Five Benguet towns to get BGAN units

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- Five towns in the highlands is a shoe in for satellite transmission.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Provincial election officer Elenita Tabangin said Bakun, Kibungan, Buguias and Bokod towns are sure to get the Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) machines for the May polls.

“They are very far from civilization and the [cellular phone] signals there are weak,” Tabangin said.

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She said other areas are still being checked as transmission signals would be difficult to get on Election Day.

Smartmatic regional coordinator Mavic Madayag said not all the clustered precincts will get the BGAN.

“The machines will be used only when necessary,” she said.

Studies show that 30 percent of the country’s polling places do not have GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) forcing the Comelec to use the satellite network to send election results.

Madayag said voting equipment like the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines can still be used in areas without GSM signals.

The province has been included in the six most remote areas in the country heavily needing BGAN machines to transmit election results. “We are remote in terms of transportation and communication,” Tabangin said.

The BGAN is used in areas that have no available cellular signals, currently; the poll body has 5,000 pieces of BGAN equipment at hand, with more on the way.

Madayag said that in an area of clustered precincts, a BGAN machine will be on standby. “We are now determining how many hours it takes to get to polling places.”

Benguet is known for its difficult terrain and fluctuating cell phone signals which may pose as a problem come Election Day.

Comelec said it will only take a little over two days to declare the country’s next president, vice president, and the set of 12 senators while for the municipal level, results can be declared in a few hours. (Maria Elena Catajan)