PLDT inks contract with Ericsson

The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) recently signed a contract with Ericsson for the supply and installation of remote access servers/concentrators (RAS/RAC) that would enable PLDT to dial-up modem ports to different ISPs and companies which want instant points of presence (PoPs) nationwide.

The RAS/RAC is deployed in 20 PLDT local exchanges to form a nationwide dial-up access infrastructure. This new PLDT service with an initial 6,240 ports capacity, is intended to provide data resources Internet service providers (ISPs), small-medium enterprises (SMEs) and multi-national companies (MNCs).

"ISPs can now outsource their modem pool requirements from PLDT," said Joey Limjap, PLDT’s Business Solutions product manager. "Business customers simply need to tell PLDT their ports requirements and in which regions they want to have a point of presence (PoP)."

Corporations can also outsource their dial-up virtual private network (VPN) requirements from PLDT. This would allow them to provide a secure dial-up facility for their employees who would like to access the local area network (LAN) from remote locations without spending much for the facility and maintenance. With PLDT’s infrastructure, company executives and personnel can dial a VPN connection from virtually any province in the Philippines without spending for a long distance dial-up connection to the host LAN.

PLDT is deploying Ericsson’s Tigris 711 and the virtual port service manager (VPSM). The Tigris 711, a carrier-class multi-service access equipment, forms the bulk of the dial-up access network infrastructure. The VPSM then allows PLDT to centrally manage the modem port resources and offer different customized service levels – such as access prioritization to the modem pool and guaranteed port access.

"Ericsson delivers unparalleled features and functionality on the Tigris platform," said Marissa dela Cruz, Ericsson’s account manager for PLDT.