Cirtek unit seeks Wi-Fi deal

A unit of electronics manufacturer Cirtek Holdings Philippines Corp. (Cirtek) seeks to participate in the government’s plan to roll out free Internet nationwide using “Super Wi-Fi” technology.

Cirtek subsidiary Cirtek Advanced Technologies and Solutions Inc. (Cirtek ATS), the only radio frequency/wireless broadband manufacturing company in the country, has presented to the government its capability to supply the requirements of “Super Wi-Fi” or TV White Space (TVWS), a technology that uses vacant frequencies in the UHF and VHF range, between 54 MHz and 806 MHz.

The Cirtek group believes it has the advantage to help any government unit roll out such “Super Wi-Fi” services and likewise offer support and maintenance services.

“Looking at the pricing and the cost structure, we believe our price is maybe one-half that of foreign suppliers,” said Cirtek chair and founder Jerry Liu in a briefing on Tuesday.

“There has been a tremendous growth in the number of connections to the Internet in the past decade. With connectivity now a basic need, this trend is expected to continue,” added Cirtek ATS chief executive officer Alvin Guzon.

While traditional microwave networks require substantial equipment and infrastructure due to the line-of-sight transmission requirement, he said TVWS could traverse rugged terrain, foliage and other barriers with minimal requirements.

He added that in the urban areas, the TVWS system could be used to add capacity by complementing the existing crowded network.

There are deployed pilot networks in the United States, Europe, Africa and Asia.

In the Philippines, there is a pioneer network of over 100 sites in Bohol launched by the Department of Science and Technology Information and Communication Technology Office (DOST-ICTO) as part of a health program with the Department of Health.

Cirtek ATS has been working with the pioneering company here in the Philippines and with a US-based company producing TV White Space radios. Guzon said Cirtek ATS had generated a lot of interest to work on this “Super-Wifi” technology.