Press Release
SMART enables Ateneo’s 150th anniversary celebration’s live video-streaming
[30 June 2009/ Manila] - Looking for a high-tech, but hassle-free and affordable means to ‘broadcast’ your next school activity live over the Internet?
Leading wireless services provider Smart Communications, Inc. (SMART) participated in the recent sesquicentennial celebration of the Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) and enabled its students and alumni in different parts of the world to watch it via live video-streaming, through the high-speed mobile broadband coverage of SMART.
“We are happy that SMART provided the access which enabled us to share our school’s 150th anniversary celebration with our fellow Ateneans, wherever they are in the world,” said Mimi Agbay, Ateneo Sesquicentennial Project Coordinator.
The celebration kicked off with a Mass at the Manila Cathedral and was followed by a motorcade which passed through Intramuros and Padre Faura in Manila, Salcedo and Rockwell in Makati, Pasig and finally, Loyola Heights, in Quezon City, where the rest of the program was held.
Ten videographers, who were equipped with SMART cameraphones, simultaneously covered the whole-day event. While taking the video, the ten ‘reporters’ were directly uploading the video in real time onto Qik, a free online social networking and video blogging service that allows users to stream video from their celphones to the Internet. The coverage allowed viewers to watch on http://www.qik.com/ the different parts of the event happening at various locations at once, as they happened. Visit http://www.qik.com/groups/5194 to view the Ateneo 105th anniversary celebration videos.
Without using laptops or webcams or any other hardware except their trusty SMART cellphones, the ‘multimedia’ reporters connected wirelessly to the Internet through SMART’s mobile broadband coverage – or High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) – the faster ‘sibling’ of 3G. Metro Manila is just one of many places in the country with the best, fastest HSPA coverage – or high-speed broadband experience on a mobile device such as a cellphone or a wireless modem.
Connecting to the Internet through a SMART cellphone costs a flat rate of only P10 for every 30 minutes. Once connected, SMART’s mobile broadband coverage delivers multimedia downloading and uploading at speeds that could make one forget he or she is right there following a parade, wirelessly connecting to the Internet and sharing the experience with the rest of the world.
“It is interesting how cost-effective it was, that by using just 10 cellphones, we were able to provide viewers a clear and comprehensive coverage of the event, from different points of view, and through different styles of taking videos,” added Agbay.
According to Sonia Araneta, Head of Communications and PR Group of the Ateneo University Development and Alumni Relations, Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, SJ, President of the University, wants the next activities broadcasted using the same technology.
For more information on SMART’s mobile broadband services and rates, please visit http://www.smart.com.ph/.
