Inaugurated last May 8 at the UE campus in Manila, the UE Technobus is a custom-made coaster with 10 cubicles inside each containing a laptop. The school availed of Smart Bro, the wireless broadband service of Smart Communication, Inc. (SMART), for the Technobus’ Internet connection.

"Smart has always been the first in innovation in the Philippines, so for the first college technobus in the country, we think Smart Bro is the right choice," says Bong Jaramillo, director of UE’s Management Information Systems Department (MISD).

Specially designed by Starbilt Enterprises, the exterior of the UE Technobus displays pictures of the recent topnotchers and academic awardees of the University’s three Campuses on one side, while pictures of famous former UE Red Warriors – such as Robert Jaworski, Allan Caidic, James Yap and Paul Artadi – fill the opposite side.

The University has lined up several high schools around Metro Manila for the UE Technobus to visit on separate days. "Our goal is to attract high school seniors to apply to UE. Aspriring ‘UEnians’ can now lodge their applications and can even take the UE College Entrace Test aboard the bus," Jaramillo says. More online services are available through the University’s official website, www.ue.edu.ph <http://www.ue.edu.ph>.

"Applying for colleges can be tiresome, but now applicants – especially those in far-off places – wouldn’t have to travel anymore; we’ll go to them instead," explains Jaramillo. UE also plans to deploy the Technobus in places outside Metro Manila on later dates.

The visits won’t also be limited to college applications. "During visits, the students can also take turns in using the Technobus to view UE’s website, surf the Internet, and play some games," Jaramillo says.

"UE’s Marketing Department and MISD came up with this concept around November last year," Jaramillo recalls, "but we weren’t sure of the technology that we could use, because we weren’t familiar with any wireless broadband connection that can support a project like this."

The University eventually contacted people from Smart for their wireless broadband connection. "Smart Bro is easy to set up and manage," says Ernie Lozarez, assistant network engineer for UE. "Hindi kami napahiya nung launch, because Smart Bro definitely complied with the speed it promised to have."

Smart Bro’s connectivity is made possible by installing a Smart Bro antenna outside your home or office with a direct "line of sight" to the nearest Smart cell site offering the strongest possible radio frequency transmission. It enables users to enjoy high-speed Internet broadband connection without the need for a phone line, with speeds that are up to seven times faster than any dial-up Internet connection.