Smart showcases cutting edge technologies to educators
Primes teachers for the realities of LTE, WiMAX
Wireless broadband technologies like Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) are no longer just concepts to 35 teachers from 16 schools in the Visayas and Mindanao that are part of the Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program (SWEEP).
They had a chance to experience these next generation technologies at a technology seminar conducted by Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) with suppliers ZTE Philippines, Inc. and Huawei Technologies Inc.
“We had a chance to experience what’s happening in the industry, in the real world. Otherwise, we just teach what we have read and researched on,” said Mary Ann Beth L. Kong, ECE program coordinator of Universidad de Zamboanga.
LTE and WiMAX are technologies that are being eyed by mobile operators to grow their wireless broadband business.
Engr. Julian Semblante, who teaches Cisco networking at the University of Cebu, said that the seminar was relevant since it provided material that could facilitate classroom discussion on wireless technologies that have yet to be commercially deployed.
When deployed, these technologies will enable fixed and wireless broadband subscribers to consume more data at much faster speeds. Theoretically, peak data rates are 75Mbps on the downlink (DL) and 30Mbps on the uplink (UL) for WiMAX and 300Mbps DL and 75 Mbps UL for LTE.
Smart is the first Philippine telco to surpass the 100 Mbps mark in LTE field tests conducted last year. Trial tests with Huawei in the cities of Cebu and Iloilo achieved peak data rates of 108 Mbps DL on a 15 MHz bandwidth.
The country’s leading wireless services provider also continues to build its WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) network, eyeing the deployment of 800 more sites in the first half of the year.
Hence, Smart drew on its experience and its relationship with suppliers to give engineering teachers in SWEEP partner schools a glimpse of the future today.
Among those who attended were teachers from Don Bosco Technology Center, the main and Banilad campuses of the University of Cebu, University of San Carlos and University of San Jose-Recoletos in Cebu City; Holy Name University in Tagbilaran City, Bohol; Technological University of the Philippines-Visayas in Negros Occidental; and University of Saint La Salle in Bacolod City.
The seminar also drew participants from Ateneo de Davao University , Holy Cross of Davao College and University of Southeastern Philippines in Davao City; Ateneo de Zamboanga University and Universidad de Zamboanga in Zamboanga City; Mindanao State University in General Santos City, Notre Dame of Marbel University in Koronadal, South Cotabato and Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro City.
After learning about the technologies via a lecture from representatives of Huawei and ZTE, the teachers were able to experience faster upload and download rates as well as observe the parameters of the two technologies as demonstrated by the suppliers via a special set-up.
“We appreciate the hand-outs given after the training because it will help us share what we have learned with our students and colleagues,” said Lorena Enicuela of Holy Name University.
SWEEP is a unique industry-academe partnership that Smart launched in 2003 to help raise the level of technology and engineering education in the country, particularly in the field of Electronics and Communications Engineering (ECE).
An engineer from Huawei gives the participants an orientation on the different components that compose the core elements of LTE.
Representatives from ZTE conduct a demonstration of the WiMAX technology, surprising teachers with the very high bandwidth results.
(Published 15 February 2011, Smart Communications, Inc.)