Ericsson Appoints Sean Gowran as President and Country Manager of Philippines and Pacific Islands

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Ericsson announced the appointment of Sean Gowran as President and Country Manager for Philippines and Pacific Islands as of August 1, 2015.

Prior to his appointment, Sean headed Engagement Practices for Ericsson in North East Asia and was based in Beijing, China. He has been with the company for the past 28 years, and has held leadership roles in Research and Development, customer solutions, business and technology development, sales and operations.

From 2010-2013 Sean was Executive Vice President of Ericsson Greater China, where he was responsible for sales and operations in South China, covering the provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and Hainan. In 2005 he was President of Ericsson Taiwan, and two years prior to that was Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Ericsson US, where he was responsible for business and technology development with a number of operators, including Verizon, Nextel, and Sprint.

Sean has also held leadership roles in various Ericsson offices around the world, including Ireland, Mexico, Sweden, Indonesia, the United Sates, Taiwan, and China. With his years of experience in Asia, he shared that he is looking forward to his new role.

Free Wi-Fi Backbone Awarded, Connectivity Providers for 867 Municipalities Sought

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The photo above is the Chinese Garden in Luneta, one of several areas in Rizal park where the DEpartment of Science and Technology (DOST) – Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Office’s Free Wi-Fi Internet access in Public Places Project is have a pilot run. Soon, public places like parks, town plazas, schools and government offices in 967 municipalities will have Free Wi-Fi Internet Access.

The Free Wi-Fi Internet Access in Public Places Project of the Department of Science and Technology’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Office has awarded data connectivity for fourteen Points of Presence (PoP’s) of the project to a Joint Venture of Innove Communications and Yondu Solutions, both subsidiaries of Globe Telecom, for a sum of PHP 74,844,000. These PoPs are slated to serve as the backbone and distribution hubs for Internet connectivity for the 967 municipalities connected under the project.

Fourteen POPs are distributed in the country’s three island groups and are located in the following areas: Luzon – 1) Tugegarao City, Cagayan; 2) Dagupan City, Pangasinan; 3) San Fernando City, Pampanga; 4) Lipa/Batangas City, Batangas; 5) Legazpi City, Albay; 6) Puerto Princesa City, Palawan; Visayas – 7) Iloilo City, Iloilo; 8) Cebu City, Cebu; 9) Calbayog City, Samar; 10) Tacloban City, Leyte; Mindanao – 11) Cagayan De Oro City, Misamis Oriental; 12) Pagadian City, ARMM; 13) Davao City, Davao del Sur; 14) Zamboanga City, Zamboanga. The original plan to use Butuan City as one of the POPs was changed to Cagayan de Oro City to maximize the coverage area needed by the project. 

Groups Ask PH Gov’t to Bring Canadian Case to Basel Secretariat

Wazzup Pilipinas!

After the announcement from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) that it will lodge a diplomatic protest with the Canadian government over the illegal waste shipment they sent to the Philippines, environmental watchdogs Basel Action Network (BAN) and BAN Toxics (BT) today called on the DFA and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to alert the Implementation and Compliance Committee (ICC) at the Basel Convention regarding Canada’s negligence to the treaty.

The Terms of Reference of the Mechanism for Promoting Implementation and Compliance provides that a “Party that has concerns or is affected by a failure to comply with and/or implement the Convention’s obligations” may submit these concerns to the ICC. BAN and BT are asking the Philippines to not just lodge a protest but to tell Canada that they are taking the case to the ICC if Canada continues its disregard to the Convention.

“The Philippine government needs to do more than just protest in this case,” said BT Executive Director Atty. Richard Gutierrez. “It is in the government’s best interest and the interest of the global community to ensure that this dumping will not happen again and that no other countries should suffer the indignity that we are experiencing because of Canada’s non-compliance. The ICC can help ensure this.”

The DFA said it is still waiting for some documents from the DENR and the Bureau of Customs to back its note verbale to the Canadian Embassy.