PH goes ‘5G’: Smart fires up LTE-Advanced

 

 

PH goes ‘5G’

Two years after it pioneered the deployment of Long-Term Evolution (LTE) or 4G technology in the country, wireless services leader Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) announced that 5G wireless technology LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), is now running in the Philippines’ largest and strongest network.

Smart switched on LTE-A at the Smart Jump Center in Mandaluyong City recently, setting the next phase of mobile communication technology beyond 4G LTE standards.

LTE-A, also referred to as ‘5G’ by reports on leading global mobile operators AT&T and T-Mobile, delivers data from between 100 megabits per second (mbps) to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps), or ten times faster than 3G services and more than twice as fast as 4G services.

By firing up LTE-A technology on its network, Smart joins only a handful of carriers around the world with an LTE-A network, along with leading mobile operators in South Korea, United States, Singapore, Australia, and Hong Kong.

“Even as our 3G and 4G networks continue to be unrivaled, Smart becomes the first operator to leap into the future and put the Philippines at par with the world’s most advanced countries in terms of mobile communications technology,” said Orlando B. Vea, founder and Chief Wireless Advisor of Smart.

With LTE-A, a 10MB file takes less than a second to download, YouTube videos no longer have to buffer, and video calls are almost lag-free. But beyond speed, LTE-A’s main feature is also its capability to allocate more network resources to users when the need arises. Smart started testing LTE-A across the country in August last year, delivering results of more than 100Mbps in Makati City, in Boracay, and in Davao City during the Kadayawan festival. 

Co-founder and Chief Wireless Advisor of Smart Orlando B. Vea (first from left) during the tests of 5G LTE-A in Smart last year, where speeds reaching 209.66 mbps were recorded.

Internet for all

Ramon Isberto, Public Affairs head for Smart and its parent company the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), said that the recent development is part of the company’s multi-pronged approach in addressing the various needs for internet and data services in the market.

“The PLDT Group’s strategy has always been to create solutions that address the varying needs of all segments of our customers, to bring fixed, wireless and mobile broadband services where they really matter. They may be delivered at different speeds and volumes, using a variety of technologies, and meant to respond to a wide range of needs of the market – but all of it is aimed at bringing the benefits of the internet to every Filipino,” explained Isberto.

This strategy meant deploying a combination of Fiber-to-the-Home, Next Generation Network, Time-Division Duplex LTE, Frequency-Division Duplex LTE and vDSL to bring internet to every Filipino home, and 3G, 4G, and 5G or LTE-A for mobile subscribers, according to Isberto.

“We are able to deliver all these high-bandwidth services and applications on the strength of our transmission backbone network, which is the most extensive and most resilient in the country. Aside from allowing us to commit to speed, our unmatched network resources give us the edge in terms of efficiency and reliability,” added Isberto.

Smart’s nationwide coverage is backed by PLDT’s fiber optic cable connection which has now reached nearly 90,000 kilometers, or more than four times than competition. To further strengthen this domestic fiber optic network (DFON), PLDT also set up third legs in its fiber loops in key areas nationwide, the latest of which is the Bohol DFON project that provided redundant links between the Visayas and Mindanao.

Postura Project: Wear Something Filipino Everyday!

Have you heard of the Postura Project? If not, let me tell you about this great project of Arriane Serafico, David Guison, Sarah Meier-Albano and Knox Balbastro. These four geniuses have come together in support of the Filipino clothing and fashion industries by submitting to a creative 30-day challenge to WEAR something FILIPINO everyday!


Arriane Serafico's style is a "maximalist mix of color, sparkle, and fun." David Guison presents a "Grungified street style that's dark and edgy." Sarah Meier sports a "trend-free, ghetto fab, minimalist, bohemian." While Knox Balbastro likes "ethnic Pinoy inspired, creative work wear."

I really love this project that is why I would like to promote it to my friends and readers. It's high time that we go out of our way and appreciate our own. Filipinos and our crafts, after all, are starting to compete, "trend," and be known globally. Boo yeah!

And so, I was challenged by Sarah to try it out.

Save the Sharks, Save the World!

The Philippines is in the center of the center of marine biodiversity in the World! As such, it should be one of the main focus of not only the government, but also of the people, us Filipinos. We should be proud and thankful, at the same time, we should protect, preserve and be examples to the rest. Right now, activists, I mean eco warriors, and advocates are doing everything in their power to help save our environment.



In Palawan, the Philippines' last ecological frontier, for example, several groups have been campaigning to stop mining and illegal logging in the area. They have set petitions to advance this cause (see petition 1 here, petition 2 here). President Aquino, in his recent trip to the area to campaign for the Puerto Princesa Underground River to be included as one of the New7Wonders of Nature, has announced a moratorium for new mining applications in Palawan.

Tourism Assistant Secretary Enerio and my colleagues in the DOT went to CARAGA recently, and they have noticed and encountered massive logging in the area. They said that it seems to be that it has been the normal day-to-day activity of some people, or an orchestrated group in the region. Rommel Natanauan explains more in his blog post. He overheard that the truckloads of logs operate with confidence because they can easily pass through check-points due to "bribery," or "pag-aareglo." Sad as it might seem, it's happening right here and right now!



But going back to my main point, it's not only this we are facing, the environment's facing several blows everywhere. The Whale Sharks of Donsol Bicol, Tarsiers of Bohol, and a lot more flora and fauna have to be well taken cared of. This goes true with Sharks, which is the subject of this blog post.

We were strolling in the public market of Puerto Princesa City in search for seafood we can cook, when we spotted this reef shark being sold there. My best friend secretly took a shot of it (see photo below). I was surprised, and angered to see this. We weren't able to ask the market man where he got it or how much he was selling the shark, but I vowed that I have to do something about this...and so this blog is that product. I will have to write Mayor Hagedorn about this incident also.



Sharks have been on this earth for around 400 million years. They are often portrayed as evil and dangerous in most if not all of Hollywood's films - a wrong portrayal if you ask me. In fact, we are not the prey of the sharks. We are just mistaken to be seals or we provoke them through shark-feeding expeditions, Anna Oposa explains. She adds that there are "5-10 fatal shark attacks every year," while on the other hand, we "kill 100 million sharks annually."

"How can you help? First, learn more about sharks and shark finning by watching Sharkwater, the award-winning documentary on sharks." Here's the trailer of the documentary, and it is also uploaded in YouTube. I hope to watch it soon (when Anna finally lends me her copy or burns me one as she promised) :P



I am excited that my friends, Anna Oposa, Chris Ng, Kester Yu, and I are coming up with a project to make Filipinos aware of this serious condition. We will definitely update you guys about this the soonest. If you are in any way interested to help this cause, do not hesitate to contact anyone of us. Promise we don't bite! :))))

For me, it is as simple as not buying and eating Shark's Fin Soup or any related product. It would really help a lot and go a long way.

"I Pledge Not to Eat Shark Fin Soup" - Campaign Video - English from Shark Savers on Vimeo.

Also, we must talk and convince our representatives in Congress for this bill (below) to be passed into a law. These are two ways we can help directly. :)

Thanks to Ramon Magsaysay Awardee Atty. Antonio Oposa, Former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, now Pampanga Representative, filed House Bill No. 174, AN ACT BANNING THE CATCHING, SALE, PURCHASE, POSSESSION, TRANSPORTATION AND EXPORTATION OF ALL SHARKS AND RAYS IN THE COUNTRY AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES, or the Sharks And Rays Conservation Act of 2010 (see the Scribd file below). She received the commendation of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Asia, and the support of this blogger on the specific issue.

In the Senate, Senator Loren Legarda filed Senate Bill No. 2616 entitled BANNING THE CATCHING, SALE, PURCHASE, IMPORTATION AND EXPORTATION OF ALL SHARKS AND RAYS on November 26, 2010.

The bills' status? Pending with the Committee on Natural Resources since July 27, 2010 in the House, and since December 06, 2010 in the Senate.

HB00174

It was reported recently in The New York Times that there is a bill recently in California banning the sale and possession of shark fins, including the sale of shark's fin soup. This is not new, as Hawaii, Oregon and Washington State, have the same bills curtailing "shark finning, a brutal, bloody practice of the global trade in which the fins are typically hacked off a live shark, leaving it to die slowly as it sinks to the bottom of the sea," stated in the NYT.

I hope the Philippine government follow, and LEAD as an example. Let's help save the sharks in the Philippine seas! :)

Credits: 2nd Photo (Logging in CARAGA) by Rommel Natanauan and 3rd Photo (Shark in PP Market) by Yuri of Lost Tsinelas.