Smart offers flexible broadband plans with gadget bundles

Filipinos can now enjoy the best mobile broadband services on the best devices as Smart introduces its array of “Flexisurf” postpaid plans. For the first time in the mobile broadband postpaid category, plans that offer the most flexible choices of plan, device and payment terms are now available. Touted as “the easiest way to own the latest gadgets,” Flexisurf Plans not only gives Filipinos the freedom to choose the broadband plan that suits their needs and habits, but also the chance to purchase the hottest tablet and netbook devices at discounted and amortized prices. Starting at just P299 a month for a SIM-only plan, “Flexisurfers” can enjoy 30 hours of Internet surfing of up to 5Mbps and avail themselves of the seven-inch, 3G- and Wi-Fi-enabled Cherry Mobile Superion Android tablet for only P341 on top of their monthly service fee. “Our 24-month payment terms are the easiest in the industry — no one else offers this,” said Smart Broadband Internet and Data Services head Lloyd Manaloto. “The best you get from a gadget store is 12 or 18 months if they are generous,” he added. Heavier Internet users, meanwhile, can opt for the P499 or P599 Power Plug-It or Pocket Wi-Fi plans which both come with 50 hours of surfing at speeds of up to 5Mbps. Devices available at these plans are the Cherry Mobile Superion + tablet (P541/month), the Neo Vivid netbook (P641/month), the dual core Acer AOD722 netbook (P1,037/month), the Samsung Galaxy Tab P6200 (P1,199/month), and the Asus Slider tablet (P1,424/month). As an added bonus, all plans are protected by Smart’s anti-“bill shock” feature. When a user exceeds the allotted number of hours in his or her plan, anti-bill shock is activated after 80 hours and caps billing at no more than P999 for the month. “Unlike plans offered by the competition, Flexisurf lives up to its name,” said Manaloto. “Whether you are the type who just checks up on Facebook and reads e-mail or a Netizen who is into downloads and video streaming, we have got you covered.” For more information on Flexisurf and to view the complete list of available device bundles, visit www.smart.com.ph/flexisurf or call 848-8877. Also visit the nearest Smart Store.

PLDT Philippines Selects Alvarion's(R) Wi-Fi Solution for Nationwide Wi-Fi Zone Project

Alvarion(R) Ltd. ALVR +8.70% , a provider of optimized wireless broadband solutions addressing the connectivity, coverage and capacity challenges of public and private networks, today announced the multi-million dollar project with PLDT to provide carrier-grade Wi-Fi access starting with over 3,000 hot zones around Manila's metropolitan area, and continuing to other major areas around the Philippines. Installation has begun on the first phase and the entire project is expected to be completed in two years. PLDT is the largest telecommunications company in the Philippines providing the largest and most diversified range of telecommunications services. PLDT is revolutionizing its customers' surfing experience with the roll-out of Wi-Fi zones located in key cities in the Philippines. This Wi-Fi Zone Project provides access to a premium, high-speed Wi-Fi service in over 3,000 public areas such as cafes, bars and clubs, car dealerships, salons, shopping malls, restaurants and cinemas. In order to make this solution visually appealing around the city, Alvarion designed graphical sleeves applied to the Wi-Fi units that make it environment friendly and camouflage it with the surroundings. For a minimal fee of P150.00 per month, PLDT myDSL subscribers get unlimited access to the premium Wi-Fi Zone service using one username and password in all of the 3,000 Wi-Fi zones nationwide. Alvarion's WBSn solution was chosen by PLDT amongst the vendors who participated in a field trial performance test. These tests were conducted in busy streets, parks, restaurants and office buildings connecting handheld devices such as laptops, tablets and smartphones. Alvarion passed the criteria that included the capability in reaching long distances, operating in Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS), overcoming dense urban obstacles such as trees and solid structures, and penetrating inside public buildings such as museums and libraries. Network planning and carrier-grade advanced Wi-Fi technology allowed Alvarion to strategically place one base station in a tactical location that would provide connectivity inside malls and buildings and cover distances of up to 500 meters while overcoming obstacles in both Line-of-Sight (LOS) and Non-Line-of-Sight conditions. PLDT required at least 1 Mbps throughput at a 500 meter Line-of-Sight distance from the base station. Alvarion outperformed this requirement with up to 20 Mbps throughput at 500 meters in a Non-Line-of-Sight, urban environment. "With Alvarion's advanced technology, professional network planning and experienced engineers, we were able to offer PLDT exactly what they needed in a Wi-Fi solution," states Hezi Lapid, President and CEO of Alvarion, "We have enabled a nationwide network of carrier-grade Wi-Fi hot spots that will give PLDT's customers strong Internet connection anywhere they are, delivering a fantastic user experience no matter where the customer may go."

SkyCable aims to grow market, signs 3 deals

Rather than aim for an increase in pay TV (television) market share, a ranking Sky Cable Corp. official said on Monday the company is gunning to expand the market which, at its present state, continues to suffer from rampant illegal cable connections. “Let’s put it this way, instead of increasing the combined market shares of Sky, Destiny [Destiny Cable Inc.], MyDestiny [Solid Broadband Corp.] and Uni-Cable TV in the pay TV and cable broadband businesses, we can expand the market with digitization. Instead of fighting for a bigger share of a very small market it is better to expand the market size. If we offer varied and affordable cable TV subscriptions, the market will grow. We would like to think that way rather than all of us eating the same market size,” said SkyCable Chief Operating Officer Rodrigo Montinola, in a phone interview yesterday. UniCable is a direct-to-home (DTH) cable TV subscription service covering the areas in Cebu. Solid Broadband, meanwhile, is a broadband service company that operates the MyDestiny brand. Destiny is a provider of cable TV service, similar to what SkyCable offers. On May 11 SkyCable signed separate deals with these companies that are under Solid Group Inc. owned by the Lim family. “The combined market share is probably 45 percent. The rest is shared by our rivals including Cignal, Dream Satellite TV and Cable Link,” said Montinola. The agreements involve the sale and transfer of Destiny Cable’s assets used in its business of constructing, maintaining and operating community antennae television systems for public and commercial purposes to Sky Cable, at a purchase price of P2,403,421,354. Another asset purchase agreement was executed between Solid Broadband and SkyCable. Under the P1-billion deal, Solid Broadband will sell, transfer and convey to SkyCable all assets used in the business of operating commercial telecommunications facilities, coastal stations for ships-at-sea, aeronautical stations for aircraft in flight, television and broadcasting stations, and other telecommunications services. Meanwhile, Uni-Cable agreed to sell, transfer and convey to Sky Cable all of Uni’s assets used in its business of operating a cable antenna television system in Mandaue and Lapu Lapu City, Cebu province, including, but not limited to, a satellite TV system, cable TV headend station, repeaters, booster, and other related equipment, at a purchase price of P93,578,646. SkyCable will use both equity and borrowed funds to finance the purchase of the three companies’ assets which will be used in the expansion of its television and broadband business. “Funding will be sourced from a combination of equity and borrowings. The details are still being planned,” said Montinola. SkyCable has no plans of acquiring more cable TV firms. “This is it. Even before this transaction we are already a strong No. 1 in the pay TV segment,” said the official. For his part, David Lim, president of DCI, SBC and UNI, said “The pay TV and broadband markets require continuous significant investments, if we are to keep up with our major competitors, particularly the direct-to-home satellite and telco companies. We are gratified by the loyalty of our Destiny Cable subscribers and MyDestiny broadband subscribers all these years, and would always want to give them the best products and services possible. However, we realized that this will entail resources, for digitizing our cable network and expanding our broadband services, that we do not have. We believe our agreement with SkyCable will allow subscribers to enjoy the benefits of the latest technologies.” He added that “our tieup with SkyCable came at an opportune time as it allows us to focus on our other core businesses.” Our holding company Solid Group Inc. markets and distributes mobile phone brand MyPhone.” The cable industry has recorded billions of pesos in revenue lost due to illegal cable connections. Further, the industry cited that there is a one-on-one ratio between a paying cable subscriber and an illegal connect. This translates to about P6.3 billion in losses annually for the industry.t With the deal, this gives us the opportunity to continue with our digitization efforts to curb illegal connections. Eventually, we will apply digitization to Destiny Cable subscribers,W said Montinola. Sky Cable is aiming to convert about 80 percent of its 500,000 subscribers to go digital by year-end. About P1.5 billion has been earmarked for capital expenditures.