Globe Telecom on course to deploy 5G technology by 2Q19

Globe Telecom of the Philippines has said it is on track to begin implementing fifth-generation wireless technology by the second quarter of next year and is moving forward with plans to upgrade its networks to support it. In a statement the telco said: ‘Globe in July 2017 started commercially deploying massive MIMO [multiple input, multiple output] technology, using 2CC carrier aggregation, which doubles LTE capacity’. Further, it confirmed that with the requisite assets now in place, it is confident it can complete its network upgrade in support of 5G by the end of the year. Officials from Globe recently visited Huawei in China to discuss a 5G partnership. The vendor was Globe’s technology partner for a USD700 million upgrade programme that began in 2011. In November 2015 the two firms signed a fresh five-year contract, involving the planning and design of a mobile broadband network, as well as the creation of a mobile innovation centre.