| Companies |
| Written by Lenie Lectura with Jonathan L. Mayuga |
| THURSDAY, 02 JULY 2009 21:53 |
|
The group, headed by its lead counsel Rod Domingo Jr., asked the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to immediately issue a cease and desist order (CDO) against the collection of illegal charges carried out by Smart Communications Inc., Globe Telecom and Digital Mobile Telecommunications Philippines Inc. (DMPI), operator of Sun Cellular. Domingo said another complaint will be filed before the Quezon City RTC Branch 77 within the next two weeks for money claims of the complainants. He estimated that a refund of the illegally deducted or illegally charged “loads” will reach billions of pesos. Joining Domingo in filing the class suit are Marcelino Bautista Jr., a retired Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge and a former Commissioner of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), Quezon City Councilor and Majority Floor Leader Ariel Enrile Inton Jr., Adrian O. Sison of Kapatiran and Ma. Theresa F. Leonardo, a law practitioner based in Monterey, California, U.S.A. Coup demanded that all charges and assessments illegally collected and passed on by the cellular firms to subscribers should be reimbursed. It said it is up to the NTC to order the telcos to provide a mechanism of reimbursement to the complainants for the charges illegally collected. “The matter addressed in the instant action is of extreme urgency and class complainants representing millions of subscribers and users of multitudes of cell phones will suffer grave injustice and irreparable injury, if (Smart, Globe and DMPI) are allowed to continue with the commission of illegal acts,” the consumer group said. In its 30-page filing with the agency, the complainants said they have been “duped” by the cellular firms because they are being charged for receiving spam messages, for dropped calls, and even for failed text messages. Spams messages are unsolicited and unwanted commercial and promotional advertisements such as music, ring tones, logos, video clips, among others. Content providers, in partnership with the cellular firms, are responsible for transmitting such value-added services via a set of four-digit access codes. Coup pointed out that millions of pesos are illegally collected everyday brought about by the unsolicited text messages. As such, it urged the commission to monitor and ban all four-digit access numbers. “Whether a message as sent or not, the load deducted from the subscriber could be credited to an account such as the four-digit numbers," said the group. Representatives of Smart, Globe and DMPI declined to comment, saying they have yet to receive a copy of the complaint. They are in discussions, however, with the NTC on crafting new rules that are aimed at providing better service to the consumers. Another issue raised by Coup is the delay in transmission of text messages, which, according to the complainants, is even worse than failed message sending. They also accused the cellular company of engaging in fraudulent schemes such as the free credit that comes with newly bought SIM (subscriber identification mode) card. “The cellular firms entice the public to buy prepaid SIM cards by making consumers believe that they are entitled to free load credits. The said free calls or text messages are not actually free, but rather part and parcel of the consideration being paid by consumers, because if such were truly free credits, they would be given to subscribers independent of any purchase. Therefore, they deceive the subscribers blind,” said the group. Smart, Globe and DMPI, added Coup, should be immediately restrained by the regulators from collecting and billing hidden and unjustified charges until the case filed by the Coup is resolved. Another fraudulent scheme, the complainants said, is the false advertisement. Through false advertisements and misrepresentations, the complainants said to people buy prepaid SIM cards, believing that they are entitled to load or credits for “free” text messages or “free” calls, thereby constituting the crime of swindling or estafa as defined and punishable by Article 315 of the Revised Penal Code. The other alleged fraudulent schemes include the spam or unsolicited messages that are illegally charged against subscribers, the “push” messages, illegal charging or deduction of loads for failed messages, full charge or load deductions for missed calls, interrupted and dropped calls, and for poor signal or reception. Domingo, a human rights lawyer, won an historic $2-billion judgment for victims of human rights violations during the martial law years against the estate of the late former President Ferdinand E. Marcos in Hawaii. “The mysterious and unexplained disappearance of loads, false advertisement and illegal deductions of loads are tantamount to digitally robbing the millions of subscribers of billions of pesos throughout the year. While the amounts illegal deducted from the postpaid subscrib4ers could be easily determined, there is no way of knowing or checking for prepaid subscribers the robbery constantly perpetrated by the telcos. For this reason, class complainants invoke the power of the NTC to monitor and regulate the activities of the telcos and, thereafter, to impose appropriate penalties and sanctions for these malpractices,” said Coup. |
Monday, July 27, 2009
070209: Group sues telecom firms for 'digitally robbing' users
THE Cellphone Owners & Users of the Philippines Inc. (Coup), a consumer group reportedly representing millions of mobile phone subscribers in the country, on Thursday filed a class suit against the country’s mobile phone firms, saying subscribers had been “digitally robbed” billions of pesos by way of illegal deductions and unexplained disappearance of credit loads.
070309: Computer makers, dealers seek less taxes
Friday, July 3, 2009 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
Economy
DAVAO CITY — The Computer Manufacturers, Distributors and Dealers Association of the Philippines (COMDDAP) will ask the government, through a position paper to be submitted next month, to reduce taxes and fees on information technology (IT) products to help the industry weather current difficulties.
Members of the group are here for COMDDAP’s annual exhibit that runs from July 2-4.
"We will request the government to grant exemption [from select taxes and fees] on IT products," said Salvador L. Lastrilla, chairman of COMDDAP Davao, claiming, for instance, that "most countries in Asia do not put value added tax on IT products."
He said this is needed to spur demand among consumers, who have become more cautious in their spending. He noted that prices of IT products have slipped by an average 2%-3% this year.
Jefferson T. Plaza, COMDDAP president, said the problem is that every imported hardware and software is slapped with various taxes and fees. "Every license adds to cost; if we buy a mouse and there’s a CD [compact disc], it has to be licensed with OMB [Optical Media Board]," he noted.
Mr. Plaza admitted, however, that the government may not be open to his group’s plea due to the need to raise revenue collections to finance spending on efforts to spur economic activity.
Leaders of the House of Representatives ways and means committee, from which tax-related bills emanate, were not immediately available for comment.
But Finance Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran said by phone that "If we are going to provide tax cuts to every item that we buy, how can we raise revenues and stimulate the economy?"
Despite difficulties, Juan G. Chua, COMDDAP treasurer, said organizers proceeded with the annual event to showcase the latest products to consumers who are already aware of general benefits IT products offer. —JBE
http://www.bworldonline.com/BW070309/content.php?src=1&id=052
070309: League of cities checks status of link-up to DTI's business name system
Friday, July 3, 2009 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
Economy
THE LEAGUE of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) will hold a meeting next week with mayors of the 16 cities in Metro Manila and representatives of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Interior and Local Government to check on the status of linking up with DTI for uniform business name registration.
"The meeting will discuss status in Metro Manila, what they need and how government sector, private sector and development partners can help [to push adoption of this system]," LCP Deputy Executive Director Marietta S. Patag said in a mobile "text" message.
In February, the mayors of Caloocan, Las Piñas, Makati, Malabon, Mandaluyong, Manila, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Parañaque, Pasay, Pasig, Quezon, San Juan, Taguig and Valenzuela agreed to link up to DTI's online business name registration system as part of efforts to improve services for investors and entrepreneurs.
So far, only the cities of Mandaluyong and Quezon have an online system linked to the DTI.
Mandaluyong Public Information Officer Jimmy M. Isidro said in a phone interview yesterday that simply acquiring an online system by itself can be costly for some local governments.
Ms. Patag said the meeting next week will delve into such difficulties and what it will take to have all the cities linked to DTI's system by December.
She said that the LCP will also be looking at how a similar system can be implemented in cities outside Metro Manila. — LDD
http://www.bworldonline.com/BW070309/content.php?src=1&id=058
112106: 77 indicators to help measure e-commerce
By Rommer M. Balaba
Reporter
UP to 77 existing and new indicators may make up the data set that would measure the value of e-commerce transactions in the Philippines, a preliminary report from an earlier consultative workshop on e-commerce measurement said.
The report also proposed to define e-commerce as “any commercial transaction conducted through electronic, optical and similar medium, mode, instrumentality and technology. The transaction includes the sale or purchase of goods and services, between individuals, households, businesses and governments conducted over computer-mediated networks through the internet, mobile phones, electronic data interchange and other channels through open and closed networks.”
Outputs from the workshop would be presented for action to the National Statistical Coordination Board-Executive Board during its fourth-quarter meeting on November 22.
Besides the indicator set, workshop results likewise recommended that an Inter-Agency Committee on Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) Statistics be created to serve, among other functions, as a forum for the discussion and resolution of issues relating to ICT statistics.
The proposed indicators supposedly should cover three levels of maturity: e-readiness, e-intensity/e-usage and e-impact which, when culled into a measurement for e-commerce, should not only “promote ICT consciousness and capacity building but more importantly provide for a conducive ICT environment for business, public administration and services delivery, education and communications.”
The report, however, noted 35 indicators are still not available and may be formulated for possible inclusion in the questionnaire of the 2010 Census of Population and Housing. Up to 14 household and individual level indicators needed for e-commerce remain unavailable with 17 for business and four for the government.
Among these are the number of household members with mobile phones by type of subscription (prepaid, postpaid), by sex, age; expenditures of household members on mobile phone services by sex; number of households with PCs: urban-rural; number of household members who used a PC in the last 12 months: by sex, age; and household member frequency of use of PC by sex, age.
The unavailable government indicators include the proportion of government bodies placing orders over the internet, mobile and other electronic media; value of orders placed by government bodies over the internet, mobile and other electronic media; proportion of government bodies receiving orders over the internet, mobile and other electronic media and value of orders received by government bodies over the internet, mobile and other electronic media.
Business Mirror
November 21, 2006
Sunday, July 26, 2009
062909: 'Ultimate unlimited' calling for 38-million Smart subscribers
Updated June 29, 2009 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - Smart Communications Inc. has launched a new service that enables Smart Buddy and Smart Gold subscribers to make unlimited calls to over 38 million mobile phone users on its network.
Called Smartalk, the new service does not require any changes in SIM or cellphone number. Subscribers simply purchase loads for unlimited calls that come in two denominations.
One is “Smartalk 100,” which for P100 offers five days of unlimited calls to any subscriber on the Smart network anywhere in the country, at any time of the day.The other is “Smartalk 500,” which offers 30 days of unlimited calls to any subscriber on the Smart network for only P500 — effectively reducing the cost to as low as P17 for a whole day of unlimited calling to any number within the country’s largest mobile subscriber base.
“With this new service, subscribers need only one phone, one SIM, and one number to make unlimited, crystal-clear calls to over 38 million Smart numbers anytime, anywhere,” says Orlando Vea, chief wireless advisor and one of the founders of Smart.
“This is our way of helping out our subscribers in these difficult times and responding to the government’s call for more affordable telecommunications services,” he adds.
Danilo Mojica, head of Smart’s wireless consumer division, calls the new service “the ultimate unlimited.”
He says, “Smartalk rewrites the rules in the way ‘unlimited’ mobile services are made available to Filipinos — no other service offering provides unlimited, nationwide calling to a subscriber base as large as Smart’s, while assuring callers of crystal-clear signal quality anywhere in the country.”
Smart Buddy prepaid subscribers may avail themselves of the new service by texting Talk100 to 6400 for a Smartalk 100 package, or Talk500 to 6400 for a Smartalk 500 load.
The payment will be automatically deducted from the subscribers’ prepaid load, and they just need to have a P1 maintaining balance. They can also buy Smartalk packages as a load from any of over a million Smart Load retailers all over the country.
When making a call using the Smartalk unlimited package, Smart Buddy subscribers just need to dial *6400 plus the 11-digit subscriber number being called, for example, *640009181234567.
Subscribers of Smart Gold, the company’s pioneering postpaid brand, may also stretch their monthly budget for mobile services by availing themselves of Smartalk.
All Smart Gold subscribers to Plan 800 and up may avail themselves of 30 days of unlimited calls to any number within the Smart network with Smartalk 500.
They just need to send Talk500 to 6400 to purchase the package, and the P500 charge will be billed on top of their monthly service fee.
Smart Gold subscribers can also purchase Smartalk 100 or Smartalk 500 from any of over a million Smart Load retailers all over the country. This is best for postpaid subscribers who prefer to stay within their monthly fee cap yet need to avail themselves of unlimited calling service through the convenience of a prepaid package.
Smart is widely credited with making mobile phone services much more affordable and accessible, when it introduced “sachet” packets of prepaid airtime through Smart Load.
The electronic load platform has also enabled it to offer a wide variety of light call-and-text packages available through a retailer network that has every corner of the country covered.
“Over the years we have progressively lowered the costs of our services and designed our services to truly meet the varying needs and purchasing power of our subscribers. By offering Smartalk — a service that’s easy to understand, ubiquitous, and affordable — Smart once again transforms the playing field and offers real value to mobile subscribers,” Vea says.
Initially Smartalk will be available nationwide until Sept. 30. For more information, log on towww.smart.com.ph.
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=481908&publicationSubCategoryId=71
102906: Generation of online libraries is born
October 29, 2006
Updated 10:36:57 (Mla time)
NEW YORK -- Online book buffs can select from an array of Internet libraries, with hosts such as Google and Open Content Alliance, which promise to fetch written works at the clicks of computer mice.
While imperfect, the websites and their search engines have already opened extraordinary possibilities to readers and researchers in online communities worldwide.
- Google Book Search (http://books.google.com). By far the most known online library to date, the Google book project has scanned the pages of "thousands" of works into digital format.
Text from classics in the public domain is available in full. Summaries or snippets of books still under copyright are provided of books still under copyright protection.
A search engine taking the place of library card indexes makes it possible to seek authors' names, publication dates, or words or expressions in the texts or titles.
The oldest book in the Google virtual library to date was a Latin work from 1521. The number of books of the data base has remained secret. The collection contained many books from the 18th and 19th centuries and the majority were in English.
By typing a key word, the Net surfer gets a set of pages showing matching text highlighted in yellow. Editors can dictate whether portions or all the pages of works are made available online.
If the publisher or author has not given permission regarding copyrighted works, the search engine shows only the passages where the key words were found along with information about the book and where it can be bought or borrowed.
Classic works such as Dante's Inferno and the Encyclopedia of Diderot are available in their entirety, sometimes for download in printable format. Google does not put advertising in the works.
- Open Content Alliance (http://www.archive.org/details/texts): Most open. For the moment the library has 35,000 scanned books, mostly in English.
All of the works are not copyright protected -- often more than 50 years old -- and downloadable, printable, and free to be re-used for commercial purposes. The search engine is less sophisticated than that of Google Books but can scout out reference words if the quality of the scanned pages is sufficient.
- Windows Live Search Books, an online literature search engine being developed by Microsoft Computer, is slated for release "later this year."
The Windows Live Search Books Publisher Program website (http://publisher.live.com/) invites authors and publishers send their books to be scanned.
- Gallica, the site of the national Library of France. Lists 90,000 digitized books available in "image mode" but does not feature scanning by key words within page text.
- Specialized websites: offer text versions of digitized works, usually classics, that can be downloaded for reading or printing and allow searches by key words.
For example the site of "complete works of Shakespeare" (http://www-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/) created in 1993 or the site of Molière (http://www.site-moliere.com/). Other sites highlight poetry, essays, books or other themes.
http://services.inq7.net/express/06/10/29/html_output/xmlhtml/20061029-29388-xml.html
062609: Who moved my 'Delete' key? Lenovo did. Here's why...
It may seem like a small change, but David Hill, vice president of corporate identity and design at Lenovo, points out, "Any time you start messing around with the keyboard, people get nervous."
Computers get smaller and faster every year, but keyboard design remains largely stuck in the 19th century. When Beijing-based Lenovo, which bought IBM Corp.'s personal-computer business in 2005, looked into improving the keyboard on the new ThinkPad T400s, a $1,600-and-up laptop for businesspeople, it knew it had to proceed with caution.
To understand Lenovo's concern, turn the clock back to the 1800s.
Back then, fast typing would jam typewriters, so a keyboard layout that slowed down flying fingers was devised. The commonly used "A'' key, for example, was banished to the spot under the relatively uncoordinated left pinky.
Typewriter technology evolved. Mainframe computing led to function keys and others of uncertain use today. The PC era dawned. Yet many laws of keyboard layout remain sacred, like the 19-millimeter distance between the centers of the letter keys.
Tom Hardy, who designed the original IBM PC of 1981, said companies have tried many times to change the sizes of keys. That first PC had a smaller "Shift" key than IBM's popular Selectric typewriter did, and it was placed in a different spot, in part because the industry didn't think computers would replace typewriters for high-volume typing tasks.
IBM reversed course with the next version to quiet the outcry from skilled touch-typists.
"Customers have responded with a resounding, 'Don't fool with the key unless you can you can improve it,'" said Hardy, now a design strategist based in Atlanta.
PC makers relearned this lesson in the past year, as netbooks – tiny, cheap laptops – have become popular with budget-conscious consumers. Early models boasted screens measuring as little as 7 inches on the diagonal, requiring shrunken keyboards that many people found to be too small. Some even repeated IBM's mistake by cutting the size of the "Shift" key.
The computer makers have largely shifted focus to 10-inch (25-centimeter) or larger netbooks, so that there'd be room for near-standard keyboards or better.
Push-back from consumers hasn't stopped companies from testing and even manufacturing keyboards with unconventional designs over the years, in some cases demonstrating that people could learn to type faster than on standard QWERTY keyboards, so-called because of the arrangement of the top row of letters. During Hardy's time at IBM, researchers came up with ball-shaped one-handed keyboards that he said were faster than standard ones.
"A lot of those things never passed the business planners and the bean counters because they were concerned about manufacturing something that was just basically an experiment," Hardy said.
Ones that did get made have remained niche.
Paul Bradley, an executive creative director at the global design group Frog Design, said makers of ergonomic keyboards that also improved typing speed were counting on concern over carpal tunnel syndrome during the dot-com boom of the 1990s to drive demand, but the market never materialized.
If ever there were a time to make radical changes to the keyboard, now might be it. As evidence, Bradley noted the high tolerance many younger people show for tapping out cell-phone messages on tiny keypads using only their thumbs.
Lenovo is on a more conservative course. In designing the new ThinkPad, it installed keystroke-tracking software on about 30 employees' computers (They volunteered). On average, they used the "Escape" and "Delete" keys 700 times per week, yet those were the only "outboard" keys, or non-letter keys, that hadn't been enlarged.
Lenovo made those two keys about twice as long in the vertical direction to fit the way people reach up, rather than to the side, and then deliberately whack those keys, said Hill, the Lenovo executive who was at IBM for nearly 20 years before the 2005 sale to Lenovo. The new design cuts down on accidental taps of the "End" and "Insert" keys, too.
The new keyboard isn't perfect. Hill called "Caps Lock" a frustrating hangover from typewriter days, a key that can introduce garble, emulate shouting, or foil password entries without the user noticing.
"I think maybe sometime in the future, we should maybe entertain removing it," he said. "It's one of those things you kind of have to approach with caution. There might be some people out there who just really like their 'Caps Lock' key for whatever reason." - AP
062609: Heads of top US companies snubbing blogs and Facebook
Friday, June 26, 2009 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
Labor & Management
NEW YORK — The heads of the top US companies might be engaged in the boardroom, but they’re switched off when it comes to social media, according to a new study that said CEOs should be more connected to their customers.
Research conducted by the blog UberCEO.com looked at Fortune’s 2009 list of the top 100 CEOs to determine how many were using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, or had a blog — and found they were mostly absent from the rapidly growing social media community.
The study found only two CEOs had Twitter accounts and 81% of CEOs did not have a personal Facebook page.
Only 13 CEOs had profiles on the professional networking site LinkedIn. Three CEOs stood out with more than 80 connections but they were all from technology companies — Michael Dell from computer maker Dell, Inc., Gregory Spierkel from technology products distributor Ingram Micro, Inc. and John Chambers from Cisco Systems Ltd.
Three-quarters of the CEOs did have some kind of Wikipedia entry, but nearly a third of those had limited or outdated information such as incorrect titles, or lacked sources.
Not one Fortune 100 CEO had a blog.
"It’s shocking that the top CEOs can appear to be so disconnected from the way their own customers are communicating. They’re giving the impression that they’re disconnected, disengaged and disinterested," said Sharon Barclay, editor at UberCEO.com who runs executive PR firm Blue Trumpet Group.
"No doubt regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley and Reg-FD make CEOs cautious about communicating freely, but they’re missing a fabulous opportunity to connect with their target audience and raise their company’s visibility," Ms. Barclay said, referring to reporting regulations aimed at protecting investors. — Reuters
062609: Joker sees collusion between NTC, telcos vs cell-phone users
| Top News |
| Written by Butch Fernandez / Reporter |
| FRIDAY, 26 JUNE 2009 02:35 |
| SEN. Joker Arroyo suspects a long-running “collusion” between National Telecommunications Commission regulators and private telecommunications companies (telcos), to the detriment of millions of mobile-phone subscribers. “I have a feeling that the NTC and the telcos have been in collusion for the past eight years,” Arroyo told reporters a day after the Senate resumed its inquiry into the “disappearing cell-phone e-load scam” exposed earlier by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile. In an interview, Arroyo observed that the telcos seemed only “too happy” with the court injunction restraining NTC regulators from enforcing the law covering telco operations. He recalled that when the NTC tried to impose regulations against detrimental practices of the telcos, the telcos obtained an injunction from the court and the NTC made like it was fighting the restraining order against them. “But it is inconceivable that an injunction [that is supposed to be a temporary restraining order] would last eight years and the NTC not doing anything about it,” Senator Arroyo added. He disputed NTC claims that the telcos are operating under a deregulated environment, pointing out that the congressional franchises granted to Smart and Globe, for instance, indicate they are under the jurisdiction of the NTC. “So it appears that they [NTC regulators] are too happy they are enjoined from enforcing regulations on the telcos,” he added. Arroyo asserted that the Senate investigating committees, cochaired by Sens. Mar Roxas II and Ramon Revilla Jr., must affirm initial findings of exorbitant rates telcos are charging prepaid and postpaid cellular-phone subscribers, which, he said, enabled telcos to generate profit beyond the 12-percent rate provided in the telco law. “[And] if the committee finds that they [telcos] are engaged in long-time collusion with NTC, their franchises can be revoked,” he warned, saying that if the joint committee inquiry by Roxas and Revilla decides to recommend this action, “I will support it.” This developed as Roxas confirmed that lawmakers are inclined to grant government regulators “more teeth” in performing the NTC mandate as watchdog of the booming telco industry to ensure protection of cellular telephone subscribers. He said among the proposed amendments that senators would introduce in the Public Telecommunications Policy Act of 1995, also known as Republic Act 7925, is a provision that “untie the hands of NTC from imposing strict regulatory guidelines covering telco service providers. |
062609: RP gets tag as largest WiMax Internet broadband zone in region
| Technology |
| Written by Alma Anonas-Carpio / Correspondent |
| FRIDAY, 26 JUNE 2009 01:52 |
| AS of June 12, the Philippines became the largest WiMax broadband Internet zone in Southeast Asia. Globe Telecom and Intel lit up the large-area wireless broadband for Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao marking the official rollout of WiMax in the Philippines. Just as Cavite once served as the staging ground for the Philippine revolution’s spread throughout the archipelago, the province was the proving ground for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), where computer processor manufacturer Intel Philippines and Globe jointly conducted trial deployments for WiMax. Now, broadband Internet connections over WiMax technology have put underserved areas in the country’s three major islands online. “Intel is delighted to take part in the launch of Globe Telecom’s WiMax services in the Philippines,” Intel Corp. vice president and Asia-Pacific general manager Navin Shenoy said. “Around the world, service providers and government are deploying fourth-generation [4G] WiMax networks to help bridge the digital divide and bring affordable, high-speed mobile broadband to their citizens.” WiMax is a wireless broadband Internet access technology that provides high-speed and constant access to the worldwide web across large areas and areas previously inaccessible to Wi-Fi (wireless local access network) broadband users—such as parks and while in transit from city to city. WiMax, Shenoy said, allows its users to access large amounts of data, such as movies and multimedia content on a variety of devices, including desktop personal computers (PC), ultramobile PCs and mini-desktop PCs loaded with the Intel Atom processor, mobile Internet devices, laptops and smart phones. Shenoy also said WiMax “is the first 4G solution available today that meets the pent-up demand for high-speed, wireless Internet access.” Such access potentially offers businesses outside urban areas, field workers connected to their offices by remote access, health workers in far-flung areas, teachers and students with vital Internet access anywhere, at any time. According to Shenoy, WiMax “is the right technology, available at the right time, for countries to accelerate broadband in aid of economic recovery.” With the help of “revolutionary” 4G technology, Shenoy said WiMax is extending the reach of broadband Internet connectivity “to more locations than ever before and at more affordable costs.” Intel Philippines country manager Ricky Banaag said, “The value proposition of 802.16e WiMax is the Internet as it was meant to be: Open, fast and mobile. The commercial rollout represents a significant milestone in the growth of WiMax both globally and domestically. With the rapid growth of mobile devices in the country, Intel believes that Globe Broadband’s WiMax network will further accelerate the adoption of mobile computing in the Philippines.” Banaag noted that the demand for broadband access is so high worldwide that WiMax has been deployed in 139 countries to serve a market of 430 million people, a number that grows daily. The difference between Wi-Fi and WiMax is that the first one provides wireless broadband within a radius of 30 feet from the hot spot, while the latter signal transmits connectivity over kilometers and is capable of blanketing entire cities with a single signal. WiMax is also compatible with Wi-Fi and will compensate where signals are weak. Singapore, Taipei and Baltimore in the United States are among the first adopters of WiMax technology and their local government units and law enforcement agencies are now constantly online using Wimax. Shenoy explains WiMax as a technology that “combines the familiarity of Wi-Fi with the mobility of cellular [phone technology] that will deliver personal mobile broadband that moves with you.” Now that WiMax has been launched in the Philippines, “soon, mobile WiMax will blanket large areas—metropolitan, suburban or rural—delivering broadband access at speed similar to existing broadband.” WiMax service is initially available through Globe Broadband in South Luzon, the Visayas, Cagayan de Oro City and selected areas of Metro Manila for as low as P795 a month. The areas Globe chose to initiate WiMax connectivity were “previously difficult to provide [with] Internet access, infrastructure-wise,” Globe consumer broadband business group head Menchie Orlina said. |