Technological gobbledygook and Smart expansion works

BEHIND THE SCENES
Alfred P. Dizon

BAGUIO CITY – How time flies. In the early 80’s, when I had my first glimpse of a fax machine, I couldn’t imagine how it could send a duplicate of a document to somebody somewhere on this planet.

I was then starting as a news reporter and fax machines were a rarity so we had to file stories to news desks by shouting our articles through landlines. Cell phones were thought of then as things used by aliens from outer space.

In places where there were no phones, we sent our articles through buses or any vehicle to Baguio or Manila to our outfits In the Cordillera, you could count on drivers or conductors of the durable Dangwa buses to deliver your stories.

While in Baguio, it was some sort of a self-imposed obligation to treat the guys to pinikpikan (Igorot delicacy of singed chicken) at the Dangwa bus station. I remember Boygie who used to hang out in the area. He would do the burning and oftentimes was the one who bought the chicken with gin on the side.
***
The 90’s became easier for news reporters like me with the entry of cell phones and computers. With the internet, publishing became a breeze as correspondents could just email their stories. So when I started the Northern Philippine Times in 2000, it was much easier except for the high printing costs.

Nowadays, kids are talking, with their peculiar technological lingo, like aliens from outer space. The first time I heard somebody say LOL, I couldn’t figure out what it meant. Somebody ribbed me as a result: “Ikawnamantanda, laughing out loud angibigsabihin nun.”

Who would have thought that “download” would mean getting data from the internet through a computer. When I was a kid in the 60’s in Sagada, it could have meant putting down the pine wood we carried
from our shoulders for a rest after getting these from the mountains to our homes for the stove.

Technology has indeed come a long way, and with this, the world had become smaller. Now, one could talk to anybody on this planet while seeing him in the process by “skyping.”

Everybody is talking about 4-G, I-pod, USB, HSPA, routing, tweeting, facebooking (putting your face on a book?), wifi, email (that I know) and God knows other gobbledygook that this approaching 50 laggard is getting more baffled by the day as the New Age vocabulary increases.
***
Still on technology, Smart Communications held a press conference Wednesday at the City Lite Hotel in Baguio to disseminate their expansion activities.

I was asking why it was so hard to make a call or text (see, the word has now even become a verb) along kilometers 5 and 6 while in La Trinidad, Benguet the past few days. I told them I received text messages late.

They said it was because of the expansion and technological program of Smart which they were updating to make it at par with the best in the world. They likened it to that of a vehicle engine which was being changed or overhauled.

To expound on the issue, the Smart guys gave a press statement hereunder:

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) and its wireless subsidiary Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) are now on the final stretch of their fast-tracked, nationwide P67.1-billion network transformation program.

Once complete, the program is expected to benefit close to 50 million Smart subscribers all over the country, by further enhancing the reliability and quality of its wireless services, including SMS, call, and data services, and Internet access to even remote barrios and barangays.

This was disclosed at the sidelines of a courtesy call by Eric Xu, vice chair and chief executive officer of Huawei, a leading global provider of commercial telecom networks, to PLDT and Smart chairman Manuel Pangilinan.

Huawei is one of the telco’s partners in the network initiative and the courtesy call included a review of the program’s progress.

“While the rest of the industry is just about to lay the groundwork, we’ve already passed the halfway mark of this landmark network undertaking,” said Orlando Vea, co-founder and chief wireless advisor of Smart.

Originally scheduled to run for three years after its launch in early 2011, the program is scheduled for completion by the middle of this year – taking only a total of a year and a half.

“Most importantly, our subscribers have already been enjoying the fruits of this endeavor, including superior voice connection and quality, quicker SMS delivery, enhanced data connection speeds, nationwide coverage and zero downtime, especially in times of disasters,” said Vea.

PLDT and Smart have modernized and optimized the network covering the entire Visayas and Mindanao areas and Bicol in Luzon, with the rest of the country to follow soon.

Aside from Huawei, PLDT and Smart are also working with Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Network on the program.

“By tapping the individual strengths of the world’s three biggest network suppliers, we are able to ensure the efficient and timely progress of this initiative,” added Vea.

Once completed, PLDT and Smart also expect the transformation program to allow it to reach “blackout areas” or places that used to have no broadband Internet access -- enabling Internet penetration to even the most remote areas of the country.

“PLDT and Smart’s unique and superior matrix of 3G, Enhanced High Speed Packet Access (HSPA+), WiMax, and Long Term Evolution (LTE) covers wider distances and serves more users at any given time while allowing high-speed data access -- making available high-speed mobile broadband in more parts of the country,” the company said in a press statement.

PLDT and Smart have over 45,000 kilometers of looped fiber optic cabling, fully covering mainland Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

“We have clearly built the most advanced and superior network in the country. To us, all this translates to the best communication experience and mobile lifestyle for our subscribers,” said Vea.