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Globe partners with Alcatel-Lucent(Philippine Star News Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) MANILA, Philippines - Ayala-led Globe Telecom Inc., has tapped Paris-based Alcatel-Lucent for the transformation of its wireless network infrastructure to be able to provide faster Internet services to its 45 million subscribers in the Philippines. Ayala Corp. president and chief operating officer Fernando Zobel de Ayala and Alcatel Lucent chief executive officer Michel Combes signed the confirmation of award which was witnessed by President Aquino and French President Francois Hollande at the a?lysee Palace in Paris, France. The partnership calls for the transformation of the wireless network infrastructure of Globe in the Visayas and Mindanao that would be upgraded to long term evolution Time Division Duplex (LTE-TDD) and LTE Frequency Division Duplex (LTE-FDD) ultra-broadband access technologies from WiMax (worldwide interoperability for microwave access). Globe intends to deploy Alcatel-Lucent's LTE Radio Access Network (RAN) to bring ultra-broadband Internet access to a geographically diverse area comprised of 7,107 islands. The LTE RAN technology equipment would be activated in approximately 1,200 sites, along with a converged Network Management System (NMS) to manage and control network equipment on an end-to-end basis from Access to the core. Alcatel-Lucent would also provide Globe with a set of professional services to include engineering, installation, integration, and project management services. usiness ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 This would provide higher network capacity, plus faster transmission speeds, addressing ever-increasing demand for broadband service with higher bandwidth in a country of more than 105 million mobile subscribers. There are more than 105 million mobile broadband subscribers in the country, a number that has been growing by 10 percent each year, leading to ever-increasing demand for bandwidth, speed and capacity. Globe president and chief executive officer Ernest Cu said the rollout of LTE technologies would provide increased Internet and fixed/wireless broadband capacity and better broadband experience for customers in the Visayas and Mindanao regions. "This is particularly significant for the Visayas region which is still recovering from last year's severe typhoon. This project also supports the Philippine government's thrust to expand the reach of broadband Internet services which has been emphasized as an area for national improvement," Cu said. For his part, Combes said the project not only highlights how LTE-TDD technology is expanding, but also continues the strong momentum of mobile ultra-broadband access in the Asia-Pacific region. "As a key provider of infrastructure for some of the largest LTE network deployments in the world, Alcatel-Lucent's support for Globe Telecom's network expansion program is a further milestone in our growing global leadership in mobile ultra-broadband access," Combes added. Globe has committed to invest as much as $400 million to fire up LTE-capable base stations over the next two years. For this year alone, Globe has earmarked between $600 and $650-million for its capital expenditures including investments 4G (fourth generation) LTE sites. Globe is now embarking on building more sites, boosting capacity, and enhancing performance after rolling out 9,400 kilometers of additional fiber optic cable and firing up 700 4G LTE sites, providing customers with faster mobile browsing experience. To further expand its coverage across the nation, Globe is also building more 3G and 4G cell sites and expects the total number of stations to exceed 6,500 by the end of the year. |