'Hotspotting PH' with Smart Wifi

High-speed Internet now more pervasive

The rise in the use of smartphones and mobile devices to connect to the Internet has increased the clamor for highspeed connectivity, particularly in areas where a significant number of people converge like airports, sea ports, and other public installations.

With approximately 90 percent of Internet access in the Philippines still done via Wifi, the government, through the Department of Transportation, entered into a landmark deal with PLDT and its wireless unit Smart Communications, facilitating the installation of carrier-grade Wifi infrastructure in key airports and sea ports all over the country.

More than just answering the government's call for more public Wifi hotspots in the country, the deployment of Smart Wifi is in keeping with an important mission of the company-that of making more Filipinos experience the Internet and its many benefits on a larger scale. With Smart Wifi, PLDT and Smart aim to optimize existing technologies to bring superspeed Internet to all.

For those traveling, waiting for delayed flights is no longer tedious. Smart Wifi is now available in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminals 1 to 4 for Metro Manila; Clark International Airport, and Laoag International Airport for Luzon; Roxas, Iloilo, Bacolod, Dumaguete, Kalibo, Caticlan, Puerto Princesa, and Bohol airports for Visayas; and in Mindanao, the airports of Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga, Dipolog, and General Santos City.

For those who are using the country's nautical highway, Smart Wifi is also installed in the Batangas International Airport in Batangas City, and the Calapan City Port in Mindoro.

In the pipeline are other airports, sea ports, numerous public buildings and transport areas, including all the existing lines of MRT and LRT.

Network modernization The PLDT Group is currently in the midst of a three-year modernization program that aims to improve overall network quality, capacity, and bandwidth nationwide, and at the same time, continue to enhance fiber resiliency and redundancy of its backbone.

The network upgrade is seen to answer the public's insatiable clamor for high-speed mobile Internet. Demand, after all, is set to further shoot up in the coming years. The Ericsson South East Asia and Oceania regional Ericsson Mobility report said that by 2018, smartphone penetration should surge to 70 percent of the Philippine population, while LTE subscribers would grow to around 40 percent of total mobile subscriptions.

The nationwide rollout of Smart Wifi is a key component of the PLDT Group's P48-billion capital expenditure for 2016. For the first phase alone of the deployment of carrier-grade Smart Wifi this year, Smart has already spent close to P1 billion.

With a backhaul of up to 1gigabit per second, Smart Wifi promises a seamless digital experience whether one is surfing, downloading or uploading, or just keeping connected with family and office. The state-of-the-art telco infrastructure can also handle up to 3,000 concurrent users without degrading customer experience.

"Smart Wifi is a necessary infrastructure as more and more Filipinos embrace the digital lifestyle. Users today consume a lot of data when they access the myriad of digital content and services. For PLDT and Smart, this is a more purposive deployment of resources to areas that really need the infrastructure. By installing highspeed and reliable connectivity in areas that serve popular destinations, we also make Internet services supportive for the development of the country's

tourism sector," said Finina Gorres, Head of Operations for PLDT and Smart.

"It's win-win for everybody.

Government gets better connectivity across key public transport installations, enriching everyone's travel experiences. People are able to optimize the use of their smartphones and digital devices, as well as relevant digital content and services that are available online. It also makes business sense for us. The way to the future is to be able to fully realize that so-called digital pivot from traditional telco services to data," said Eric R. Alberto, Chief Revenue Officer of PLDT and Smart.

Going beyond transport hubs

Smart Wifi is also actively expanding its footprint via enterprise customers all over the country. Damosa Land's Damosa District, one of the first masterplanned, mixed use projects in Davao City, and the Davao Doctor's Hospital, a level 4 tertiary facility and multispecialty hospital, are just among the initial clients that have chosen PLDT and Smart's superspeed connectivity solution.

"Connectivity has become a great enabler for businesses to operate more efficiently. This is why we are making use of all available fixed and wireless technologies to efficiently serve a growing bandwidth of Enterprise customers. Smart Wifi will be able to address this need," said Jovy Hernandez, FVP and Head of PLDT/Smart Enterprise groups.

More installations and upgrades are underway for both new and existing Smart Wifi enterprise clients.

"This nationwide deployment of Smart Wifi enables us to have a better understanding of the fast growing data business and the users who latch on to the service. Our consumers' seamless digital experience from Smart Wifi also allows us to showcase our capability to deliver quality data access services," added Alberto.