Smart Communications, the mobile arm of Filipino telco PLDT Inc., is teaming up with South Korea’s Samsung Electronics to accelerate the deployment of 5G Standalone (5G SA) technology in the Philippines.
The mobile services provider said in a press release that this development follows Smart's recent firing up of their commercial 5G-SA sites in Makati.
Earlier, Samsung was able to test 5G-SA and make a successful call using a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G via Voice over New Radio (VoNR) at the PLDT-Smart Technolab in Smart Tower in Makati City, it said.
VoNR further elevates the voice and video call experience of users, enabling much better call quality using the 5G-SA network. Smart made its first successful VoNR call as early as July this year with another vendor at Technolab.
"5G SA, as an innovation platform, will create new opportunities for enterprises and consumers that will maximize its ultra-reliable and low latency capabilities, enabling industrial automation, autonomous mobile robotics deployment, safe remote crane operations, fast response in gaming and interactive video streaming, among others," said Mario G. Tamayo, Head of Technology at PLDT and Smart.
"For the 5G future of the Philippines to be fully realized, we need to accelerate the rate of deployment for more use cases and new applications to thrive. With 5G networks expanding across the globe, people are now experiencing the impact 5G can have on the mobile experience. At Samsung, we continue to expand our 5G-enabled devices so more Filipinos can experience the power of next-generation 5G connectivity and enable them to share more, play more, and do more, faster,” said James Jung, president of Samsung Philippines.
According to the release, 5G SA technology paves the way for a variety of new industrial applications that utilize 5G’s full features, enabling super-fast response times and faster access to higher data rates that are required by cloud gaming, or immersive media, for example.
This collaboration further bolsters Smart's leadership in the 5G space. To date, Smart has deployed around 6,400 5G base stations nationwide - the widest 5G network in the country.
