Globe, Alcatel-Lucent to expand mobile ultra-broadband access in the Philippines

MANILA, Philippines - Globe Telecom on Wednesday signed a deal with France-based Alcatel-Lucent for the transformation of wireless network infrastructure in Visayas and Mindanao to  Long-Term Evolution Time-Division Duplex (LTE-TDD) and  Frequency-Division Long-Term Evolution (LTE-FDD) ultra-broadband access technologies.

Ayala Corp. President and Chief Operating Officer Fernando Zobel de Ayala signed the confirmation of award with Alcatel-Lucent Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Michael Combes in Paris, France. President Benigno Aquino III and French President Francois Hollande witnessed the event.

With the LTE-TDD and LTE-FDD infrastructure, Globe will be able to provide its customers with better broadband service experience through higher network capacity and faster transmission speeds. These address the demand for broadband service with higher bandwidth.

“The rollout of LTE technologies will provide increased internet and fixed/wireless broadband capacity and better broadband experience for our customers in the Visayas and Mindanao regions. 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,” Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu said.

Alcatel-Lucent said the technology equipment will be activated in approximately 1,200 sites.

“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. As a key provider of infrastructure for some of the largest LTE network 

deployments in the world, Alcatel-Lucent’s support for Globe Telecom’s network expansion program is a further milestone in our growing global leadership in mobile ultra-broadband access,” Combes said.