Globe Telecom announced on Wednesday night, Sept. 17, that it has signed a confirmation of award with tech giant Alcatel-Lucent to upgrade the telco?s wireless network infrastructure in Visayas and Mindanao from WiMax to LTE-TDD and LTE-FDD ultra-broadband access technologies.
The confirmation of award was done during the official state visit of Pres. Benigno Aquino III to France. Aquino and French president Fran?ois Hollande witnessed the signing in a ceremonial event at the ?lys?e Palacet.
No financial details were disclosed, however.
Ernest L. Cu, president and CEO of Globe Telecom, said the rollout of LTE technologies will provide increased Internet and fixed/wireless broadband capacity and better broadband experience for its customers outside of Luzon.
?This is particularly significant for the Visayas region which is still recovering from last year?s severe typhoon. This project also supports the Philippine government?s thrust to expand the reach of broadband internet services which has been emphasized as an area for national improvement,? Cu said.
Globe will deploy Alcatel-Lucent?s LTE Radio Access Network (RAN) which is aimed at bringing ultra-broadband Internet access to a geographically diverse area comprised of 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 with a set of professional services to include engineering, installation, integration, and project management services.
Michel Combes, CEO of Alcatel-Lucent, said: ?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.?
