Wi-Tribe and Greenpacket to Deliver Seamless Broadband Connectivity

Greenpacket, a leading developer of next generation mobile broadband and network solutions has collaborated with wi-tribe (a Qtel Group Company), a leading broadband provider in Pakistan, Jordan and the Philippines. The collaboration comes together for a common goal of delivering a superior and seamless broadband experience to customers across the globe, especially in their markets, in fast emerging countries such as Pakistan, the largest operation for the wi-tribe group. The partnership amalgamates for the supply of Greenpacket’s Wi-MAX modem, UH Shuttle, which supports wi-tribe’s vision to bring superior broadband connectivity, service and content to consumers and businesses globally. True to its mission, wi-tribe provides high performance broadband experience that offers independence and freedom to its customers. “We understand the evolving needs of today’s internet users. With this partnership, we aim to provide users with a convenient, portable solution to instantly connect,” said Mustafa Peracha, CEO of wi-tribe Pakistan. “We are confident that Greenpacket’s high gain modem will further enhance our customer’s accessibility to the internet, offering always-on connectivity and freedom, no matter where they are.” wi-tribe’s global vision is to be a market leader in delivering fast and reliable broadband services globally and aims to increase the broadband market by continuously diversifying and simplifying online access in the emerging markets. wi-tribe Pakistan is also passionate about providing a unique and personalized customer care experience, teamed with instant connectivity and simplified service bundles and applications. According to Kelvin Lee, Senior General Manager of Greenpacket, “We are honored to be partnering with wi-tribe as we share a common goal to deliver broadband access across emerging regions. With our Shuttle, we are truly confident that wi-tribe will meet its vision to be the world’s leading broadband provider, meeting its customer’s expectations of high-speed connectivity and an unparalleled customer care experience.” Emerging countries have shown to be extremely quick at adopting wireless technologies. More and more operators in emerging markets around the world are experiencing exponential growth as subscribers opt to use wireless broadband technologies such as Wi-MAX for their fixed broadband needs. Greenpacket is the world’s third largest supplier of Wi-MAX CPEs. Greenpacket will continue to innovate further across technologies to cater to the diverse needs of different markets for both its software solutions and devices.

Local Mobile Internet Usage Explodes

Free, easy-to-use social networking services which work across smartphones, tablets and other Web-enabled devices are driving mobile internet growth nationwide. Hence, Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) intends to use services like SmartNet as a launchpad to boost its over 47.7 million subscribers “We observed that 70% of users with services like SmartNet use their phones to access the Internet, compared to the 10% industry-wide average,” disclosed Smart head for Broadband Internet and Data Services Gio Bacareza. SmartNet, a home-grown service, allows highly social but budget-conscious Filipinos to chat, search and add contacts from the cloud, check their Facebook and Twitter social stream without switching applications, post online updates, among other things, for free. Banking on this momentum and on the 300% surge in the number of Android users in its network, Smart also made the latest SmartNet version downloadable for free from the Android Market. Created specifically for emerging markets, SmartNet has a "Safe Browse" feature which keeps other applications outside SmartNet from accessing the Web in the background – taking away the risk of bill shock, or incurring unexpected data charges. Brisk sales of SmartNet-powered Samsung Galaxy Y Netphone Edition also increased the number of smartphones in the telco’s network. With over 700,000 Android devices – from smartphones to tablets to ‘phablets’ or the hybrid smartphone-tablets – activated globally every day, SmartNet’s support for other Android devices allows more subscribers to maximize the use of their smartphones. “Soon, even non-Smart subscribers can enjoy SmartNet and benefit from its features,” Bacareza announced. “It will allow more people to connect with the biggest community of mobile users in the Philippines. Even overseas Filipinos will be able to enjoy SmartNet.” SmartNet is also set to be deployed to work on iOS devices, as well as feature phones.

Globe Telecom Secures $90m Loan

Globe Telecom Inc. signed a ten-year, US$90-million floating rate term loan facility with China Banking Corporation to finance its 2012 capital expenditures under it's US$790-million five-year massive network modernization and IT transformation program. The telco is boosting its voice and data capacity to meet the growing demand for broadband and mobile data use and expects US$640-million will be spent this year and in 2013. With the rapid penetration of social media and availability of more affordable smartphones among Filipino mobile phone owners, Globe looks at its broadband and data businesses as key focus areas that will sustain its growth So far, the China Bank loan was the first facility to be availed by Globe this year. In November 2011, international credit rating firm Fitch Ratings upgraded the company’s long-term foreign and local currency issuer default ratings (IDRs) to BBB- from BB+ with a stable outlook. As of end-September 2011, Globe had a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. For the first nine months ending September 30, 2011, the company’s service revenues reached P49.987-billion, with net income of P7.994-billion, which were 9% and 7% higher, respectively, than 2010 comparable figures.