PHAR has negotiated separate long term agreements with both Globe and Smart for a holistic infrastructure roll out across 21 kms that comprises the LRT-1.
Over the last six months, PHAR has worked with the network and technical teams of both telco providers in terms of architecting and deploying of various infrastructure, namely, fiber optics, WiFi access points and wireless (3G and 4G).
With the WiFi in particular, wireless access points are first being rolled out in the stations, followed by a roll out in approximately 100 LRV’s (light rail vehicles). PHAR has invested in a captive portal which controls the last mile messaging to passengers and is able to display alerts, content and advertising. WiFi will be free for passengers for a limited period of time during their journey.
As of June 2017, 50% of the stations will be WiFi ready and the full deployment across all stations and all LRV’s will be complete by Q4 2017.