Smart, Sun complete P71-M interconnection project

Smart Communications, Inc. recently completed its P71-million interconnection project with fellow PLDT subsidiary Sun Cellular to boost the latter's “fail-safe” resiliency infrastructure and make its broadband links more reliable. “The increased interconnection between Smart and Sun will also dramatically lessen, if not eliminate, service down times,” said PLDT-Smart Technology Group Head Rolando Peña. Together with PLDT and Digital Mobile Philippines, Inc. (DMPI), Smart established 16 links—each with a capacity of 10Gbps— to connect strategic Smart and Sun Cellular cell sites on high-capacity fiber optic cables. Smart and Sun’s interconnection is based on the Layer 2/Layer 3 Carrier Ethernet Network (CEN) platform, which allows for lower cost per Mbps operating cost compared to legacy E1 and STM1 interconnection. The interconnection project is also capable of carrying high bandwidth services such as 4G High Speed Packet AccessPlus (HSPA+), 3G HSPA, and 2G voice and SMS. Smart has also completed linking its Metro Manila cell sites to PLDT’s fiber optic network. Smart, PLDT, and Sun now have a total network spanning 54,000 kilometers of fiber optic cabling in looped configuration nationwide. Smart, which had 50.9 million subscribers on its GSM network as of end-June 2012, offers 3G and HSPA+ services and the country’s first and only LTE (Long-Term Evolution) network. — BM, GMA News