LISTED firm Now Corp. and affiliate Now Telecom Co., Inc. launched its long-term evolution (LTE) network in Sta. Lucia, Pasig City on Thursday.
In a media briefing in Pasig City, company officials said they want to expand its offerings to residential households.
Through the Network ng Mamamayang Pilipino program (NMP), Now will be partnering with businesses and local government units for franchising and distributorship, where its partners will determine locations to mount telecom infrastructure that would best serve residential subscribers.
“Why are we doing this? Because we think that the local entrepreneurs and local government officials have the insight and knowledge on the things needed by their constituents,” Now Group Head of Marketing Romlo John P. Torres said.
Now will be using a 3.5 frequency band with 20 megahertz for its LTE service, which Mr. Torres said will be “designed and engineered that each sector within our area of responsibility is given optimized experience.”
He said their network could accommodate a maximum of 600 subscribers per area, which covers a space within 1.5-kilometer radius from a cell site. The company has activated eight base stations for its LTE service.
Based on their internal tests, Mr. Torres said their LTE network in Sta. Lucia reaches about 35 Megabits per second (Mbps) to 40 Mbps for download speed and 3 Mbps to 5 Mbps upload speed. The offer is available for P1,499 a month.
Prior to launching its LTE network, Now has offered internet services to enterprises and buildings through its “Fiber-in-the-Air” wireless broadband. — Denise A. Valdez
