Globe Telecom said it would launch 5G services in the Philippines in the second quarter of 2019.
The mobile service provider said it has the necessary assets to run 5G targeting both business and retail customers. Globe is mainly focussing on completing the upgrade of its network – radio, transmission, core, and facilities – to support 5G by the end of the year.
Globe in July 2017 started commercially deploying massive MIMO technology, using 2CC carrier aggregation, which doubles LTE capacity. The strategy behind the investment in MIMO was to bring 5G to its customers.
“5G is an important building block for the Philippine economy’s competitiveness. This is the reason we are accelerating our efforts to deploy 5G so we can provide as many Filipinos as possible an access to the technology,” Globe Telecom’s chief technology and information officer Gil Genio said.
Earlier, Globe announced plans to start offering the first 5G Globe At Home service by the second quarter of 2019.
While it is upgrading its network to support 5G, Globe is also pushing for the boundaries of 4G/LTE technology.
“5G will not operate as a standalone technology, at least not for the earliest use cases. How 4G / LTE integrates with 5G will determine the overall fixed wireless experience in the next few years,” Genio added.
Globe Telecom spent over P139 billion towards Capex, mainly for the expansion and upgrade of its network, from 2014 until the first quarter of 2018.
Earlier, Huawei assisted Globe Telecom for implementing the $700 million network modernization program that began in 2011.
Globe Telecom in November 2015 signed a fresh five-year contract with Huawei, involving the planning and design of a mobile broadband network, as well as the creation of a mobile innovation center.