HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — In the aftermath of Typhoon Mawar, local telecom companies are looking underground as a way to improve network resilience before the next big storm hits.
Over 70% of cell sites went offline in the days just after the typhoon, though the number of sites destroyed by the storm was minimal, power and fuel issues stalled the restoration of service in the month after Mawar, Post files show.
Thousands of home and office telephone, television, and internet customers were left disconnected, and those in the hardest-hit areas will have to wait the longest to get back online.
Telecom providers were invited to the Guam Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Recovery Summit Friday at the Hyatt Regency Guam to talk about network restoration.
‘I wouldn’t make money’
Roderick Boss, president and CEO of Docomo Pacific, said that the complexity involved in keeping the local telecom network up has increased sharply in the last decades. There were just 13 cell sites on Guam through Typhoon Pongsona, all of which had back up power, and were only providing call services, Boss said.
“Now, all those calls are not voice calls, but they are data calls. And now the three providers all have over 100 cell sites across Guam,” said Boss.
Docomo operates 125 sites, and each one needs a power connection, a network line connection, and repairs from any physical damage to run properly, in the aftermath of a typhoon. And in neighborhoods that were hard hit, transmission lines that have fallen off power poles and onto the ground all need to be fixed one by one.
Over 400 nodes in individual neighborhoods feed data to Docomo customers, which each have to be repaired again.
And, unlike the states, where support can be driven in, additional manpower and equipment take much longer to come to Guam.
Boss said he’s relayed to Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero that getting more network infrastructure underground is required, to make services more resilient to typhoons.
Docomo has about over 1,000 miles of network, only about 25% of which is underground. That percentage needs to keep growing each year, he added.
Boss recalled a question about underground cables from his wife after Typhoon Yutu struck Saipan and its network in 2018.
“If I put everything, every part of my network underground in Saipan, I wouldn’t make money there for the next 20 or 30 years,” he said.
He said that each telecommunications provider needs to make the move toward buried network cables, if the island is to stand up better in the next typhoon. “Regulatory slowness” held that up, and more discussion with the local government has to be held to speed the process.
Angela Rosario, director of product marketing at IT&E, agreed with the move towards underground cables, and said that a collaboration with the Guam Power Authority to get cables buried could help speed the process.
IT&E has been all hands on deck and working around the clock to try and get connectivity restored post-Mawar, and is now down to having just one cell site offline.
“This typhoon really showed us where we need our improvements. We did have significant damage. Down south, we lost our aerial fiber due to the typhoon, but our team was very good and very fast at getting out there, doing the repairs and getting the services down. So, we’re looking at within the next year or so investing millions and trying to fix that infrastructure, and make it stronger and better,” she said.
A GTA representative did not appear at the summit, but the company did provide recommendations for building a more resilient power grid in a statement.
“The greatest impact on network resilience can be achieved by enhancing power system resilience, especially in small islands that have limited power and resources. In the long run, we recommend the burial of power lines for key network infrastructure assets, such as cable landing stations, data centers, network operation centers, and important cell sites,” the statement said.
GTA also took the time to tout the resilience of its own network.
“With over 250 miles (of) secure underground fiber, we ensure unrivaled protection against harsh weather conditions. During Typhoon Marwar, our network infrastructure proved its resilience. Our core sites were equipped with backup generators and showing uninterrupted operations. Our cable landing stations and data centers remain fully operational without any disruptions,” the company stated.
A Docomo Pacific technician works on cable lines June 13, 2023 along Route 4 in Hagåtña.
