18 Years – Camiguin Telephone Network

Today marks the 18th anniversary of Camiguin Telephone Cooperative, the start of commercial operation of the digital telephone network around the island province. The inaugural call was placed by the late Usec. Josie Lichauco to Pres. Fidel V. Ramos. The grant was initiated upon the request of the late Pres. Cory Aquino to Chancellor Helmut Kohl during her state visit to Germany. We, Camiguingnons, are grateful to the German government for the grant – from the hardwares, installation, workshops, training and seminars; the Provincial Gov’t under the administration of then Gov. Nieto Gallardo for leasing part of the Capitol building for the telephone exchange, the backup genset and the tower; and to the initial members who believed in the project.

Heinz Pomplun

However, there are also unsung heroes. One of them is the late Heinz Pomplun, the GTZ consultant. I would say he’s the workhorse on the German side. Heinz assisted us in coordinating the details with gov’t agencies and PLDT, guiding CAMTECO directors, managegement and staff what needs to be done. He’s down-to-earth. He listens to people from all walks of life – from meeting with PLDT top brass to drinking sessions with practically anyone at sari-sari stores. He (and Mr Juergen Marx) justified NOT TO HIRE an on-site German consultant (which is unusual especially to a capital-intensive project) but instead hire a qualified Filipino engineer/manager. They believed the Filipinos can do it! Just too bad he passed away at a very young age, 45, in 1999. To Heinz – we salute you. Auf Wiedersehen!

The first telephone system in Camiguin

The first telephone system in Camiguin is NOT  the Phil-German Rural Telephone Network Project/Camiguin Telephone Cooperative (CAMTECO).  Believe it or not – there was a working telephone system in the 60s spanning the entire town of Mambajao – from Tupsan to Naasag.

The equipments
WWII US Signal Corp surplus

The telephone set, encased in leather bag, is powered by 2 Size “D” dry cells. Dialing is done by cranking a rotary handle at the side. It sends 100V(!) over a single wire to all telephone sets from Naasag to the operator switchboard in Mambajao Municipal Hall. All phone rings! We know it’s our call by the cadence of short and long rings.

The switchboard is located at the entrance (left side) of the old Mambajao Municipal Hall (in front of the Provincial Plaza and the gymnasium). Its function is to connect calls to other areas – to Tupsan and other streets in Publacion.

How the switchboard come into play? For example, Tupsan wants to call Naasag. The caller will dial the Operator and request to connect Naasag. The operator dials the party in Naasag. When the call is answered, he connects them using a patch cord. There’s a lamp indicator to show the call is in progress.

As far as I can recall, telephones were installed mostly at gov’t offices, hospital, Police, homes of public officials and key people. Starting from Naasag:

• Naasag: Coun Pedro Cimacio
• Yumbing: Pedro Sagrado
• Agoho: Baloy Sabuga
• Bug-ong: Leon Balite – Bug-ong, Coun Sesing Salcedo
• Kuguita: Paulino/Jose Dagondon, Jesus Barlaan, Capt Luis Bollozos Sr

In Publacion, for sure:

• Municipal Hall (Switchboard), Camiguin Emergency Hospital (near San Nicolas Church), Dept of Public Highways, Dept of Public Works
• Lt. Gov. Jose Neri, Mayor Antonio Luspo, Judge Ceferino Chan Sr, Antonio Madarieta, Lucio Borromeo, Dr Crisogono Llacuna, Dr Cordero, Judge Lactao

I’m sure there are many more in Publacion. Then, to the east:

• Balbagon: Coun. Flavio Cabiguin, Coun. Teodulo Abbu
• Magting: Victor Carillo Sr
• Tupsan: Chief of Police Kadong Abuzo,  Atty Dodo Borromeo

One thing funny about that system is: anyone can pickup the phone and listen. However, both parties can detect if there’s a third party picking up the phone by a slight drop in volume. And it’s normal because we listen first if the line is free before dialing. Second, we had countless electric shocks when we crank the dial – remember it’s generating 100V!!! There was no long-distance calls but during emergencies, it served very well.

How did I know these details when I was still in grade school? I should know because it was my father, Jose Lim Dagondon, who setup the system upon the request of Lt Gov Seling Neri. It was a pro bono job because my father was still connected with the Dept of Public Highways. His all-around skills of chemistry, physics, mechanics and electronics (the Dagondon Sound System, remember?) inspired me to pursue electronics engineering – and finally to manage the startup operation of the Camiguin Telephone Project/CAMTECO in 1992~1998. Too bad he never witnessed the realization of the modern phone system. Here’s the man … the tallest one.

“IPTV next” – CAMTECO

CAMTECO just posted on Facebook “IPTV next”. It looks like a head-on collision with Island Cable TV. Cable TV operators are offering Internet service. Perhaps, it’s one of the main reason why the latter is upgrading to fiber. What comes next after Internet? Value-Added Services. VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), IPTV, etc. So, Island Cable becomes a telephone provider? It’s not a remote possibility. If there’s a direct competition, what matters to the general public is Quality of Service vs Price. But for CAMTECO members, it’s more complicated because there is a 3rd factor – patronage to the cooperative.

CAMTECO fiber network expansion

CAMTECO completed the fiber optic link from Catarman to Mambajao. This is part of their expansion program to offer multimedia services (voice, data and video). With this new link, CAMTECO now covers Mahinog to Catarman with fiber technology.

Recalling milestones

Camiguin has come a long way since the telephone network started operation in February 12, 1994.  Today, Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo and countless others have become a buzzword of the island. Through the Internet, it brought Camiguingnons living abroad closer to their home province. Photos are shared in seconds. There’s excitement. This is a milestone.  In a few years, with more providers coming in, it becomes a common thing. Nothing special.

Just right before the project inauguration, the late GTZ consultant, Heinz Pomplun said: “You know, people are very excited today. But in a few years, it will be a thing of the past. Very common.”.   He’s right because I sense people even forget about who made this project possible.  So I’m sharing what I can recall. 

Backdoor dialing

Backdoor dialing is one method to establish free calls to  Internet phones using regular phones (landlines or mobile phones). It is a two-step process:

1. Dial the nearest access number (can be in New York, London, Sydney,etc)  -  the list of numbers is usually posted on the provider’s website
2. When the call is answered, dial the Internet phone number.

When the dialing is complete, the Internet phone rings regardless of it’s location (e.g. Philippines)  as long as it’s connected online to the Internet.  My Internet phone is a stand-alone unit. I just leave it on during my waking hours. The setup works just like an ordinary phone.

Country code for VoIP

ITU (International Telecommunication Union) created a country code +883 for the VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) in June 2008. When implemented, IP phones will be reachable from regular phones by dialing +833 prefix. IP phone users needs to get their iNum (International Numbers) to be reachable via +883. iNum is a country-less phone number so you can use it anywhere. As of it’s implementation with telcos, it remains to be seen. As of now, iNums are reachable only thru affiliate providers access numbers. Visit iNum for more details.