Mead Johnson signs mobile Internet agreement with PLDT

Mead Johnson Nutritionals, the nutritional division of pharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers Squibb, signed recently an agreement with the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) for the provision of mobile Internet service for 60 of their sales team members.

The group acquired for its sales team PLDT WeRoam service, which allows for mobile Internet connectivity wherever there is PLDT/Smart GPRS/EDGE or Airborne WiFi coverage.

William Noble, Mead Johnson sales technology manager, said PLDT WeRoam would be an invaluable tool for the company’s sales people, who will now enjoy wireless connectivity to the Internet and the company’s Intranet almost everywhere they go.

"The entire team was delighted to find out that they had been newly equipped with PLDT WeRoam. Now, their laptops have instant wireless data connectivity," he said.

"Mobility is very important for us. Through PLDT WeRoam, we can respond to the market’s needs much more quickly because of the efficient exchange of information," he added.

The top management of Mead Johnson announced the deal as a surprise to the sales team in a recent sales seminar at the Pearl Farm Resort in Davao.

Through PLDT WeRoam, Mead Johnson’s mobile sales team now has wireless access, using laptops, to the Internet, Intranet, e-mail, corporate calendars, collaboration tools and charts and other productivity tools.

The service offering uses Smart’s GPRS (general packet radio service) and EDGE (Enhanced Data for Global Evolution) technologies, providing speeds of up to 170 kilobits per second (kbps) with cellsite-to-cellsite handover for a seamless connection while on the move almost anywhere in the country.

Also included in WeRoam is WiFi Internet access. In case one needs to download heavy files that requires speed of up to one megabit per second (Mbps), a WeRoam customer may dock in any of Airborne’s more than 280 WiFi hotspots for unlimited WiFi access.

PLDT corporate business group head Eric Alberto said PLDT is happy to be able to help its business partners achieve their goals through the use of cutting edge communications technology.

"Now they have total freedom. They can access the Internet anywhere and anytime without having to go to an Internet café. This is a tool of empowerment, vastly improving reporting and collaboration functions with the head office," he said.