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What to expect from the upcoming 5G network in the Philippines

Last week, both Globe Telecom and Smart announced their 5G plans in the Philippines. While Smart merely revealed they’ve been only able to test 5G speeds of up to 6.5Gbps in their test labs, Globe managed to do a field demonstration during their launch at the Iconic Store in High Street BGC with sustained speeds of between 2 to 3Gbps.

The 5G network will allow for higher bandwidth speeds, lower latency and better capacity. Likewise, using Air Fiber technology, this network will provide wireless broadband speeds between 50Mbps to 100Mbps. That’s already comparable to existing wired broadband speeds and the advantage is that it is faster and easier to roll out nationwide.

Having used Globe’s Prepaid LTE Home WiFi for over a year now, there is a lot of promise in this direction. Currently, the existing device uses the 700MHz LTE frequency and is able to deliver speeds between 10Mbps up to 40Mbps in various locations in Metro Manila that I’ve tested.

In the province, where I would also bring the device on trips, I would get somewhere between 6Mbps to 10Mbps half the time where there’s decent LTE signal. Obviously, the experience in Metro Manila and other major cities are better than in rural areas where I’ve tested it.

Once the 5G network is rolled out, I’d expect something better than the current speeds I am getting. Globe has promise to get something commercially available by the Q2 of 2019. That’s still about a year from now but compared to other countries in our region, that’s bold commitment.

Using 5G network as an alternative to fixed wired connection has its own advantages and disadvantages:

  • Faster and Easier to Deploy. Unlike traditional fiber connections, there will no more digging and laying out of fiber cables as well as problems with “right of way”. Putting up a 5G network in an area will almost instantaneously give everyone in the vicinity fast wireless broadband.
  • Fixed Wireless wit Nomadic Characteristics. While it’s ideal to have the 5G modem in a fixed location to guarantee some level of signal and performance, it is still possible to carry and bring around the device wherever you go. Of course, the experience in speeds and signal reception will vary once you do this.

  • Prepaid Option. Unlike fixed wireless broadband where you need to pay for installation fees and commit to contract period, existing fixed wireless services are available in prepaid packages. This means you can buy a prepaid kit and test out the signal and speed performance in your area without committing to a long-term service plan. If the signal in your area is weak or unsatisfactory, just sell the prepaid kit in OLX and move on to the next available option.

Of course, a wired connection is still better than wireless connection in terms of stability and speed. That’s one obvious disadvantage of a 5G network as a broadband option.

However, in areas where alternatives to older lines like DSL, cable or satellite internet, a 5G network can be a better and/or cheaper option.

Of course, all these are just promises as of now. We’ll have to wait for further developments from both telcos and we’ll surely revisit this topic about a year from now.

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Avatar for Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

23 Responses

  1. Avatar for PALPAK 5G PALPAK 5G says:

    this is bullshit imagine they offer 5g ? in LOW Quality internet Kingina pati fiber nanasa 5k up ang bagal parin ng internet aanuhin mo ang 5g kng d nmn REAL 5g bibigay na service sayo mga pakulo nila pera pera lng

  2. Avatar for BrodNeil BrodNeil says:

    If this is the real 5g, the health risk involved outweighs the speed benefits. Try to research guys. It is our health for their money.

  3. Avatar for Kiel Kiel says:

    I want to destroy this smart shit network. Stupid service always.

  4. Avatar for Henrik Dahlström Henrik Dahlström says:

    Please we must stop 5g. Don’t let it come to the Philippines. The radiation is DANGEROUS! We should instead focus on how to decrease the already harmful radiation from 3g and 4g…I am Henry from Stockholm Sweden. Over here more and more people start to wake up.

  5. Avatar for Michael Nicarag Michael Nicarag says:

    Damn we must stop this. 5G will slowly kill us has enough radiation to cause problems

  6. Avatar for roi roi says:

    I agree that 5G is very very dangerous and cancerous!

  7. Avatar for Mac Lee Mac Lee says:

    How can we move to 5G when we are not even in 4G??? Where are the small cells, massive MIMO’s ect?????Very slow internet and yet very expensive!!!

  8. Avatar for Sows Sows says:

    5g is very hazardous its already been tested in netherlands and the very 1st victims are the birds who just died while they performing the 5g test. It will take time to effect on humans but slowly but surely will kill the people on the range of 5g.

  9. Avatar for daniel daniel says:

    5g Causes cancer

  10. Avatar for Duke Duke says:

    Globe is having a big disaster
    We have a broadband plan and but are place is lte but its signal is very slow even there are 1 device connected only

  11. Avatar for Paul Sanchez Paul Sanchez says:

    I think the real question is why are they racing so fast for 5G? Why not just focus on implementing Fiber every where. It’s the most secure, most stable and fastest. Anything wireless will never be able to compete with wired. And most of all, wired is safest for your health. It’s win-win. I encourage everyone to look up the long term dangers of living near cell phone towers. And now with 5G, towers need to be installed right next to everyone in order for it to be effective. It’s like microwaving your body constantly at much higher levels.

  12. Avatar for Ashley V King Ashley V King says:

    until there is real competition in the Philippines, we shall continue to have the same shitty service that we have has for the last seven years to my knowledge

  13. Avatar for tekninja tekninja says:

    This is not a solution, it’s a gimmick!

  14. Avatar for tekninja tekninja says:

    Even an average non-techy user obviously knows 5G is not the solution. It will not improve Quality of Service, Coverage or even reduce Cost. It’s a gimmick.

  15. Avatar for Maynne Millares Maynne Millares says:

    10gbps 5G connection with an 800MB/day cap, goodluck everyone

  16. Avatar for Ryan Ryan says:

    Smart and globe’s next milking cow. Basically an over hyped technology but obviously going to inherit the past technologies problem, congestion.

  17. Avatar for An Enthusiast An Enthusiast says:

    if this really the “5G”, then I expect lots of picocells to be strategically deployed within the city. If not, i consider this a joke. ang mahal kaya nyan, and they seem to advertise it as a “modem” pa. also, guys don’t expect your current phones to work on 5G. ibang receiver po ang kelangan nun. so if you want 5G, buy a new phone.

  18. Avatar for Juan De Dios Pueblos Juan De Dios Pueblos says:

    The “right of way” issues hindering the roll out of ISPs does not affect the past mile i.e the fiber going to the homes which btw what this “air fiber” solution is, another last mile access solution. ISPs would still need to lay out fiber cables going to their cell sites to serve as backhaul.

    And although this looks promising, the capping that ISPs imposed on their wireless plans make it really more expensive.

  19. Avatar for pandesal pandesal says:

    DOTC please lang do your job, stop this kagaguhan na 5G, ipa max muna ang 3G. 3G dito sa probinsya ok na basta tunay na 3G at lahat ng lugar. 5G para lang maka dagdag singil mga network. huhuhuhu

  20. Avatar for goaway goaway says:

    move along.. nothing to expect here… its just new name with same old problem…

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