Telecommunications and digital services provider Smart Communications on Thursday evening assured PLDT Inc. and Smart subscribers that they would continue to have internet connectivity during the five-day maintenance activity.
PLDT on Wednesday advised its subscribers of emergency maintenance activities that will be conducted on Asia-America Gateway submarine cables from September 25 to 30.
“Emergency maintenance activities will be conducted on the Asian American Gateway (AAG), one of PLDT’s international cable systems, from Friday, 25 September 2020 8:00 a.m. to Wednesday, 30 September 2020 5:00 a.m. (Philippine Standard Time),” the telco firm wrote.
AAG is a 20,000-kilometer long fiber optic cable network that connects the Philippines and other countries to the US.
It supports services such as broadband Internet and broadband applications.
On Thursday, Smart said the operator of AAG “has informed PLDT that emergency maintenance activities will be conducted on AAG submarine cables in the waters of Hong Kong SAR from Saturday, 26 September 2020 9:00 AM to Wednesday, 30 September 2020 5:00 AM (Philippine Standard Time).”
In view of this, PLDT and Smart said they have identified alternative cable systems to continue providing services to their subscribers.
“We wish to assure PLDT and Smart customers of continued internet connectivity all throughout,” Smart said.
“We have identified alternative cable systems to keep our connectivity resilient,” it added.
READ: PLDT to conduct ’emergency’ maintenance on internet services for 5 days
The wireless communications and digital services subsidiary said they also adopted measures such as traffic rerouting and local caching, ensuring that most frequently downloaded content are located in the Philippines.
“Students can still do their online studies and exams, and users in homes and businesses can go about their normal internet-based activities during this time,” Smart wrote.