts of the network that connect home users to major GTA infrastructure.
The company is seeking typhoon relief from the FCC, documents filed in a Washington, D.C., court show.
“We do have a lot of catastrophic repairs and expenses that are associated with recovering from the storm,” Certeza said.
On Wednesday, GTA presented the Mayors’ Council of Guam a $100,000 donation on behalf of the Huntsman Foundation and Paul Huntsman, GTA board chair.
The donation will cover meals for mayors and their staff and volunteers, gas for mayoral teams and funding for essential hardware and supply items needed for recovery, GTA said in a press release.
IT&E
Operational cell sites for IT&E were at 97% online as of Thursday, according to company content specialist Joy White. The number of cell sites running on generator power varies daily due to power fluctuations, she said.
Docomo
Docomo Pacific has more than 90% of cell towers back online for talk and text, according to company spokesperson Jared Roberto.
About nine cell sites remain on backup power, he said.
Roberto said the number of sites back online broadcasting talk and text signals is different from those back to normal operations. Docomo teams are targeting the optimization of cell towers by July 31.
Areas of focus for Docomo field operations crews this week include: Tamuning, Harmon, Apra Heights, Naval Base Guam, Mongmong and East Hagåtña.
Docomo on Wednesday donated 30 Samsung handsets with unlimited prepaid load to the American Red Cross Guam Chapter, the company said in a press release.
“Communication is key in ensuring an immediate and efficient response to serve those affected by Typhoon Mawar. Our heartfelt gratitude to Docomo Pacific for their continued support,” American Red Cross Guam Chapter CEO Chita Blaise said in the Docomo news release.
A communications tower at IT&E headquarters in Harmon is shown May 22, 2023. Guam’s three major telecom providers reported that 90% of cell sites, if not more, are back up and running.
