New ISP Network Boosts Philippine Economy

Background

The Philippines offers a variety of economically significant local specialties, such as mangoes from Luzon Island, Barong Tagalog shirts, wood carvings from the Banaue Rice Terraces, and a diversity of bags and carpets made from Manila hemp — to name a few.

Tourist sales locally are limited, but e-commerce boosts revenues for Philippine vendors. Network bandwidth is essential, and reliable, fast, and affordable network services are a must.

In addition to e-commerce, new economic and business models are constantly emerging on digital platforms, such as online gaming, HD video, and social media. In addition, the Philippines has become the “call center capital” of the world.

Thus, network development is vital to the advancement of the national digital economy of the Philippines.

Converge ICT (Converge) is a pure fiber Internet service provider. It is a leading player in the all-optical broadband access industry, with licenses for fixed networks, fiber optics, cable TV, enterprise private lines, fixed broadband, and wireless broadband services. Driven by the demand for high-speed network services, the company is dedicated to deploying a modern and scalable network infrastructure.

Converge has deployed an extensive fiber optic network, covering Central Luzon, the national Capital Region, and South Luzon. It plans to provide affordable, high-quality fiber Internet services to the largest audience possible.

Challenges

Converge started as a cable TV operator. Its live network was a Hybrid Fiber-Coaxial network and was the base for the growth of its Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) service. With continuous innovations, bandwidth-hungry services like 4K and 3D video began to proliferate, which drove the need for more bandwidth.

To fulfill its mission to ensure that the country can cope with these digital demands, the company decided to roll out the Philippines’ first pure end-to-end fiber network. Since the initial roll-out, Converge has provided its clientele with maximum Internet connectivity.

Today, Converge is expanding its Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) service market in Metro Manila by providing customers with reliable, high-quality, and high-speed optical network services. To this end, Converge has specified a reliable and elastic network that will deliver high input-output ratios for contemporary data center requirements. This network must also improve support for the current enterprise private line and home broadband access services and support future services, such as FTTH, enterprise data, data center, cloud, and Smart City services throughout the country.

“Early on, we felt we needed a network that was reliable, scalable, cost-effective, and allowed us to easily implement new products and services,” said Jesus Romero, Converge’s Chief Operating Officer. “And we are very pleased that we were able to, in fact, get that with Huawei.”

Solution

Huawei has built a professional network of consulting, planning, construction, and maintenance teams. Since 2006, Huawei’s global consultants have provided consulting services for over 120 operators in more than 70 countries or regions to help operators resolve problems and improve competitiveness.

With a full understanding of Converge’s current network situation and future plans, Huawei helped them sort out and explore potential high-value customers and develop solutions for current and future network construction and services.

Agile WAN Solutions Meet Large Bandwidth and Network Evolution Requirements

Benefits

Helping Converge Become a Top FTTH Provider

From the Dense Wavelength-Division Multiplexing (DWDM) backbone and Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) core, to the MAN, and to the access network, Converge’s network is largely built by Huawei.

The renewed Converge network is more reliable and stable, achieving lower latency, higher speeds, and easier O&M — all of which help Converge quickly launch new products and services. Most important, the new network will help Converge better meet customer requirements and automatically distribute services suited for market needs. The network is beneficial for e-commerce companies that sell Philippine specialties; Internet enterprises providing online live streaming and HD video services; innovative enterprises that engage in local social media or sharing platforms; and citizens — all helping to vigorously promote a robust digital economy. In partnership with Huawei, Converge has enhanced its reputation for providing FTTH services that create superior customer experiences.

“Huawei has been responsive in terms of support,” Romero said. “In terms of pricing, they remain competitive, and they help us a lot with strategy planning, what to do next, and where to go — which is one key area where we feel we should continue and expand cooperation.”