SingTel solutions allow millions to vote in remote areas of Philippines

7 June 2010

SingTel communications solutions enabled millions of voters in remote areas of the Philippines to participate in the nation’s first automated Presidential Elections.

In the world’s largest deployment of Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) satellite technology, SingTel provided high speed wireless connectivity for the secure transmission of voting data for more than 5600 polling centres nationwide.  The solution was integrated with the election organiser’s vote counting infrastructure and also incorporated SingTel’s ConnectPlus Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network (IP VPN) services.

In previous elections, votes were counted manually and the results from each polling station were hand delivered to election headquarters.   The Philippines government turned to advanced ICT solutions to improve the efficiency of the electoral process.

Mr Sanjiv Aiyar, SingTel’s CEO of Global and Wholesale, said: “SingTel is the only communications company in the region that can combine satellite and IP VPN services into a seamless integrated solution. By enabling organisers to set up polling stations anywhere in the country, no matter how remote, our solutions allowed more citizens to have a say in their nation’s future.  This flexibility is essential for a country like the Philippines, whose people are scattered across thousands of islands.”

Mr Joseph P. Maddatu, Chief Operations Officer of We are IT Philippines, SingTel’s partner in the Philippines, said: “We were delighted with the outstanding performance and reliability of SingTel’s BGAN satellite solution, which was crucial for the smooth running of the elections.  Even at the busiest polling stations, which handled thousands of ballots, SingTel’s solution never let us down.”