AT&T seeks local partner for RP expansion

International telecommunications giant AT&T is looking at partnering with either the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), Smart Communications, or Ayala-owned Globe Telecom as it expands its operations in the Philippines.

The move is part of AT&T’s global network expansion this year, for which the company has earmarked $300 million.

Sources say PLDT has a bigger chance of bagging the partnership since it already has existing alliances with AT&T. Some of AT&T’s services in the Philippines are being offered through PLDT.

AT&T Philippines general manager Edwin Lapitan said the network investment in the country is part of the country’s move to expand its network globally. Most of the amount will be spent in the expansion process in Europe and also in the Asia-Pacific region as networks here will be upgraded.

He said AT&T is considering all its options in implementing the network expansion. One such option is a joint venture with a local telecommunications company.

"We are trying to determine the best way to implement this, given the time limitation and other factors. We are looking at all our options now like alliances, joint venture and the like," Lapitan explained.

Lapitan said the company is looking at PLDT because of its vast fixed line network and Smart or Globe because of their big mobile networks. "It does not matter if it is wireless or fixed line. We are talking to all of them. We keep our options open," he added.

Aside from network and equipment investment, AT&T will also invest in a management system that will run the network and in people that will operate and maintain the network.

AT&T, which started operations in the country in 1999, has over 40 corporate customers including telecom companies and Internet service providers (ISP) and at least 50 minor customers.

The company offers advanced communication services to governments, businesses and customers which include voice, data and online. In the Philippines, around 90 percent of its operations are in Luzon, but it has clients in the Visayas and Mindanao as well.

In another development, PLDT wholly-owned wireless subsidiary Smart has launched the 64K Super SIM (subscriber identification module), considered the most powerful SIM card in the market today.

According to Smart president and chief executive officer Napoleon Nazareno, this is a breakthrough innovation in wireless technology. "We worked hard to develop this killer SIM browser technology and in turn puts us in a better position to offer more premium services to our subscribers," he said.

SIM technology can be likened to the trend in personal computing where the more electronic brainpower in chips is being utilized to make the technology user-friendly.

This new SIM combines the power of Smart Zed and Smart Money STKs all in one card and is fully loaded with services that will allow subscribers to conveniently do mobile commerce through Smart Money and Mobile Banking, personalize and modify zed services through the microbrowser capacity, send secure text messages to intended recipients through the private text messaging, and access all Smart premium services presented as menus using only one SIM.

Nazareno said the platform being used in the 64k Super SIM cards is the same one being marketed abroad for international operators and has received considerable attention.

The rapid development of SIM card technology has added an important new dimension to wireless data services. Before, cellular phone features were phone-based and were thus entirely dependent on the particular brand and model. Thus, some mobile phone models offered more ring tone choices, allowed for loading of logos on air, among others.

As SIM card memories and applications expanded, so did the possibilities for introducing services and features that resided not in the phone but in the SIM and the GSM network itself. As a result, mobile phone operators have been able to develop services and features that they alone could offer, thus effectively differentiating themselves from their competitors.

Early SIM cards with 4k to 8k memory came with basic text messaging functions. Then came 16k SIMs that enable wireless services to be accessed through sending keywords. Menu-driven 32k and 64k SIMs that are currently in the market make it possible for subscribers to access SMS (text messaging)-based services without having to use key words.

The Super SIM comes with an expanded allocation of 250 entries in the phonebook memory and an SMS inbox capacity of up to 60 messages.

Meanwhile, another PLDT affiliate Netopia, the country’s largest shared access provider and the largest network of computers and computer users, and Yapster e-Learning, Inc., the Philippines’ premier online training site, have entered into an agreement to partner in promotion information technology literacy.

Netopia has agreed to become a Yapster e-Learning Center, which enables Netopia and Yapster to jointly promote self-learning educational programs in the IT field. Thus, Netopia will be able to provide Yapster courses to Filipinos who do not have access to a computer or to the Internet.