Ericsson has conducted the first live demonstration of 5G in the Philippines as part of its celebration of 30 years of operations in the nation.
During the demonstration, Ericsson achieved data speeds of 20Gbps, and showcased 5G use cases including NFV, 3D augmented reality, mixed reality mining and data-driven automation.
The vendor also signed a memorandum of understanding with PLDT's wireless division Smart to deploy a 5G pilot network from 2019.
The pilot network will be deployed in Luzon, the largest and most populated island in the archipelago.
“We are committed to help bring to the Philippines the latest technologies that will advance the digital transformation of the country. In line with this, we have partnered with Ericsson to conduct a pilot deployment of 5G in Luzon,” PLDT CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan said.
“This will open the door to a new wave of innovative services and solutions that will profoundly change the way our people live and how businesses, government and communities in the country conduct their affairs.”
Ericsson has meanwhile announced that it plans to amp up its investments in US-based R&D to help support the accelerated buildout of 5G in the nation.
The company late last year opened a design center in Texas focused on the ore microelectronics of 5G radio base stations, and plans to open a new software development center this year that will be focused on baseband technologies.
“The United States is our largest market, accounting for a quarter of Ericsson’s business over the last seven years,” Ericsson CEO Börje Ekholm said. He noted that the company predicts that 5G will account for 150 million subscriptions in the US by the end of 2023, or roughly 48% of all mobile subscriptions in the market.
“To serve the demand of these fast-moving service providers, we are strengthening our investment in the US to be even closer to our customers and meet their accelerated 5G deployment plans.”