By Pacific Island Times News Staff
Guam carriers have restored services in certain areas, but the continuing power failure stagnates the restoration process since typhoon Mawar hit the island last week.
IT&E said services have been reinstated in several southern villages while restoration efforts continue in the remaining areas affected by typhoon Mawar.
The service restoration came sooner than expected. Guam carriers earlier this week reported that the fiber network supporting several mobile cell sites in the southern villages sustained damage during the storm.
In a statement Friday, IT&E said manpower from Saipan has arrived to assist with restoration efforts on Guam.
Currently, IT&E said it maintains generators to power connected sites and keep subscribers connected.
“As a community, Typhoon Mawar has tested our resilience. With so much damage to infrastructure, it’s a difficult process, but day by day we are making progress and are determined to connect our subscribers to the best possible service," said Jim Oehlerking, CEO of IT&E.
IT&E announced the following special services that have been extended to subscribers until further notice:
· Unlimited Data for all Postpaid subscribers, free of charge.
· Tethering is available for all Postpaid subscribers, free of charge.
· Service suspension due to nonpayment has been postponed until further notice.
· Finance charges and late fees have been waived for May and June.
Docomo Pacific today announced service restoration in the following areas: - Chalan Pago - Flora Pago; Mangilao - Ladera' Dededo - Astumbo, Megadrug'; and Yigo - Andersen Front gate.
The listed mobile cell sites are fully operational, powered by either island power or generators.
Docomo said mobile cell sites running on generators may experience intermittent power due to high fuel demand.
Those who are not receiving mobile data in the mentioned locations are advised to try power cycling their devices.
"As more mobile cell sites are restored, additional village areas will be added to the list," Docomo said, adding that it will continuously monitor mobile cell sites for any intermittent power issues, and address temporary data outages by refueling generators to maintain services as much as possible.
GTA said it is working around the clock to fully restore the network.
"The lack of island power is a major challenge to getting all services back online, but be assured we'll continue working until all areas are fully restored During these challenging times, GTA assures customers that there will be no disconnections or late fees until further notice," GTA stated in its restoration update posted on its Facebook page.
GTA said its core network is fully operational and off-island internet connections are stable with ample capacity.
"We are currently running on generator power, but we have been working closely with GPA to get our Core Network sites on island power. We would like to thank them for their partnership and for prioritizing GTA as a critical infrastructure to keep the island connected," GTA said,
GTA said its wireless network is operational with outages in some areas mainly due to a lack of power to wireless cell sites.
"Our main challenges are keeping the generators fueled amid long fuel lines and restoration of island power to cell sites. However, our crews are working 24/7 to keep sites fueled and operational while we also assess and repair damaged sites," GTA said.
GTA said it has been prioritizing restoration to public safety and health facilities but its crews have begun assessing and repairing infrastructure in the villages.
Subscribe to
our digital
monthly edition