To lay the foundations for a multimedia future, BayanTel offers high performance broadband to subscribers across the Philippines.
As one of the major fixed line operators in the Philippines, BayanTel serves around 290 000 subscribers in an extremely competitive voice market. BayanTel’s existing nationwide network is composed of satellite, terrestrial and land/submarine based cable facilities. The operator has a vision of an IP-based future bringing high quality services to subscribers.
To move towards meeting these goals, the operator wanted to offer internet access and other managed data services through Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL). BayanTel saw fixed DSL services as a vital step towards providing increased data services to subscribers. In order to offer broadband services to end-users, the operator investigated a number of options. Ericsson was ranked as the number one supplier following the technical evaluation of its IP DSLAM solution and the EDA product family.
BayanTel introduced broadband data services to the Philippines in early 2005. Ulf Jervinge, Director New Sales, Ericsson, explains how Ericsson took the project forward for BayanTel: “Initially a turnkey rollout of 1 000 lines took place. Due to the success of this solution, the service has now been extended to over 24 000 subscribers across the Philippines.”
The operator is marketing the solution by offering a ‘no frills’ service and money back guarantee to subscribers if the network is down. BayanTel is the only operator in the Philippines offering this type of deal and has based this proposition on its belief in the reliability of Ericsson’s solution.
In the Philippines, the market is still predominantly voice-led, but data services are becoming increasingly important. The DSL usage has risen by around 150 percent in the year to quarter four 2006. Data is becoming a significant revenue driver for the operator. Partnership with Ericsson has allowed BayanTel to utilize aggressive pricing to develop a good market position as a fixed broadband service provider.
David M. Rogers, Senior Consultant for Network Operations, BayanTel, describes the key benefits of the solution: “The unique scalability of Ericsson’s EDA solution enables us to offer superior performance and high capacities to our end-users in a cost efficient way, while investing in an infrastructure that is prepared for the needs of tomorrow.”
Currently the operator offers speeds of up to 2 Mb/s, a capacity that may easily be increased up to 24 Mb/s thanks to the flexibility of Ericsson’s EDA solution. During 2007, BayanTel also plans to increase the transport capacity by introducing other broadband network solutions from Ericsson. By offering an enhanced fixed broadband service, the operator may target an extended range of enterprises.
