Filipino operator Globe Telecom has revealed its ongoing deployment of WiMAX-ready technology has seen it installing an additional 85 sites in the province of Cebu, raising the total to 200, covering the Metro Cebu areas, and as far as Danao in the South, and CarCar in the North. In an interview with the Philippine Star newspaper, Globe’s head of sales for Central and Eastern Visayas Cleo Celeste C Santos, said Globe intends to provide wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) services in the province, based on high speed WiMAX technology. The drive has so far resulted in 4,000 subscribers in the region, around 90% of which are located in Metro Cebu, she added.
Globe began testing pre-WiMAX equipment back in 2005, before launching into a full blown rollout three years later. Commercial launch followed in February 2009 in Cebu City, at which time Globe claimed to have the first 2.5GHz WiMAX (802.16 e) broadband network in Southeast Asia. The Visayas’ operation is currently rolling out WiMAX equipment in Bohol and Leyte, with more provinces slated to be covered in the next few months, as Globe Telecom pushes on with an aggressive plan designed to install WiMAX sites across the entire country.