Mindanaotoday.com | Power lines to be included in planned underground cable system in Oro
By: Franck Dick Rosete
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The National Telecommunications Commission in Northern Mindanao (NTC-10) is eyeing to include the power lines in the underground cable development here as part of resolving the “spaghetti wires” or overlapping wires and cables along the major streets in this city.
This remarks was made following the recent meeting of NTC-10 together with Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Rolando Uy and Misamis Oriental Governor Peter Unabia, where both local chief executives agreed on the NTC-10’s proposal to use the underground cable ducts of the defunct Misamis Oriental Telephone System Inc. (Misortel) by telecommunication companies.
Teodoro Buenavista Jr., NTC-10 regional director, explained in a phone interview Saturday, August 6, that they firstly need provisions from power companies as power lines have different ducts from telecommunication lines.
“It is not that easy [referring to the inclusion of power lines] because it would create an EMF [electromagnetic field] that would interfere with the telecommunication lines. That is why there is a distance between the power lines and its telecommunication lines,” Buenavista said.
The said plan will be discussed as the Cagayan Electric Power and Light Company, Inc. and Misamis Oriental Rural Electric Service Cooperative, Inc. will be included in the future meetings as they are members of the task force.
The proposal to use the underground cable ducts of the defunct Misortel was initiated by the NTC-10 as Uy, Buenavista said, signed an executive order during the said breakfast meeting, which was held in mayor’s office on Friday, August 5, for the reconstitution of the “CDO ICT Task Force on Cables and Wires.”
The said task force also known as “Task Force Hapsay Kable” was formed through the Executive Order No. 172-2017, signed by former city mayor Oscar Moreno in November 2017. Buenavista said Uy also wants to change its task force name.
The NTC-10, together with the representatives from the provincial and city government will have their first meeting next week.
After the next week’s meeting, they will formulate strategic planning to provide a timeline for the completion of the said development.
The Misamis Oriental government-owned Misortel, in partnership with Samsung, a South Korean company, had laid underground fiber optic cables in the 1990s.
These ducts, however, were now unused after the landline telephone firm became non-operational.
The underground cable ducts were initially assessed, however, the NTC-10 needs joint assessment by tapping professional groups and organizations for further evaluation.
The priority areas in this development would be the Don Apolinar Velez street and Claro M. Recto Avenue, specifically from Barangay Lapasan to Barangay Cugman. These areas have an existing ducts system, Buenavista said.
Apart from cleaning the overlapping wires, the said initiative also aims to prevent any accidents in the streets.
“ Aside sa (from) aesthetics, Ato gyung (our) goal kanang wala nay magbitay-bitay kay makadisgradya og mga tao (is that no more dangling [cables and wires] because it can cause accident to people), especially nga naay mga dagko nga sakyanan (that there are big vehicles),” Buenavista said.
After the creation of the task force in 2017, the operation in removing unused cables and wires in streets has been continuing for the past years despite the threat brought by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
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