Alcatel, a provider of communications solutions to telecommunication carriers, Internet service providers and enterprises, sees great opportunity for its vision of User-Centric Broadband in the Philippines.
In fact, its officials say they believe the Philippine telecommunications industry can duplicate its phenomenal success in the mobile communications market in the area of broadband communications.
"With the right strategy, as demonstrated by major telecom players such as Globe Telecom, Smart and Sun Cellular, broadband may yet be the next engine of growth for business in the country," an Alcatel paper, "Pushing a vision for broadband in the Philippines" stated.
It continued, "The consumer and business markets may just be looking for the next ‘killer application’ to latch onto…. Alcatel sees the broadband market in the Philippines doubling in size in 2005."
It said this kind of growth can be achieved "by leveraging segments such as business process outsourcing, gaming and other consumer applications, and e-government as drivers of broadband growth."
It added that the large number of Filipinos overseas will also bed a strong driver of broadband growth.
Christian Reinaudo, Alcatel Asia Pacific president, outlined four moves it is undertaking to win more business deals in 2005.
First is to deepen relationship with Alcatel customers and offer breakthrough services to endussers.
Second is to gain successes in new technologies e.g. 3 G, WiMAX, Next Generation Network or NGN; and to develop relevant business cases for emerging technologies.
Third is to demonstrate added-value in the noncarrier business.
Fourth, offer aggressive price levels.
Alcatel, which has a dominant position in the DSL (digital subscriber line) infrastructure space with a 38 percent global marker share, is hoping its strength in the provision of leading-edge broadband solutions, will deepen its leadership in the broadband arena in the Philippines.
The company believe it can give customers the simplified communications experience they want, which can eventually lead to the realization of Alcatel’s vision of User-Centric Broadband communication and access to all information using only one authentication method, from any device and from any location.
To achieve its global and regional objectives to fortify its market share, Alcatel is looking at a mixture of strategy, timing and a strong partner base.
Alcatel, a dominant DSL equipment company in the Philippines with over 50 percent of the market, and a global share of 38 percent, has credibility among other players in the converging technology verticals.
Alcatel’s latest partnerships are with software giant Microsoft in the United States and semiconductor firm Intel Corporation.
Last February 2005, it partnered with Microsoft for the provision of IPTV or television over the Internet.
"We believe we set the standard for this solution," said Reinaudo.
With Intel, it is ramping up its mobile WiMAX solutions partnership to make cost-effective nomadic broadband services a reality. WiMAX is an emerging set of standards aimed at providing broadband connectivity over wireless networks. Anyone entering a WiMAX hot zone with a WiMAX-based laptop as broadband connectivity to the Web.
He said Alcatel is developing the network solution, while Intel develops the chipset , e.g. Centrino "mobile" technology. The commercial network deployments will begin mid2006.
