Ayala-led Globe Telecom said it is trying a slew of cellular wireless technology, including femtocell, in an attempt to provide tailor-fit solutions that would enhance connectivity in posh villages amid growing use of bandwidth-intensive devices.
Emmanuel Estrada, Globe head of network technologies strategy, said in a press briefing in Makati City that the company now has about 50 residential subscribers of its femto cell technology in Metro Manila.
Wikipedia describes femtocell as a small, low-power cellular base station, typically designed for use in a home or small business.
Estrada said that while its subscribers who are testing the new wireless technology are all residential users, Globe has offerings for enterprises and outdoor users as well.
Aside from femto cell, Estrada said Globe is also experimenting with other technologies such as the outdoor distributed antenna system (ODAS), which makes use of a specialized lamp posts built with radio signal transmission capability, as well as the use of cell sites disguised as palm trees.
?The advent of smartphone use has sharply increased bandwidth requirement in these exclusive villages and Globe Telecom is ready to implement solutions that would best address connectivity concerns in these exclusive villages,? he said.
Currently, Globe services are delivered to subscribers in exclusive villages through cell sites located around the village perimeter. However, mobile phone signals coming from these cell sites aren?t sufficient to meet cellular coverage requirement especially indoors in households situated farther from these facilities.
?The growing use of smartphone devices has consequently led to the need for faster speed and more efficient mobile data service requiring telco providers like Globe to enhance their mobile phone coverage and thus the necessity to build cell sites in exclusive villages,? Estrada said.
According to Estrada, the ODAS solution makes use of fiber-optic cables installed in lamp posts along sidewalks to distribute a base station?s signals to multiple low power active antenna systems installed in nominal locations inside residential subdivisions. This enables the delivery of reliable mobile phone service without the need for gigantic cell phone towers.
On the other hand, the aesthetic tree solution, which makes use of cell sites disguised as palm trees, is another solution that the telco provider is ready to deploy in exclusive villages to address aesthetic concerns over the use of towering cell sites.
Estrada emphasized that company efforts to deploy cell sites in exclusive villages is in step with the company?s network and IT transformation program, which involves a complete change-out of equipment.
?We would like to enable all our customers to enjoy the benefits of these network advancements to its full potential,? Estrada said.
Estrada further emphasized that alleged health risks associated with exposure to radio waves are unfounded. ?There is no reason to believe that exposure to low level of radio frequency signals from cell sites causes adverse health impact,? he said.
He explained that a common concern about cell sites and local wireless antennas relates to the possible long-term health effects that whole body exposure to radio frequency signals may have. He stressed that the levels of radio frequency exposure from cell sites are so low and do not affect human health.
According to Estrada, the strength of radio frequency fields is greatest at its source and diminishes quickly with distance, adding that radio frequency exposures from cell sites and wireless technologies in publicly accessible areas are normally thousands of times below international standards.
At the same time, Estrada said the company is also intensifying its campaign against the use of illegal signal boosters which he said is interfering with the microwaves emitted by cell sites.
