LIVE FROM ALCATEL-LUCENT TECHNOLOGY SYMPOSIUM 2014: Philippines operator Globe Telecom is seeing a network transformation programme “starting to deliver results”, as it also looks to exploit opportunities in the wireless broadband sector, Manny Estrada, SVP of technical services, said.

Noting that the company had been looking at a downward trend in terms of revenue share, the executive said that a wide-reaching upgrade, which saw changes across “network, IT, people and costs”, had enabled it to re-assert itself “in a very saturated market where dual-SIM penetration is very high, and there is very tough competition”.

The company’s network is now 97 per cent 3G-enabled, with HSPA+ widely deployed, and the project has significantly enhanced network reliability. And this week it announced its latest set of encouraging financial results.

In September, Globe signed a deal with Alcatel-Lucent for the upgrade of its WiMAX network to support TD-LTE and FDD LTE technology, with the aim of offering services across “a geographically diverse area comprised of 7,107 islands”.

Estrada said that some years ago, with larger rival Smart having introduced a wireless broadband network powered by Motorola’s proprietary Canapy technology, Globe needed to act quickly.

“So we did a bet on WiMAX, with our eyes wide open. We knew that it wasn’t going to be the technology of the future, there was a limited ecosystem, development didn’t seem to be picking up at all. And we thought this technology would last us five years until we got LTE,” he said.

The company has also shifted its view on the role of its TD-LTE and FDD LTE networks. “We have segmented our broadband customers into two markets: fixed and mobile/nomadic users. The initial plan was to leave LTE TDD for the fixed wireless users,” he said.

With new devices coming onto the market that support both technologies, “we realised that given our spectrum position today, we have to be able to leverage this particular limited resource, and make FDD and TDD work for both segments,” he said.

But Estrada concluded by noting that LTE may not prove to be the right technology to address the residential market in the longer term. “Personally, I believe that if usage in the home continues to rise, then wireless might not really be the right solution for that,” he said.