Philippine’s Globe Telecom goes to LTE with Alcatel-Lucent

• LTE TDD and LTE-FDD technology to be used in Visayas and Mindanao
• Critical for Visayas which is recovering from last year’s typhoon

ALCATEL-Lucent and Globe Telecom will be upgrading the latter’s wireless network infrastructure from WiMax to LTE-TDD and LTE-FDD to enable ultra-broadband access technologies.
 
The two have signed a confirmation of award covering the Philippine regions of Visayas and Mindanao, Alcatel-Lucent said in a statement. Financial details were not disclosed.
 
The LTE (Long-Term Evolution) infrastructure is part of Globe Telecom’s continuing network expansion to enable advanced technologies for a better broadband service experience.
 
“This is particularly significant for the Visayas region which is still recovering from last year’s severe typhoon,” said Globe Telecom president and chief executive officer Ernest L. Cu.
 
“This project also supports the Philippine Government’s thrust to expand the reach of broadband Internet services which has been emphasised as an area for national improvement,” he added.
 
The network transformation will provide higher network capacity and faster transmission speeds, addressing ever-increasing demand for broadband service with higher bandwidth in a country of more than 105 million mobile subscribers and growing at 10% every year, the two companies said.
 
Globe Telecom is the second largest telecommunications provider in the Philippines, with 45 million customers.
 
It will deploy Alcatel-Lucent’s LTE Radio Access Network (RAN) which is aimed at bringing ultra-broadband Internet access to a geographically diverse area comprising 7,107 islands.
 
The LTE RAN technology equipment will 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 also is providing Globe Telecom with a set of professional services to include engineering, installation, integration, and project management services.
 
TDD (Time-Division Duplex) and FDD (Frequency-Division Duplex) are the two LTE standards which differ in how data is transmitted (uploaded and downloaded).
 
“This project not only highlights how our LTE-TDD technology is expanding, but also continues the strong momentum of mobile ultra-broadband access in the Asia Pacific region,” said Alcatel-Lucent chief executive officer Michel Combes.
 
“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 programme is a further milestone in our growing global leadership in mobile ultra-broadband access,” he claimed.
 
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