The Kadayawan Festival in Davao City got its name from madayaw, a local greeting which means valuable, superior, beautiful, good, or profitable. This year, amidst celebrations, Smart gives Davaoenos one more beautiful thing to be happy about as they go global using the country’s first next-generation LTE (Long Term Evolution) network.
“We are bringing Kadayawan to the world,” said Smart Broadband Internet and Data Services Head Lloyd Manaloto. “We have set up several booths around the city where festival-goers can share their Kadayawan experiences to family and friends worldwide using Smart LTE. “
Known around the world as the most superior wireless connection technology in existence, LTE is a perfect fit to the fast-paced Kadayawan festival. With speeds of up to 42Mbps, locals and tourists alike could upload their photos and videos online in seconds.
“We have kiosks and booths, laptops and tablets, USB dongles and WiFi hotspots—whatever you need, there’s a connection option waiting for you,” said Manaloto. “Our versatile network allows us to deploy the latest services which Filipinos could rely on wherever and whenever they are needed,” he added.
Manaloto refers to the P67.1 billion mobile network upgrade which Smart, together with parent company PLDT, has completed last month. With more than 9,500 base stations nationwide now ready to offer the latest 3G and 4G technologies, and the introduction of portable equipment such as the Mobile Element On Wheels (MEOW), Davao will play a pivotal role in leading Mindanao into the future of mobility.
Earlier this month, Davao also welcomed another innovation as the city launched its first mobile application just in time for the Kadayawan festival.
Simply called “Davao Life” the app features information about Davao City from attractions, to restaurants, to places of interest around the city. The Smart-sponsored app is available for free download at the Google Play online store (https://play.google.com) and is compatible with all Android-powered devices.
“We already completed network modernization upgrade of our base stations here in Davao so the timing is just right,” said Rolando G Peña, head of PLDT-Smart network in IP systems. “This app is a good example of how mobile technologies can be maximized by local governments for their projects,” he added.
In late July, Smart held the first Tech Fest at the University of Southeastern Philippines (USEP), Smart’s partner school under the Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program (SWEEP).
During the week-long event Smart, held the HTML5 DevDay Davao, the first HTML5 hackathon in Mindanao, which brought together the country’s top HTML5 enthusiasts and practitioners.
The festivities ended with a one-day bootcamp from IdeaSpace Foundation Inc. where aspiring technopreneurs honed their skills as they pitched their ideas to panelists.
