Smart signs P10-billion contract with Nokia

Smart Communications, Inc. has signed a P10-billion ($200-million) contract with Nokia Networks in order to expand Smart’s GSM network and double its subscriber capacity by 2002.

Smart said the project would enable the company to embark on the latest phase of its GSM network expansion program which targets a subscriber base of more than six million by the end of the year and up to 10 million subscribers by 2002.

It added that the contract will give Smart substantial savings on a capacity-per-subscriber basis upon project conclusion on account of the advanced, high capacity facilities being supplied by Nokia. Smart expects to complete the project in about a year’s time.

"This expansion agreement with Nokia is vital to our efforts to further raise service quality levels and increase our subscriber base by substantially increasing the subscriber capacity of our network," Smart president and chief executive officer Napoleon L. Nazareno said.

"This confirms our commitment to provide our subscribers with wider coverage, higher network capacity, improved service quality and greater ease in sending test messages," Nazareno added.

As of end June 2001, Smart’s GSM subscriber base totalled 3.6 million, an increase of 222 percent from the 1.1 million subscribers at the end of June last year. For the same period, Piltel’s prepaid GSM service Talk ‘N Text, which runs on Smart’s network, had approximately 780,0000 subscribers, Smart’s GSM network has a capacity for over six million subscribers.

Under the contract, Nokia will supply mobile switching centers, home location registers, base station controllers, short messaging systems, a new network management system, and over a thousand UltraSite base stations.

Only half the size of conventional GSM equipment, UltraSite base stations handle over twice the number of subscribers, or, depending on the traffic load, anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 subscribers versus 5,000 to 6,000 for the older models – significantly increasing switch capacity as well as generating substantial savings on a capacity-per-subscriber basis.

Street-level coverage efficiencies and improvements in "hot spot" areas will be addressed by the installation of more Nokia MetroSites. These pole-mounted micro base stations support Smart’s dual band GSM 900/1800 operations and boast of a large expansion capability.

"Nokia Networks is pleased to continue our partnership with Smart Communications. We’ve been a witness and partner to Smart’s enthusiasm in introducing innovative value-added services," Markku Nieminen, account general manager for Smart Communications, Inc. Nokia Networks, said.

"The new agreed systems solution will meet Smart’s marketing requirements and pave the path for increasingly sophisticated wireless services. In addition, Smart will also be able to enjoy the most economical infrastructure roadmap to an all-IP network," he added.

Nokia has been the sole supplier for Smart’s digital mobile network since the wireless operator launched its GSM service in April 1999.

Smart has been able to gain substantial savings in network rollout by leveraging on its existing nationwide infrastructure which it was able to established way back in the analog days. It also utilizes the domestic fiber optic network (DFON), PLDT’s nationwide fiber optic bankbone for transmission and on-the-ground PLDT facilities to house network equipment on top of new site acquisitions.

Industry is confident that the demand for mobile communications would continue to rise in the near-to-medium term, as wireless and fixed lines penetration rates in the country remain low at 8.3 percent and 4.1 percent respectively. – Mary Ann Reyes