Globe Telecom Inc. said it will commercially roll out its fifth-generation wireless technology service with speeds of up to 100 megabits per second by the second quarter of 2019.
Globe president and chief executive Ernest Cu said the 5G technology would enable Globe to use Air Fiber technology in relation to deployment of fixed wireless broadband that would benefit individual customers at home and business clients.
“Air Fiber internet, which makes use of fixed location wireless radios instead of fiber, could provide speeds ranging from 50 Mbps to 100 Mbps,” Cu said.
The 5G network will boast of higher speeds, lower latency, and better capacity. This will enable Globe to deploy fixed wireless broadband at a fiber speed, he said.
Globe said it would start rolling out 5G services commercially in the Philippines by mid-2019.
“We have been preparing our network for some time now with our existing vendor partners, including Huawei Technologies. We are happy to bring the Philippines in line with other countries that are early adopters of 5G. Once again, we stay true to our commitment to bring the first-world internet in the country,” Cu said.
The technology will also enable the company to go over the circuitous approval process of deploying a fiber optic cable, which involves multiple permits from local government units.
The right of the process can sometimes take years to obtain delaying fiber optic roll-out completion.
“We can bring internet to more homes by deploying 5G compared to a typical fiber optic roll-out,” Cu said.
The 5G technology is expected to accelerate the adoption of Internet of Things in the country. Globe earlier said it was enabling its network by utilizing spectrum assets such as the 700-megahertz band.
Globe is currently piloting Narrow Band- Internet of Things technology while enhancing its mobile data services. Due to its inherent advantage of long reach, the spectrum is ideal to support NB-IoT services.
NB-IoT is one of the three 3GPP standards-based low power wide area technologies developed to enable a wide range of new IoT devices and services.
NB-IoT, as a standard, is more developed compared to other defined 3GPP standards. Globe and Huawei are collaborating to ensure network readiness to support these services.
Globe’s network has one of the largest deployment of Massive MIMO (MM) in Asia as part of its strategic technology roadmap since 2016. MM is the fundamental radio access technology for 5G.
Globe said it was spending over 31 percent of its annual total revenues to upgrade and expand its telecommunication and IT infrastructure.
Globe said it raised its capital spend from P21.1 billion in 2012 to P36.7 billion in 2016 and P42.5 billion in 2017 to provide its subscribers of better broadband services. Globe said it would further accelerate its capital spend to over P43.5 billion this year.