You heard it right. Globe Telecom is really pushing for 5G adoption by next year.
5G, or fifth-generation wireless, is the latest evolution of cellular technology and data connectivity. It has the capability to deliver extremely high data speeds coupled with low latency. 5G will also allow the rapid progress of the Internet of Things (IoT) in the country.
The company hopes to double its current average broadband speeds from 17 Mbps to 50 Mbps by 2020, according to Globe chief technology officer Gil Genio. Globe has partnered with Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei to bring 5G technology to the Philippines and speed up Internet speed in the country.
Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu said that the first 5G service will be available by the second quarter of 2019. He claims that 5G will allow Globe to deploy fixed wireless broadband at fiber speeds. It will also enable Globe to use Air Fiber technology with regard to the deployment of fixed wireless broadband.
“Air Fiber internet, which makes use of fixed location wireless radio instead of fiber, could provide speeds ranging from 50 Mbps to 100 Mbps,” says Cu.
“We have been preparing our network for sometime 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 first-world Internet in the country,” he added.
Air Fiber technology allows Globe to bypass the bureaucratic red tape involved in deploying fiber optic cables, which sometimes takes years due to numerous permits from local government units. “We can bring internet to more homes by deploying 5G compared to a typical fiber optic roll out,” Cu explained.
This is certainly good news for Internet users in the Philippines, which have long suffered from slow Internet speeds. According to OpenSignal, the Philippines ranked 85th out of 88 countries in terms of 4G speed at 9.49 Mbps. For comparison, Singapore ranked first at 44 Mbps while neighboring Vietnam is at 21.5 Mbps.
Meanwhile, rival Smart Communications has launched 5G Technolab, a facility that will focus on research, development and testing of 5G technology.
With Globe’s and Smart’s planned rollout of 5G technology, slow and lagging Internet will hopefully be a thing of the past.
Sources: ABS-CBN News, GMA News
