PLDT and SMART provide communication support for the 40th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting

MANILA, Philippines, August 9, 2007 – Philippine Long Distance Telephone Corp. (PLDT), along with wireless subsidiary Smart Communications Inc. (SMART), provided communication support for delegates and media personnel during the recently concluded 40th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ministerial Meeting (AMM).

            Internet connectivity was made available by PLDT through free DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) connection, while SMART provided free Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) Service – also known as Hotzoning – to areas around the PICC Complex in Pasay City, where the 40th AMM was held from July 29 to August 2. Hotzones are venues that offer WiFi access, making it possible for people to use their laptops, PDAs, or Dual-mode phones to access the Internet. WiFi access during the 40th AMM was made possible through Smart Bro, the wireless broadband service of SMART.

            PLDT also provided basic telephony services through landlines which were set up all over the event area, and also accommodated more complex communication services required by delegates and media personnel from participating countries such as Brunei, Japan, Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Thailand, among others. Smart SIM cards, call cards, and E-Load were also available at the PICC Forum, which housed AMM’s media participants.

            Emma Kate Symons, a journalist who covered the 40th AMM for an Australian newspaper, says the venue’s Internet connection was a vital tool for her. “I use both the DSL and WiFi connection to research for additional information I need to write my articles on this event, as well as to keep track of other articles that have been released online about the 40th AMM. More importantly, I use the fast Internet connection to maintain prompt coordination with our head office back in Sydney, so that I could finish my stories and have them released quickly,” she explains.

            Members of the Jakarta Bureau were also present during the 40th AMM. Maria, a journalist, says even though she did not need to coordinate with her office back in Jakarta since her whole team was at the event, PLDT’s fast DSL connection allowed their group to throw stories around more quickly. “There’s so much going on and there’s so many stories that we could write about, which is why the reliable Internet connection made work easier for our whole team,” she shares.

            Mike Alquinto, a Filipino photographer for the European Press Photo Agency, benefited from the venue’s Smart Bro WiFi connection since he needed the Internet to send event photos to different publications worldwide. “Instead of going back to the office to send the photos, the WiFi connection allowed me to stay on the venue to standby for any scoop,” he says. Alquinto also shares that he and many other photographers are also avid users of WeRoam, the wireless broadband service of PLDT which reaches far-flung areas with limited Internet connection. “With our clients always waiting to receive photos from different events, photographers like me just can’t afford to not be connected to the Internet,” he says.

            Another PLDT subsidiary, Mabuhay Satellite Corporation (MSC), also extended their support during the international meeting. MSC provided the transmission facility which allowed more than 20 international news channels to broadcast either live or taped reports to their home stations.

            MSC also catered to more specific requirements by international TV stations such as NHK (Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai or Japan Broadcasting Corporation), which operates on high-definition TV. “Japanese TV stations operate on high-def, but even if  we’re only accustomed to standard-definition TV, Mabuhay still strived to meet all of our clients’ requests. We had to since MSC was accredited as the only broadcast facility to provide satellite transmission for the 40th AMM,” explains Jeffrey Martinez, technical services, MSC.

            With the theme “One Caring and Sharing Community”, the 40th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting is a joint project of Malacañang and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). “Organizing committees of international conferences held here in the Philippines have already become accustomed to PLDT and SMART being supportive in major undertakings such as these,” says Leo Castro, Senior Manager, Corporate Alliance and Business Community Relationship Management, PLDT.