MANILA, Philippines – Ayala-led Globe Telecom, in partnership with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), is opening up its network to provide free mobile services in crisis-hit Marawi City.
For 15 days beginning Thursday, June 22, Globe's prepaid customers in Marawi City can send free texts to all networks and make free calls to Globe and TM networks. Calls to other networks will incur charges.
The primary aim of this is to help reconnect residents and soldiers with their families.
Government troops have been battling terrorists in Marawi City since May 23, forcing 69,434 families to flee their homes. Some residents remain trapped in the battle zone.
Globe president and chief executive officer Ernest Cu noted that the free services do not include mobile data.
"The data component is not included because we want to preserve all of the capacity of the cell sites to be used for voice and SMS," Cu explained in a briefing with the AFP and DICT on Thursday.
"We want people to be able to fully benefit from the capacity of the cell sites. The coverage will be in the general Marawi area. It might go beyond the area but that's alright as long as in the main area, where the fighting is going on, soldiers can call and text," he added.
All Globe and TM prepaid customers in Marawi City will receive a text message from Globe and TM within the next few days to inform them about the promo.
Extension of the free call and text service will be re-evaluated depending on the situation.
'For the public'
Asked whether the free mobile services would end up benefiting even Maute Group terrorists, the 3 organizations emphasized that the main objective is to ensure that soldiers and civilians can easily send text messages and make calls.
"The AFP has already looked into whether the free service could benefit the Maute Group, and the thing is, they are well-funded and are already communicating," Cu pointed out.
"It is our Armed Forces and civilians who are unable to call and so this will create a lot of benefit for the general public. There is very little traffic going into that area now and people are having a very hard time loading their phones with credit. There are no distributors of prepaid cards there now and very little movement of cash through that area," he explained.
For his part, Major General Jose Tanjuan Jr, the AFP Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications, Electronics, and Information Systems, expressed gratitude.
"We would like to thank the DICT and Globe Telecom for affording us this avenue for our embattled soldiers in Marawi to maintain communication lines with their families and loved ones during this critical time as they defend the republic against lawless elements," said Tanjuan. – Rappler.com