Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 10) — The spokesperson of two major telecommunications companies in the country said their combined netwok is more than capable of handling customer demand amid the COVID-19 crisis.
Speaking at the regular Laging Handa briefing on Wednesday, PLDT and SMART Communications spokesperson Ramon Isberto said, “Kung titignan yung buong [If we look at the whole] network in terms of the total network capacity, to at least for PLDT for its fixed network and SMART for its mobile network, the total capacity is higit pa [is greater] for the current usage ngayon.”
Isberto said challenges come when areas where there normally not many users experience a surge because of many individuals working from home.
“Ang nagiging problema po ay yung mga area na dati hindi ho marami ang gumagamit ngayon ay medyo tumaas ang data usage dahil mas marami na ang tao na working from home. Gumagamit na sila ng video calling at kung anu-ano pa o nanonood ng Netflix. Dun sa mga areas na ‘yon, yun ang pinagtutuuan namin ng pansin para dagdagan yung capacity ng mga areas na yan para talagang tumaas yung service levels,” he said.
[Translation: There can be problems when areas whee there are not usually many users but now have higher data usage because a lot of people in those areas are working from home. The make video calls and others, or go on Netflix. Those areas are what we’re focusing on so we can increase the capacity so service levels go up.]
Isberto did say that, overall the network has performed relatively well throughout the quarantine period.
On Tuesday, the World Bank said in a report internet speeds must be fast and cheap or else may hinder the revival of the Philippine economy as the “new normal” will see more Filipinos relying on digital platforms for work, school, and day-to-day needs.
