ANGELES CITY – The two leading communication firms in country contributed to the success of the first-ever automated elections in the country.
Disclosing this to Punto yesterday, Philippine Long Distance and Telephone Company (PLDT) and Smart communications spokesman Ramon Isberto said “overall, the fixed and mobile networks of PLDT and Smart, respectively, successfully transmitted election returns from polling precincts and canvassing centers in various parts of the country, thus contributing to the unprecedentedly rapid tabulation of votes for both national and local offices.”
“About 84% of the total number of Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines had already transmitted their results, according to the COMELEC,” he added.
Isberto said “exhaustive preparations” prior to the polls enabled us to operate our networks trouble-free.”
“While the just concluded elections were an exciting event for Filipino voters, network-wise, for PLDT and Smart, it was uneventful,” he said.
Smart’s nationwide cellular network provided GPRS connectivity that enabled PCOS machines to transmit election returns. Smartmatic acquired about 30,000 SIM cards for use in the PCOS machine modems, of which over 18,300 were used to transmit election returns in different parts of the country, according to Isberto.
PLDT provided DSL broadband services for municipal and city canvassing centers, fiber optic connectivity for the data servers of the Commission on Elections, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) and the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas. Isberto added that PLDT also provided back up data center services for Smartmatic.
Isberto said that networks of PLDT and Smart did not suffer any major outages during the elections nor were these adversely affected by power outages in various parts of the country.
Both firms are headed by Manny V. Pangilinan.
Disclosing this to Punto yesterday, Philippine Long Distance and Telephone Company (PLDT) and Smart communications spokesman Ramon Isberto said “overall, the fixed and mobile networks of PLDT and Smart, respectively, successfully transmitted election returns from polling precincts and canvassing centers in various parts of the country, thus contributing to the unprecedentedly rapid tabulation of votes for both national and local offices.”
“About 84% of the total number of Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines had already transmitted their results, according to the COMELEC,” he added.
Isberto said “exhaustive preparations” prior to the polls enabled us to operate our networks trouble-free.”
“While the just concluded elections were an exciting event for Filipino voters, network-wise, for PLDT and Smart, it was uneventful,” he said.
Smart’s nationwide cellular network provided GPRS connectivity that enabled PCOS machines to transmit election returns. Smartmatic acquired about 30,000 SIM cards for use in the PCOS machine modems, of which over 18,300 were used to transmit election returns in different parts of the country, according to Isberto.
PLDT provided DSL broadband services for municipal and city canvassing centers, fiber optic connectivity for the data servers of the Commission on Elections, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) and the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas. Isberto added that PLDT also provided back up data center services for Smartmatic.
Isberto said that networks of PLDT and Smart did not suffer any major outages during the elections nor were these adversely affected by power outages in various parts of the country.
Both firms are headed by Manny V. Pangilinan.
