PLDT, Smart fire up 5G media center

MANILA, Philippines — PLDT and wireless subsidiary Smart Communications Inc. have fired up 5G at the TV5 Media Center in Mandaluyong City, allowing the network to utilize the technology for live coverage and news gathering.

“This is part of our commitment to make the latest technologies, innovations and solutions available to our customers,” Smart president and CEO and PLDT chief revenue officer Alfredo Panlilio said.

PLDT said TV5 can explore the use of Smart 5G through certified devices for live coverage and news gathering with 5G now available in its studios.

“Recently, we made Smart 5G commercially available so that our subscribers can try it out and enjoy its super-fast data service. With Smart 5G now up at the TV5 studios, we look forward to working more closely and co-innovating with TV5 to find out how we can further harness 5G together to modernize their news operations,” Panlilio said.

TV5 Network Inc. is controlled by PLDT through MediaQuest Holdings Inc. “5G is a platform for you to innovate new solutions. It provides you the flexibility to innovate your business with the solution you need in order to cope with the situation we are in,” PLDT chief technology and information advisor Joachim Horn said.

“5G livestreaming and augmented reality with high quality videos can enable completely new experiences. You could watch sports as if you were there, without having to be there. Especially in these times, these are very important innovations made possible by 5G,” Horn said.

Smart’s 5G mobile network in late July went live as a commercial service.

Under its initial phase of 5G commercial deployment, Smart Signature, Infinity and other Smart postpaid subscribers will be able to enjoy the super-fast data service of Smart 5G in key business districts of Metro Manila using Smart-certified handsets with 5G-activated SIMs.

PLDT said 5G would be rolled out in more targeted areas in Metro Manila this year, and extended to other urban centers next year.

In 2018, it fired up the country’s first 5G base stations in Makati with Huawei and the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga with Ericsson.

Last year, Smart also launched the first Smart 5G Lifestyle hub and 5G-enabled shopping mall In Araneta City, as well as the first Smart 5G campus at the Ateneo de Manila University.

PLDT said its 5G deployment plan involved a steady investment effort that has amounted to nearly P260 billion in overall capital expenditures over the past five years.