Largest cellular carrier in Philippines deploys Canopy to
bolster emerging market broadband services to the home
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. – 20 February 2006 – In a country where only 10 percent of the
households have land line telephones, SMART Communications, the Philippine’s
largest cellular carrier, has broken through the cost and landscape barriers by
using Motorola (NYSE:MOT) technology. SMART has commercially launched its SMART
WiFi wireless digital subscriber line (DSL) service using Motorola’s MOTOwi4™
Canopy® fixed wireless solution to deliver “always on” broadband service to
subscribers.
Motorola’s MOTOwi4 next generation Internet protocol (IP) wireless broadband
portfolio, which includes Canopy solutions, can deliver high-speed data and
voice services as an alternative to or an extension of wired solutions helping
customers reach unserved and underserved residential, business and enterprise
markets.
Motorola’s Canopy solution has become popular in the Philippines and around the
world because of its ability to meet service providers’ business cases. One
reason is that the Canopy customer premises equipment (CPE) in the Philippines
is a cost-effective alternative to traditional 3.5 GHz wireless local loop
(WLL) alternatives. Additionally, the Motorola Canopy network is faster and
easier to deploy and is scalable, to meet SMART’s future growth opportunities.
“By tapping into SMART’s extensive cellular network infrastructure, we’ve been
able to rapidly deploy wireless broadband. The roll-out has benefited hugely
from having access to key assets including towers, backhaul, distribution and
provisions systems that can scale,” said Rolando G. Pena, head of SMART’s network
services division.
“In the six months since our launch, we have seen a steady and strong daily
growth in wireless DSL subscribers where SMART WiFi is deployed,” said Ramon S.
Fernandez, head of SMART’s Administration and Materials Management Division.
“We’ve developed an effective relationship with Motorola in growing our
wireless broadband business.”
SMART, with more than 22 million cellular subscribers, spent more than a year
in wireless broadband trial deployments before deciding to launch its commercial
services with Motorola’s Canopy wireless broadband equipment. The wireless
broadband equipment supply contract between the two companies was signed in
June 2005.
“Wireless broadband complements cellular and wire line carrier’s businesses
with an architecture that allows for a gradual roadmap to scale the network,”
said Raghu Rau, senior vice president of Global Marketing and Strategy,
Motorola Networks. “Our Canopy solutions are designed for unlicensed or managed
spectrum, and provide WiMAX services supporting voice over Internet protocol
(VoIP) and IP data applications at price points that meet customers’ business
case requirements. Wireless broadband to the home is proving to be a very
powerful and useful tool in emerging markets like the Philippines where
alternative broadband options are either impractical or not available.”
In addition, Motorola’s Canopy solutions are bridging the technological gaps
around the globe. This cost-effective platform has met application needs such
as:
- E-learning initiatives in places like Indonesia and South Africa where a single teacher can interactively teach students in multiple classrooms in different schools;
- A countrywide network in Macedonia that provides wireless connectivity that is delivering Internet content to all 360 primary and 100 secondary schools. Additionally, two-dozen secondary school dormitories, 15 university locations, 15 local educational development board offices and 1,000 businesses are being served by the same Canopy network;
- An installation of a wireless broadband infrastructure solution for a large medical assistance network in Brazil. The network supports the resources of a virtual private network (VPN), Internet connectivity, VoIP, videoconferencing systems and independent networks in order to connect its doctors, service providers, drugstores and hospitals.
About Motorola’s MOTOwi4™ Canopy® Solutions
Winner of the 2005 SUPERquest Award for Continuous Achievement,
Motorola’s MOTOwi4 Canopy portfolio delivers innovative wireless broadband
connectivity. Canopy solutions offer a unique combination of superior technology,
performance, flexibility, and cost effectiveness. With implementations in more
than 100 countries around the world, Canopy solutions provide the ideal
wireless technology for building, enhancing or extending advanced broadband
networks. Internet Service Providers, carriers, enterprises, and municipalities
use Canopy solutions for both private networks and public access.
Source: Motorola press release
