Manila, Philippines: Power lines link town to Internet !!!

Monday, April 16, 2007

The fast-growing town of Balanga in Bataan, which prides itself as the first fully energized locality down to the barangays, will soon become the first fully wired area in the Philippines.

This was disclosed by Ty Javellana, Nextream president and chief executive, whose company along with Peninsula Electric Cooperative and Canadian manufacturing firm Corinex, successfully pilot-tested within a 15-km. radius the broadband over power lines technology using electric cables to connect a computer or TV to the Internet.

Nextream said the broadband over power lines technology also enables high-tech connection such as wireless networking, voice over Internet protocol and video streaming.

“Because the word is now out about the recent successful pilot-testing in Bataan that proves that BPL really works, Nextream has generated serious interest from very prominent Filipinos about investing in the Philippine operations,” Javellana said.”

‘‘I am confident that my growing technical team can design, implement, and maintain a BPL network in the Philippines and other foreign locales.”

Witnessing the pilot-testing were representatives from 10 electric cooperatives coming from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao which also had undergone second level technical training to enable them to understand the technology whose target market is the electric subscribers in the rural areas.

The first batch of trainees include the Misamis Oriental I Electric Cooperative Inc.; Cagayan II Electric Cooperative Inc.; Batangas I Electric Cooperative Inc.; Central Pangasinan Electric Cooperative Inc.; Tarlac II Electric Cooperative Inc.; Antique Electric Cooperative Inc.; Bohol I Electric Cooperatives Inc.; Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative Inc.; and Oriental Mindoro Electric Cooperatives Inc.

Javellana said that the intensive training conducted in Bataan for seven days involves classroom discussions and field demonstrations, which enabled the participants to gain proper knowledge of the product.

“Slowly, our efforts to market the BPL in the countryside are gaining ground. Initially, we enlisted 10 co-ops in the BPL training and many others have expressed interest to be trained in the coming months,” Javellana said.

The next training will be conducted in Cagayan to be hosted by the Cagayan Electric Cooperative, said Javellana, who takes pride in his Iloilo roots.

Javellana said that Nextream has 28 active joint venture agreements with electric cooperatives in the Philippines and another 12 new cooperatives from the Visayas and Mindanao islands are to set to sign up with the outfit.

“My focus is to have Nextream’s Philippines operations be the cornerstone of a global broadband communications in Southeast Asia and other emerging markets with low Internet penetration. At least for now, the good news about the successful BPL pilot-testing in Bataan has caught fire among BPL users worldwide and it is proof positive what Filipino talent and ingenuity can do with 21st century technology,” said Javellana.

Read previous articles: Philippines to rollout of BROADBAND Internet over ELECTRIC POWER LINES Nationwide !!!!