Category Archives: TELCO

Globe mulls over LTE for Mobile Broadband

Globe Telecom and NEC have been testing LTE (Long Term Evolution) in the Philippines as early as May this year and based on successful field results, it could be the telecom’s next upgrade path to provide better and faster mobile broadband services.

3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), is the latest standard in the mobile network technology tree that produced the GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSxPA network technologies.

Their trials achieved a peak rate of around 60Mbps downlink data throughput rate at the 10MHz bandwidth.

Globe began the trial of LTE technology early this year in partnership with NEC Corporation. Following the lab tests in May at the Globe 3G LTE test bed at the Valero Technopark in Makati, Globe and NEC conducted field trials in Quezon City as part of Phase 1 of this project. The Phase 1 field trial verified a variety of LTE functions such as quality of service; latency and hand-over within urban areas were tested as these are required for commercial use of the technology.

Was invited to see the testing but was unable to go. However, they sent me this screenshot of a test file transfer via Filezilla.

The graph with the red spikes above reads a sustained speed of 52Mbps.

The DU Meter above shows an average speed of 46Mbps downstream and just under 1Mbps for upstream. The upstream speed doesn’t look anything impressive though.

<img style=”visibility:hidden;width:0px;height:0px;” border=0 width=0 height=0 src=”http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEyODk4ODEwMzY4ODQmcHQ9MTI4OTg4MjA1MjQwOSZwPTEwMTkxJmQ9c3NfZW1iZWQmZz*yJm89MWIyMWJiY2Y1MDE1/NGMzMDgxYjM5YTI3MWNlNjNlOTAmb2Y9MA==.gif&#8221; /><div style=”width:425px” id=”__ss_5764411″><strong style=”display:block;margin:12px 0 4px”><a href=”http://www.slideshare.net/yuga/technology-briefing-11-nov2010mediakit-1&#8243; title=”Technology briefing 11 nov2010_media_kit (1)”>Technology briefing 11 nov2010_media_kit (1)</a></strong><object id=”__sse5764411″ width=”425″ height=”355″><param name=”movie” value=”http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=technologybriefing11nov2010mediakit1-101113011046-phpapp02&stripped_title=technology-briefing-11-nov2010mediakit-1&userName=yuga&#8221; /><param name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”/><param name=”allowScriptAccess” value=”always”/><embed name=”__sse5764411″ src=”http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=technologybriefing11nov2010mediakit1-101113011046-phpapp02&stripped_title=technology-briefing-11-nov2010mediakit-1&userName=yuga&#8221; type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowscriptaccess=”always” allowfullscreen=”true” width=”425″ height=”355″></embed></object><div style=”padding:5px 0 12px”>View more <a href=”http://www.slideshare.net/”>presentations</a&gt; from <a href=”http://www.slideshare.net/yuga”>yuga</a&gt;.</div></div>

Globe reports that as of end September 2010, their broadband subscriber base grew by 95% to reach 1,006,460, nearly double the 517,355 broadband subscribers reported in the same period last year. As the number of broadband users in the Philippines hit critical mass, we might see more focus on speed soon when capacity has been optimized by the telcos.

 

*via: YugaTech

P5,995 Huawei E5 Pocket MiFi is your own Wi-Fi hotspot

Anyone who has a Globe MiFi, please stand up. Well, kids, starting end of November, you’ll be seeing a pimped-up version of that 3G router, the P5,995 Huawei E5 Pocket MiFi. This one now has a screen that shows your connection, how strong your signal is, and how much juice you have left. You gotta stop groping in the dark at some point, you know.

The nice thing about the Huawei E5 is you can always stick your middle finger to slow Internet connection because this one’s open line. Crappy connection in Makati? Just stick in a SIM card from another telco. If all of them give you a Pong Pagong connection, then that’s the Man Above telling you to get off the Internet. But we digress.

You can turn this one into a network storage device because it’s equipped with a microSD card that can read up to 16GB. The rechargeable battery will last you up to 5 hours of continued use or 100 hours of standby. Pretty decent, we must say. And like the Globe MiFi, you can still connect up to 5 Wi-Fi-capable devices to it. Talk about having your own Wi-Fi hotspot. Hey, why don’t you charge people, even friends, who want to connect to your Huawei E5? No? Just sayin’.

 

Huawei E5
The Huawei E5 Pocket MiFi fondled
Huawei E5 2
Sitting pretty next to an iPhone
Huawei E5 3
Back view
Huawei E5 4
An order of Wi-Fi
Huawei E5 5
Bottom’s up
Huawei E5 6
View from the top
Huawei E5 7
The new IP admin page
Huawei E5 8
Giving you access to features such as password settings, profile management, firewall, and message sending
*via:  Techie.com.ph

Smart Bro Pocket WiFi Portable 3G Router

Smart now has their own version of a portable 3G+WiFi router they called SmartBro Pocket WiFi. This new product competes head-on with Globe MyFi launched back in July.

The SmartBro Pocket WiFi is only available on a postpaid Plan 495 for 50 hours of 3G internet every month. You will also need to add another Php150 per month for the Pocket WiFi device for the next 24 month lock-in period (that makes Php645/month for 24 months).

An extra Php10 per 30 minutes will be charged on top of the MSF when you exceed the 50 hour allocation. The promised speed it up to 2Mbps. They even have a promo that if you pay on time, you get 5 hours free on top of your monthly allocation.

As of the moment, they do not have an unlimited plan, probably because this will compete with the SmartBro Share-It Unlimited Plan. However, unlike the SmartBro Share-It that is restricted to your area/city/province, the SmartBro Pocket WiFi has nationwide coverage.

Likewise, since this is a postpaid account, the Smart UnliSurf offers (Unlisurf200) are not applicable on this device. Not sure if this is also a Huawei device (probably a ZTE by the looks of it) but it can handle up to 5 WiFi devices at the same time.

 

*via: YugaTech

APN Settings for Globe, Smart, Sun Cellular

The following settings are applicable to Smart, Globe and Sun Cellular for their APN settings (Access Point Name). The settings should work with majority of smartphones in the market.

APN Settings for Globe

Postpaid APN: internet.globe.com.ph

Prepaid APN: http.globe.com.ph

 

APN Settings for Smart Bro

Postpaid APN: smartbro

Prepaid APN: smartbro

 

APN Settings for Smart Buddy, Smart Gold

APN: internet

 

APN Settings for Sun Cellular

Postpaid APN: FBBAND

Prepaid APN: Minternet

 

APN Settings for PLDT WeRoam

Postpaid: WEROAMPLAN

Note: If you’re using a variety of postpaid or prepaid SIM cards in one dongle, make sure to create a Setting Profile for each SIM card so it’s easier to set the APN when switching SIM cards.

Leave all other settings blank or as is.

 

*via: YugaTech

US leads countries with the priciest mobile-phone plans

 

USA: no. 1?

The New America Foundation’s Open Technology Initiative (OTI) conducted an 11-country survey on cellphone packages only to find out (confirm?) that Americans are paying top dollar for their mobile services. This, despite the US being smartphone central, as it is home to Apple, BlackBerry, and Google.

The study, which investigated voice, text, and data services for prepaid, regular postpaid, and unlimited postpaid plans, aims to show just how accessible phone services are in a particular country. The Philippines isn’t included, but if it were, we’d rank somewhere at the bottom – which is a good thing. But our rates are still certainly not as cheap India’s, though.

USA

USA

  • Postpaid voice/min: $0.18 (3)
  • Prepaid voice/min: $0.38 (4)
  • Postpaid text: $0.05 (3)
  • Prepaid text: $0.20 (1)
  • Unlimited text: $20.00 (1)
  • Postpaid data/MB: $0.08 (3)
  • Prepaid dat/MBa: $10.24 (1)
  • Unlimited data: $29.99 (4)
  • Minimum Cost of a Complete Cell Phone Package: $59.99 (2)
  • Average: 2.44
Canada

Canada

  • Postpaid voice/min: $0.31 (2)
  • Prepaid voice/min: $0.38 (2)
  • Postpaid text: $0.02 (6)
  • Prepaid text: $0.14 (3)
  • Unlimited text: $14.59 (2)
  • Postpaid data/MB: $0.05 (4)
  • Prepaid data/MB: n/a
  • Unlimited data: $72.90 (1)
  • Minimum Cost of a Complete Cell Phone Package: $67.50 (1)
  • Average: 2.625
Japan

Japan

  • Postpaid voice/min: $0.37 (1)
  • Prepaid voice/min: $1.00 (1)
  • Postpaid text: $0.003 (9)
  • Prepaid text: n/a
  • Unlimited text: n/a
  • Postpaid data/MB: $9.40 (1)
  • Prepaid data/MB: n/a
  • Unlimited data: $32.60 (2)
  • Minimum Cost of a Complete Cell Phone Package: $18.60 (9)
  • Average: 3.89
UK

UK

  • Postpaid voice/min: $0.17 (4)
  • Prepaid voice/min: $0.25 (3)
  • Postpaid text: $0.10 (1)
  • Prepaid text: $0.15 (2)
  • Unlimited text: n/a
  • Postpaid data/MB: $0.004 (10)
  • Prepaid data/MB: $0.50 (4)
  • Unlimited data: n/a
  • Minimum Cost of a Complete Cell Phone Package: $32.40 (7)
  • Average: 4.43
Denmark

Denmark

  • Postpaid voice/min: $0.07 (7)
  • Prepaid voice/min: $0.17 (5)
  • Postpaid text: $0.03 (5)
  • Prepaid text: $0.03 (7)
  • Unlimited text: $14.00 (3)
  • Postpaid data/MB: $0.03 (5)
  • Prepaid data/MB: $1.70 (2)
  • Unlimited data: n/a
  • Minimum Cost of a Complete Cell Phone Package: $39.00 (4)
  • Average: 4.75
Finland

Finland

  • Postpaid voice/min: $0.07 (7)
  • Prepaid voice/min: $0.10 (7)
  • Postpaid text: $0.04 (4)
  • Prepaid text: $0.10 (4)
  • Unlimited text: n/a
  • Postpaid data/MB: $0.03 (5)
  • Prepaid data/MB: n/a
  • Unlimited data: n/a
  • Minimum Cost of a Complete Cell Phone Package: $40.10 (3)
  • Average: 5
Taiwan

Taiwan

  • Postpaid voice/min: $0.12 (5)
  • Prepaid voice/min: $0.12 (6)
  • Postpaid text: $0.04 (4)
  • Prepaid text: $0.04 (6)
  • Unlimited text: n/a
  • Postpaid data/MB: $0.02 (6)
  • Prepaid data/MB: $1.64 (3)
  • Unlimited data: $26.60 (5)
  • Minimum Cost of a Complete Cell Phone Package: $23.74 (8)
  • Average: 5.375
Hong Kong

Hong Kong

  • Postpaid voice/min: $0.01 (9)
  • Prepaid voice/min: $0.02 (10)
  • Postpaid text: $0.06 (2)
  • Prepaid text: $0.06 (5)
  • Unlimited text: n/a
  • Postpaid data/MB: $0.10 (2)
  • Prepaid data/MB: n/a
  • Unlimited data: $38.00 (3)
  • Minimum Cost of a Complete Cell Phone Package: $13.50 (10)
  • Average: 5.86
South Korea

South Korea

  • Postpaid voice/min: $0.09 (6)
  • Prepaid voice/min: $0.09 (8)
  • Postpaid text: $0.01 (7)
  • Prepaid text: $0.02 (8)
  • Unlimited text: n/a
  • Postpaid data/MB: $0.02 (6)
  • Prepaid data/MB: $0.43 (5)
  • Unlimited data: n/a
  • Minimum Cost of a Complete Cell Phone Package: $36.20 (5)
  • Average: 6.43
Sweden

Sweden

  • Postpaid voice/min: $0.04 (8)
  • Prepaid voice/min: $0.04 (9)
  • Postpaid text: $0.003 (8)
  • Prepaid text: $0.04 (6)
  • Unlimited text:$11.00 (4)
  • Postpaid data/MB: $0.01 (7)
  • Prepaid data/MB: n/a
  • Unlimited data: $13.80 (7)
  • Minimum Cost of a Complete Cell Phone Package: $34.05 (6)
  • Average: 6.875
India

India

  • Postpaid voice/min: $0.01 (10)
  • Prepaid voice/min: $0.01 (11)
  • Postpaid text: $0.01 (7)
  • Prepaid text: $0.02 (8)
  • Unlimited text: $2.00 (5)
  • Postpaid data/MB: $0.004 (9)
  • Prepaid data/MB: n/a
  • Unlimited data: $19.00 (6)
  • Minimum Cost of a Complete Cell Phone Package: $12.90 (11)
  • Average: 8.375
Philippines

Philippines

  • Postpaid voice/min: $0.15
  • Prepaid voice/min: $0.17
  • Postpaid text: $0.02
  • Prepaid text: $0.02
  • Unlimited text: n/a
  • Postpaid data/MB: n/a
  • Prepaid dat/MB: n/a
  • Unlimited data: $22.00
  • Minimum Cost of a Complete Cell Phone Package: $11.00

Via Ars Technica

Source OTI

 

*via: Techie.com.ph