Partners – Spectrum Effect

PLDT, Smart optimize network, rollout innovations to deliver topnotch service in 2023

Cara — Sat, 30 Dec 2023 16:30:25 +0000

December 30, 2023 – Leading integrated telco network PLDT Inc (PLDT) and its wireless arm Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) intensified their network enhancement initiatives in 2023 to deliver leveled-up experience to their customers by optimizing their integrated fixed and wireless networks and rolling out network innovations.

“This reaffirms our commitment to continuously improve our network, make our operations more efficient, and bring the benefits of the latest technologies and innovations closer to our customers,” said Eric Santiago, Head of Network at PLDT and Smart.

Among these innovations are Proof of Concepts (PoCs) conducted to explore how PLDT and Smart can improve various parts of their network operations.

Earlier this year, Smart successfully deployed the country’s first fully functional Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) POC at the PLDT-Smart Technolab, demonstrating the potential of the technology to enhance network operations while lowering cost by allowing telcos like Smart to “mix and match” hardware and software from any vendor, unlike in traditional vendor lock-in setups, wherein equipment and software could only come from a single vendor for a specific area.

Smart has also deployed Spectrum-NET, which enabled the company to reduce in half the radio interference impacting its network, thereby improving service quality for customers. This has also made Smart the cleanest network in the region, performing better than other operators in Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America, and putting Smart at par with North American and European countries, according to data from Spectrum Effect.

Paving the way for more efficient and environmentally friendly network operations, PLDT and Smart also completed their PoC of drone-aided digital inspection of its cellular sites in Metro Manila. Conducted in several Smart towers in Quezon City, Valenzuela, and Caloocan, the PoC was held using drone technology to capture multiple cell sites’ information and produce “digital twins” of these network towers.

The use of autonomous drone technology in capturing network tower information is seen to replace the time-consuming, dangerous, and manual task of climbing every tower to gather and record data. Turning the drone-captured images into a digital twin of the tower with the aid of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) will also enable Smart to build a single source of field-based truth across the entire Smart network and will facilitate faster and data-driven decision-making.

AI and ML are also being employed on PLDT and Smart’s self-optimizing network, as they join global operators in rapidly adopting the technology.

“We have implemented these initiatives to maintain our network leadership and quality. This not only means expanding coverage and delivering speed, but also involves the pursuit of energy efficiency, which translates to cost savings and lower carbon emissions,” Santiago added.

For example, PLDT and Smart have also been testing a sleeping cell algorithm which enables the network to shut down a particular element when it is not being utilized for more efficient electricity consumption.

This year, Smart has also further expanded its Self-Organizing Network (SON) project as part of Smart’s push for further automation transformation, as it rolled out consistency checking and correction of network elements’ parameters for 3G and 4G/LTE. Neighbor management for 2G and 4G-5G sites was also fully implemented, while coverage optimization for 4G Massive MIMO sites ensure optimal level for network coverage as sites are further rolled out.

Smart has also unveiled a series of innovative initiatives aimed at energy savings. Recognizing the importance of environmental responsibility, the company has implemented best practices to significantly reduce its carbon footprint by optimizing and streamlining network operations and adopting energy-efficient software and licenses. This commitment to energy conservation aligns with the company’s broader mission to foster a sustainable and eco-friendly digital landscape.

With the help of these initiatives, PLDT and Smart have once again been awarded the Philippines’ Fastest Broadband Network and the country’s Fastest and Best Mobile Network by Ookla, the global leader in mobile and broadband network intelligence.

Smart is the first and only Philippine wireless services provider to earn this prestigious and rare citation for three consecutive reporting periods by Ookla in Q1-Q2 2022, Q3-Q4 2022, and Q1-Q2 2023.

Smart’s network also recently enabled its value mobile brand TNT to set the Guinness World Record for the Longest Travel Livestream lasting for over 26 hours and covering 75 kilometers from Bustos, Bulacan to Rizal Park in Manila.

Dubbed as the Petmaloop Challenge, the milestone effort involved the use of one TNT-powered smartphone, passed from one content creator to another in relay fashion, to conduct an uninterrupted livestream on micro-vlogging app TikTok.

For displaying consistently superior network performance, Smart also received the top award from the independent benchmarking organization umlaut. In receiving the ‘Best in Test’ award from umlaut, Smart was also cited for having the best rated upload speeds, download speeds, and latency experience.

This level of performance is enabled by PLDT and Smart’s integrated fixed and wireless networks. Smart’s mobile network, which covers 97% of the population, is supported by PLDT’s fiber infrastructure, which was at over 1.1 million kilometers as of end-September 2023.

PLDT and Smart’s initiatives to harness innovation and enhance their networks through new technologies are aligned with the Group’s commitment to the Government’s overall digitalization thrust to narrow the digital divide as one of the founding members of the government-mandated Presidential Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) under the Digital Infrastructure Pillar.

These also boost PLDT’s aspirational multi-year transformation, with elevating customer experience as one of the key priorities, as well as contribute to the Group’s endeavors to provide connectivity to all, bringing the benefits of the internet to more communities while integrating sustainable solutions in the Group’s daily operations.

Source: PLDT Press Release

About Spectrum Effect

Spectrum Effect’s mission is to solve the most challenging and costly problems in the wireless industry through innovation and automation. With a passion for disruptive technologies and engineering excellence, Spectrum Effect has created Spectrum-NET, the industry’s leading solution for the automated ML-driven analysis and mitigation of RF interference. With Spectrum-NET, operators across the globe are rapidly addressing RF interference, improving network KPIs, surgically deploying their field assets, gaining insights into spectral efficiency, and saving significant OPEX and CAPEX. www.spectrumeffect.com.

CONTACT:

Cara Mormino for Spectrum Effect, cara@spectrumeffect.com

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Spectrum Effect Further Extends Its Global Reach

Scott — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 01:55:22 +0000

SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 – KIRKLAND, WA — Spectrum Effect®, a pioneer in spectrum analytics, announced today the establishment of new partnerships with four highly-respected VAR providers to expand its reach and provide local support and services for its flagship Spectrum-NET® solution.

Spectrum Effect’s new partners include:

LinkQuest Global in India, Thailand, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia and UAE
Immobi in Indonesia and Malaysia
ACTS in Taiwan
TeleResources in Australia and New Zealand

The new partners join existing Spectrum Effect VAR partners:

WSA in Philippines
Ant Group in Vietnam
CIS Group in South America

“Spectrum Effect has made outstanding progress with our Spectrum-NET solution and mobile operator deployments. Building on this momentum, these new VAR partners enable Spectrum Effect to effectively serve important new markets as we enter 2020,” stated Charles Immendorf, CEO of Spectrum Effect. “We welcome LinkQuest, Immobi, ACTS and TeleResources to the Spectrum Effect team.”

Spectrum Effect will continue to roll out its partner network, adding premier engineering services firms in various regions across the globe to deliver seamless, best-in-class support and services for Spectrum-NET as demand continues to grow.

About Spectrum Effect

Spectrum Effect® was founded by the wireless industry veterans behind the Eden-NET SON solution (acquired by a tier-1 OEM) with technologies incubated in advanced research projects with the United States Department of Defense and the Office of Naval Research. Spectrum Effect has pioneered a completely new and novel approach for mobile operators to mitigate harmful anomalous interference through innovative machine learning based analytics of mobile network data. Categories of this anomalous interference include external interference (e.g., bi-directional amplifiers, RFID scanners, CATV cable egress), PIM interference, interference carried by tropospheric ducting and RAN-generated interference. Our revolutionary solution, Spectrum-NET®, automatically detects, characterizes, classifies, aggregates, locates, predicts and measures the impact of anomalous interference within mobile networks. Protected by numerous patents, Spectrum-NET operates seamlessly across multi-vendor UMTS, LTE and (soon) 5G NR networks on a continual basis without any need for external probes. With Spectrum-NET, operators across the globe are now rapidly addressing anomalous RF interference, improving network KPIs, surgically deploying their field assets and saving significant OPEX. www.spectrumeffect.com.

Contact:

Cara Mormino

+1 847 243 3000

cara@spectrumeffect.com

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Spectrum Effect Extends Its Global Reach As Spectrum-NET General Availability Approaches

Cara — Thu, 21 Feb 2019 19:10:59 +0000

February 21, 2019 – KIRKLAND, WA — Spectrum Effect®, a pioneer in RF spectrum analytics, announced today the establishment of partnerships with four highly-respected mobile VAS providers to expand its reach and provide local support and services as operators begin to deploy Spectrum-NET.

Spectrum Effect’s new partners include CIS Group in Latin America, Wireless Services Asia (WSA) in the Philippines and Ant Group in Vietnam.

“With increasing operator demand and the transition from trials to commercial deployments for our Spectrum-NET solution, these partnerships extend our presence and provide the necessary local touch for our solution delivery and support,” stated Charles Immendorf, CEO of Spectrum Effect. “We welcome CIS Group, WSA and Ant Group to the Spectrum Effect team.”

“Spectrum-NET’s novel and impactful interference mitigation capabilities have been met with enthusiasm by mobile operators within the LATAM region,” commented Rodrigo Fernandez Quintana, Commercial Director at CIS Group Latin America. “Spectrum-NET has been able to achieve impressive results within operator networks.”

“Spectrum-NET is an elegant solution for operators in Vietnam to solve their challenging interference problems with PIM, grey market devices, bi-directional amplifiers and RF ID scanners,” remarked Nguyen Tuan Dat, Deputy CEO of ANT Group.

“Spectrum-NET will be a tremendous aid to operators within the Philippines to rapidly address interference, improve network KPIs and improve subscriber quality of experience,” mentioned Benjie Bustos, CEO of Wireless Services Asia, Inc.

Spectrum Effect is continuing to roll out its partner program with premier engineering services firms in other regions to deliver best-in-class support and services for its industry-leading solution as demand continues to grow.

About Spectrum Effect

Spectrum Effect has pioneered a new approach for mobile operators to mitigate harmful RF interference through innovative machine learning-driven analysis of mobile network data. Spectrum Effect’s R&D is located in Kirkland, Washington USA, and Monterrey, Mexico. Spectrum Effect’s fast-paced culture is a blend of strong innovation, industry best practices, and a collective passion for developing disruptive technologies that deliver significant customer value. Spectrum Effect’s state-of-the-art Spectrum-NET software solution automatically identifies and locatjavascript:noop();es RF interference sources. Protected by 25 issued patents, Spectrum-NET operates continuously and seamlessly for all RF bands across multi-vendor NR, LTE and UMTS layers within a mobile network. With Spectrum-NET, operators across the globe are rapidly addressing RF interference, improving network KPIs, surgically deploying their field assets and saving significant OPEX. www.spectrumeffect.com.

Contact:

Cara Mormino
+1 847 243 3000
cara@spectrumeffect.com

ANT Group

ANT GROUP specializes in delivering end to end network services and solutions to leading network operators and enterprise organizations, enabling them to deploy, optimize and monetize their networks more rapidly and efficiently. ANT GROUP was founded in 2006 and began delivering the network infrastructure rollout and optimization service to our mobile operator customers. Since 2012, we started providing solutions such as data analytics and BI, Geo-location, customer experience management, digital advertisement, enterprise IT (ESB, ECM, BPM, IDM, CRM) to customers. For more than a decade, ANT GROUP has been the leading integrated solution company in Viet Nam. With skillful and experienced engineering team, our mission is make customers always satisfied with our services and products.

http://www.antgroup.com.vn

Wireless Services Asia

Wireless Services Asia (WSA) was incorporated in 1999 as a mobile VAS provider. In 2008, the company was transformed into a carrier grade services company and one of the leading resellers of integrated technology and business solutions in the telecommunications industry in the Philippines. In the beginning of 2017, WSA started to expand to new verticals. WSA partners with world-class technology companies in providing network and application solutions to Communications Service providers’ vertical markets.

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About CIS GROUP LATAM

With more than 20 years of experience, CIS GROUP® has established itself in the market as a leading company in the provision of innovative telecommunications engineering solutions. With over 100 collaborators in our staff, we have the technological capabilities and world class infrastructure needed to meet the needs of an increasingly competitive and demanding market. As a result of our professionalism and high quality work throughout the years, we have earned the confidence of the main landline and mobile telephone operators in Latin America, positioning ourselves at the leading edge of the Telecommunications sector in the region. www.cisgroupla.com/en/

Rodrigo Fernández Quintana
+5493513094296
r.fernandez@cisgroupla.com

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