Smart partners with Samsung

MANILA, Philippines — Smart Communications Inc. has teamed up with Samsung to drive the development of 5G standalone (5G-SA) technology in the country.

“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,” PLDT and Smart head of technology Mario Tamayo said.

Smart said 5G SA technology paves the way for a variety of new industry 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 connectivity will also help drive the future-readiness of the telco network, creating new business opportunities and enabling new consumer services beyond the mobile phone screens, it said.

“For the 5G future of Philippines to be fully realized, we need to accelerate the rate of deployment for more use cases and new applications to thrive,” Samsung Philippines president James Jung said.

“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-enable 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,” he said.

Smart said its collaboration with Samsung would further bolster its leadership in the 5G space.

The company has deployed around 6,400 5G base stations nationwide to date, the widest 5G network in the country.

Smart has also recently fired up of their commercial 5G-SA sites in Makati.

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.

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 last year with another vendor at the Technolab.