SCHAUMBURG, Ill. ? 20 February 2006 ? In a country where only 10 percent of the households have land line telephones, SMART Communications, the Philippine's largest cellular carrier, has broken through the cost and landscape barriers by using Motorola (NYSE:MOT) technology. SMART has commercially launched its SMART WiFi wireless digital subscriber line (DSL) service using Motorola's MOTOwi4™ Canopy® fixed wireless solution to deliver ?always on? broadband service to subscribers.
Motorola's MOTOwi4 next generation Internet protocol (IP) wireless broadband portfolio, which includes Canopy solutions, can deliver high-speed data and voice services as an alternative to or an extension of wired solutions helping customers reach unserved and underserved residential, business and enterprise markets.
Motorola's Canopy solution has become popular in the Philippines and around the world because of its ability to meet service providers? business cases. One reason is that the Canopy customer premises equipment (CPE) in the Philippines is a cost-effective alternative to traditional 3.5 GHz wireless local loop (WLL) alternatives. Additionally, the Motorola Canopy network is faster and easier to deploy and is scalable, to meet SMART's future growth opportunities.
?By tapping into SMART's extensive cellular network infrastructure, we've been able to rapidly deploy wireless broadband. The roll-out has benefited hugely from having access to key assets including towers, backhaul, distribution and provisions systems that can scale,? said Rolando G. Pena, head of SMART's network services division.
?In the six months since our launch, we have seen a steady and strong daily growth in wireless DSL subscribers where SMART WiFi is deployed,? said Ramon S. Fernandez, head of SMART's Administration and Materials Management Division. ?We've developed an effective relationship with Motorola in growing our wireless broadband business.?
SMART, with more than 22 million cellular subscribers, spent more than a year in wireless broadband trial deployments before deciding to launch its commercial services with Motorola's Canopy wireless broadband equipment. The wireless broadband equipment supply contract between the two companies was signed in June 2005.
?Wireless broadband complements cellular and wire line carrier's businesses with an architecture that allows for a gradual roadmap to scale the network,? said Raghu Rau, senior vice president of Global Marketing and Strategy, Motorola Networks. ?Our Canopy solutions are designed for unlicensed or managed spectrum, and provide WiMAX services supporting voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) and IP data applications at price points that meet customers? business case requirements. Wireless broadband to the home is proving to be a very powerful and useful tool in emerging markets like the Philippines where alternative broadband options are either impractical or not available.?
In addition, Motorola's Canopy solutions are bridging the technological gaps around the globe. This cost-effective platform has met application needs such as:
E-learning initiatives in places like Indonesia and South Africa where a single teacher can interactively teach students in multiple classrooms in different schools;
A countrywide network in Macedonia that provides wireless connectivity that is delivering Internet content to all 360 primary and 100 secondary schools. Additionally, two-dozen secondary school dormitories, 15 university locations, 15 local educational development board offices and 1,000 businesses are being served by the same Canopy network;
An installation of a wireless broadband infrastructure solution for a large medical assistance network in Brazil. The network supports the resources of a virtual private network (VPN), Internet connectivity, VoIP, videoconferencing systems and independent networks in order to connect its doctors, service providers, drugstores and hospitals.
