The maintenance of IT&E generators may result in network service disruptions from time to time until commercial power is once again restored to the island, IT&E said yesterday.<\/p>\n
IT&E has relied solely on its generators for power since Typhoon Soudelor crippled the power grid more than two weeks ago, forcing the company to increase maintenance cycles for the repair and refueling of equipment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to express to the people that we are in the same boat that everyone else is,\u201d IT&E sales and marketing manager Hans Mickelson told Saipan Tribune.<\/p>\n
IT&E explains that in order to conduct maintenance\u2014such as oil changes, refueling, and repairs\u2014there is a minimum cool down period and this may result in some service interruptions at various locations depending on where the equipment is located.<\/p>\n
Meantime, IT&E is expecting the arrival of new generators sometime this week.<\/p>\n
Rob Harrell, IT&E executive director of customer operations, said they have been \u201cband-aiding\u201d the generators in use now.<\/p>\n
But the other generators coming in will be the \u201cprimary\u201d generators.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new generators\u2026are actually higher capacity than the ones that are currently there,\u201d said Harrell.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a 125 [kilowatt generator] at the airport, for example\u2014we are going to put in a 150-kilowatt generator,\u201d Harrell said.<\/p>\n
There are 21 cellular sites across the island.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, an IT&E generator that powered services to the Emergency Operations Center on Capitol Hill went offline in the late afternoon.<\/p>\n
Also last Thursday night, there was a network outage in Gualo Rai and Garapan.<\/p>\n
IT&E\u2019s bigger generators are in Lower Base, Gualo Rai, Kagman, airport, and Nan Ocha.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fail-safe mechanism turns them off,\u201d Mickelson said, referring to the generators and the recent outages.<\/p>\n
Mickelson said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has provided two generators to assist with the outage.<\/p>\n
In related news, IT&E reports that the network problems around San Vicente and the Saipan airport were due to damage done to their fiber line, which is underground.<\/p>\n
According to Harrell, Commonwealth Utilities Corp. crew dug up their underground cable during power restoration efforts.<\/p>\n
They were able to reroute some services to the airport, according to Harell as of press time yesterday.<\/p>\n
Saipan Tribune was unable to obtain comments from CUC.<\/p>\n
Harrell said that based on initial assessment, CUC damaged a fiber cable, a 200-pair copper cable, and 4\u201d spare conduit.<\/p>\n
Mickelson said they would like to remind the community to call in for \u201ctoning\u201d before they rebuild after the typhoon.<\/p>\n
Toning is a procedure that identifies buried lines or cables underground. All of IT&E\u2019s network is buried.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d like to remind residents as they are rebuilding to be careful where they lay their foundation\u201d for water pipelines and such, Mickelson said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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