PLDT, Inc. and Smart Communications, Inc., launched on Tuesday their integrated operations center in Makati City that can quickly identify areas hit by services outages.

“This cutting-edge facility is the latest testament to the commitment of the PLDT Group to be at the forefront of innovation in the country,” said PLDT Senior Vice-President Mario G. Tamayo, delivering a message on behalf of PLDT Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan.

National Telecommunications Commission Deputy Commissioner Edgardo V. Cabarios said that the integrated operations center will intensify PLDT and Smart’s services.

“The operations center covers the entire network. If there are problems it will be easy to identify,” Mr. Cabarios said.

The operations center is equipped with network monitoring and multimedia conferencing facilities, including a video wall that displays various network dashboards for immediate identification of areas affected by service outages

Mr. Tamayo said that the integrated operations center will oversee the operations and monitor the performance of PLDT’s extensive fiber infrastructure and the wireless facilities of Smart.

“We are also contributing greatly to helping the government realize its ambition to improve the country’s digital infrastructure, making available the best of our technologies to put the Philippines at par with the rest of Asia,” Mr. Tamayo said.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — A. E. O. Jose