Globe Telecom intensifies LTE coverage, fires up more sites

GLOBE Telecom has intensified its 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) service as it activates more LTE sites across the country, giving its subscribers more reasons to enjoy superfast mobile connectivity in its network.

Initially offered in the City of Makati, Globe has steadily increased its LTE coverage by bolstering its LTE infrastructure in key cities of Metro Manila as well as major areas outside the metropolis. These include Pasig City, Quezon City, Taguig, City of Manila, Muntinlupa City, as well as Cebu City and Boracay in Malay, Aklan in the Vi- sayas.

Within these locales, the company has switched-on its LTE signal in some of the major avenues, villages and subdivisions, business districts, upscale malls, hotels, busy commercial zones, government offices, schools, sporting arenas and hospitals, as well as the premier tourist destination Boracay. In an interview, Globe president and CEO Ernest Cu said that the LTE philosophy of Globe is to let their subscribers go around contiguous areas without having to lose their LTE signal:

“We don’t want them to be constrained in a specific LTE spot and be cut-off after stepping out of there. The Globe LTE coverage lets them freely walk around places they frequent such as malls, offices and the like and still receive our LTE signal seamlessly,” he said. The Globe chief said that the company’s LTE expansion will quickly cover more ground across the Philippines as the first phase of its modernization nears completion with its new network primed for LTE, and will be supported by the ongoing rollout of over 12,000 kilometers of fiber optic cable spanning the archipelago.

According to Globe chief technical advisor Robert Tan, this development further bolsters the company’s 4G network as it introduced technologies in anticipation of the incremental demand for mobile data.

“We have continued to expand our LTE coverage as we focus on large, contiguous areas, instead of `pocket activations’ and `hot spots’ to ensure greater and more stable coverage for customers,” Tan said. “With the Globe LTE, we have upped the ante in terms of internet connectivity by as much as 42 Mbps, currently the fastest available there is now,” he added.

Since fourth quarter of last year, Globe subscribers with LTE-powered gadgets such as the premium mobile broadband Tattoo Black and the first commercially-available LTE handset in the country, the Huawei Ascend P1, have been enjoying internet connections at breakneck speeds via the Globe LTE. Meanwhile, those armed with the iPhone 5, iPad 3 and the iPad mini which have recently made available their LTE connectivity through iOS upgrades can now experience ultrafast Globe LTE on their Apple devices.

Globe was first to introduce 4G technology in the Philippines with its WiMax network in 2009 and during that same year, it collaborated with SingTel to test 4G LTE in the country which was able to register speeds of up to 100 Mbps. In 2011, Globe gave its subscribers their first HSPA+ signal. Mobile 4G LTE for handsets was already active as of late last year, supporting voice and SMS.