PLDT inks deal to equip provincial buses with wi-fi connection

Telco giant PLDT Inc. wants its Wi-Fi platform to go mobile, announcing over the weekend that it had signed an agreement to equip 2,300 provincial buses with “high-speed wifi connectivity”.

PLDT, through unit PLDT Enterprise, said it had partnered with the Provincial Bus Operators Association of the Philippines. The tie-up involved Wi-Fi, CCTV monitoring, and vehicle tracking through the ‘SmartBus’ suite of services.

“Giving the commuting public easy and fast access to the internet through our Smart Biz LTE can help take their mind away from this daily grind, and enable them to be more productive by doing more tasks while in transit,” PLDT senior vice president and head of enterprise Jovy Hernandez.

PLDT noted that its SmartBus suite helps bus operators comply with the government’s plan to modernize the country’s public bus transport system.

This modernization plan includes the requirement for bus operators to install a GPS monitoring device.

“The package comes with an industrial-grade robust modem router able to resist heat and vibration, and that auto reboots to refresh its connection. It can accommodate up to 25 users simultaneously and has a bandwidth shaper feature which allows more users to connect, delivering LTE speeds,” Mitch Locsin, PLDT first vice president and head of SME business, said in the same statement.

“Our initial roll out has been a huge success, and we are partnering with more bus operators within the year to equip their bus units with high-speed connectivity. By the end of the year, over 2,300 buses nationwide will be fitted with the SmartBus solution benefiting millions of our commuting public,” he added.

Felgin Caalin, IT Head of First North Luzon, one of the first bus operators to implement the service, noted in the statement that has was a fan of the service.

“We earned a lot of recognition from our customers,” he said. “This has really helped us enhance service to our customers which has resulted in achieving better sales growth.”