Recognizing the crucial role communications play in times of disaster, Globe Telecom lends its support to the earthquake preparedness activity organized by the GSM Association (GSMA), an organization of some 800 mobile operators in over 220 countries worldwide.
The workshop in Legazpi City, Albay is part of the GSMA Disaster Response Programme, this time, focusing on the threat of earthquakes which results in severe damage to properties and causes significant loss of lives yearly.
The event brings together mobile network operators from the Philippines as well as the United Nations office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (Philippines), Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHILVOCS) and other partners.
According to GSMA, the event “provides an opportunity for inter-industry knowledge sharing and exploring opportunities for partnerships with an emphasis on earthquake resilience.”
The workshop also aims “to build capacity, create a community of practice within the operator community and publish best practices and case studies that can be used as resources for improved planning.”
The sessions will discuss earthquake risk overview and implications for mobile operators, mobile operators as frontline responders, establishing effective partnerships in advance of earthquakes, technical strategies and best practices for network resilience and management in earthquakes.
“Globe is fully aware of the importance of telecom services especially during and after a disaster. So as a major player in the utility industry providing telecommunication services, avoidance of operational disruption is a must both in normal conditions and during emergency/disaster situations,” said Edgar C. Hapa, Globe Enterprise Business Continuity Director.
According to Hapa, the company’s mission-critical systems and its whole network infrastructure are designed for resiliency. This is achieved not only through the installation of redundant components, but also through disaster-recovery sites that allows Globe to operate in a back-up site in case one of its facilities fails.
At present, Globe has several IT data centers which are geographically distant from each other to reduce the possibility of simultaneous system downtime in case of natural calamities such as earthquake, flooding, and typhoon; and man-made incidents like sabotage, power failure, among others.
“Globe’s IT systems are properly tiered or ranked according to business impact so that the necessary infrastructure, technical support and processes are appropriated to ensure business continuity. The disaster recovery platforms and processes are also regularly tested to ensure that they will work when needed, and enhanced if necessary,” added Hapa.
Globe is the first telecommunications firm in the Philippines to have been certified as company-wide compliant with an international standard for business continuity, proving that the organization is more than capable to proactively plan, prevent and navigate through difficult periods.
The certification also serves as a pledge of excellence and commitment that necessary steps have been taken to make sure that the organization survives through disruptions and maintains a business as usual motion.
