Our 4G/LTE service availability in North Luzon is now back up at 97% after our network quick response teams stepped up efforts to restore mobile data services in areas most affected by Typhoon Ompong.

This is in line with our continuing focus on the hardest hit areas of Cagayan, Ilocos Norte and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) where there is a strong demand for data connectivity, particularly from disaster response agencies, local governments and the news media.

As part of our thrust to provide data connectivity for rescue and recovery efforts, PLDT has set up PLDT Home Prepaid WiFi in the Office of the Provincial Administrator in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan. 

Smart, meanwhile, has once again partnered with Vodafone Foundation to deploy ultra-portable Instant Wifi solutions at designated recovery operations centers and evacuation centers in Itogon, Benguet; Basco, Batanes and Vintar, Ilocos Norte. These instant WiFi stations can serve up to 1,500 concurrent users in an area of 10,000 square meters.

Vodafone Foundation has been a longtime partner of Smart in providing emergency communications support to areas severely affected by disasters. In 2012, the foundation deployed its Instant Network during Typhoon “Pablo,” and in 2013, it brought the system to serve affected residents in Leyte during Super Typhoon “Yolanda.”
 
Smart‘s partnership with Vodafone Foundation is part of its #SafePH advocacy, which aims to help communities reduce disaster risk using mobile technology. It is also part of Smart’s commitment to the GSMA Humanitarian Connectivity Charter, which aims to empower mobile networks to respond to disasters.