Smart Communications has announced that it has fired up its commercial first “5G Stand Alone (SA)” sites in Makati City, powering up one of the first 5G SA networks in the world.
Smart first began exploring 5G in 2016. It fired up the country’s first 5G base stations in 2018 and made the first 5G SA-powered video call in Southeast Asia in August 2019.
“With the first batch of our 5G SA sites now fully operational, we are starting to see the true capabilities of 5G which will play a critical role in the advancement of massive IoT, health care and smart cities, delivering customer experience that is truly world-class,” said Alfredo S. Panlilio, PLDT and Smart Communications president and CEO.
Smart said 5G SA technology will pave the way for a variety of new industry applications that utilize 5G’s full features. 5G SA, it said, will provide fast response times and access to higher data rates that are required by cloud gaming or immersive media.
Customers will also be able to project everything on any surface or use Augmented Reality (AR) glasses to superimpose images, videos, and information right in front of them, it added.
“5G SA, as an innovation platform, will create new opportunities for enterprises and consumers that will maximize its ultra-reliable and low latency capabilities. This enables 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.
In firing up its first 5G SA sites at the PLDT and Smart headquarters in Makati, Smart has upgraded its 5G facilities, enabling them to connect with the 5G core network.
With 5G SA in place, Smart said it can soon offer Voice over New Radio (VoNR) and network slicing capabilities, as well as support new industrial and enterprise opportunities. Smart made its first VoNR call as early as June this year at the Technolab in Smart Tower in Makati City.
