Both parties also agreed to explore utilizing NOW Fiber Air for UnionBank’s branches and other sites owned and operated by the Aboitiz-led bank. #FiberAir #NowCorp

Mel V. Velarde, CEO of Now Corp. (3rd from right) with (from left) UnionBank’s Henry R. Aguda, SEVP, CTOO and CTO, Maria Francesca R Montes, AVP-Data Privacy Office, and Paulo Martin G. Santos, VP Enterprise Communications and Collaborations. Also from NOW Corp. are (from right) Raymond del Rosario, Media Group, Kristian A. Pura, Head of Business Development, and Rodolfo Pantoja, Deputy CEO. (Contributed photo)

Listed wireless communication firm NOW Corporation has entered into a multi-year agreement to provide one gigabit per second (1Gps) broadband connectivity to UnionBank of the Philippines.

The deal makes UnionBank the company’s first banking and gigabit client and launches NOW Corporation’s Fiber Air plans for enterprises via its fixed wireless network infrastructure that it has established in Metro Manila.

The service will support UnionBank’s digital transformation roadmap starting at its corporate headquarters in Ortigas Center, Pasig City while strengthening NOW’s position as the largest fixed wireless access (FWA) broadband provider in the country.

Both parties also agreed to explore utilizing NOW Fiber Air for UnionBank’s branches and other sites owned and operated by the Aboitiz-led bank.

NOW has established its FWA by using high-capacity and proprietary radio antennas exclusive to its access to frequencies.

Kristian Pura, head of Strategy for NOW Corp., said the company’s technology allows it to offer gigabit plans to existing and prospective enterprise and retail subscribers with its advertised speeds as committed speeds.

NOW Corp’s partnership with telecommunications affiliate NOW Telecom allows it to efficiently deliver high capacity, gigabit bandwidth internet access, both scalable and easily repeatable nationwide.

The company upgraded and quadrupled its capacity to 2.40Gbps in 2018, with technological costs lowering, and bandwidth capacity solutions increasing. It has connected more than 400 buildings with service coverage of up to 2 kilometers per building.

“This inverse relationship between technological costs and high marginal value is the core element that keeps NOW’s business model thriving,” said NOW Telecom President Rodolfo Pantoja.

“Especially in the Fixed Wireless space, where bandwidth capacity solutions are exponentially increasing, we at NOW have the right footing to maneuver this competitive space,” Pantoja added.