BayanTel is now 3G compliant

By Mary Ann Ll. Reyes, The Philippine Star

Lopez-owned Bayan Telecommunications (BayanTel) has now complied with the requirements by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) for a license to offer wireless services using the third generation mobile communications technology or 3G.

Company officials said the requirements submitted by BayanTel fully comply with the implementing guidelines set by the NTC on the roll-out of 3G technology, including the submission of a P300-million performance bond.

BayanTel intends to roll out new technologies that synergize the deployment of wireless local loop, wireless broadband and 3G in a phased and cost effective deployment.

BayanTel’s chief executive consultant Tunde Fafunwa said the company has already allocated a significant amount of its capital expenditures, pegged at about P1.5 billion every year, for the initial deployment of these technologies in phases that would culminate in a critical-mass 3G deployment within the five year roll-out plan required by NTC.

"BayanTel certainly has the internal capability to meet the regulatory requirements by taking advantage of these new technologies for deployment. But we continue to remain open to the participation of local and foreign investors that would allow for the significant deployment of 3G," Fafunwa added.

The NTC will allocate five 3G frequency bands. Three existing mobile phone operators — Smart Communications, Globe Telecom, and Digitel Mobile — are prequalified for the allocation. Bayantel and Multi-Media have secured their 3G licenses while Next Mobile, CURE, AZ Communications and Pacific Wireless are awaiting the NTC’s decision on the grant of the license.

If the number of companies prequalified or granted 3G licenses exceed five, the government may bid out the 3G frequencies to the highest bidder.

Initially, through the wireless local loop (WLL), BayanTel subscribers will have the benefit of having a landline phone and another mobile phone (with the features of a cellular phone but actually works initially like a cordless phone) which operates within a three-kilometer radius.

In many developing countries, there is tremendous demand for new business and residential telephone service. More and more operators are looking to wireless technologies to rapidly provide thousands of new subscribers with high-quality telephone service at a reasonable price.

Through WLL, existing landline operators can extend their network. Cellular operators can also capitalize on their current network to deliver residential service with WLL while new service providers can quickly deploy non-traditional WLL solutions to rapidly meet a community’s telephony needs.

The system is based on a full-duplex radio network that provides local telephone-like service among a group of users in remote areas. These areas could be connected via radio links to the national telephone network, though allowing the WLL subscriber to call or be reached by any telephone in the world.

WLL solutions are particularly popular in remote or sparsely populated areas of developing countries, where cabled infrastructure is either too expensive to deploy or where speed of deployment is an issue