The Philippines' Globe Telecom has selected Canadian wireless broadband provider NuRAN Wireless to conduct the next phase of its trial rural connectivity program.
Globe will use NuRAN's equipment within 50 sites at various villages in across the Philippines. These sites will use NuRAN's LiteCell 1.5 base stations, connected using a de-centralized GSM network topology.
Globe will also be able to make use of the ecently-announced NuRAN Open Access (NOA) software suite, which includes the Community Cellular Manager (CCM) solution.
Globe will be able to use this software to manage prepaid charging and forge business partnerships with local and regional organizations, NuRAN said.
The agreement marks the next stage of a trial that commenced with the deployment of the same equipment at two sites in the Philippines in the fourth quarter of last year.
During the same period, Globe also worked with NuRAN on a trial involving using TV white space spectrum with wireless backhaul. Both initiative form part of Globe's goal of improving connectivity for remote or underserved regions of the Philippines.
“We are proud to be partnering with Globe Telecom on this important initiative. The Philippines is an important market for NuRAN with a large rural and remote population desperate for connectivity,” NuRAN Wireless CEO Martin Bedard said.
“This deployment further strengthens our relationship with Globe Telecom, the number one mobile brand in the Philippines.”