As PLDT continues to lead the country’s 5G deployment in firing up strategic 5G sites nationwide, the country’s largest fully integrated telco remains committed in its bid to unlock a world enabled by the Internet of Things (IoT) through PLDT Enterprise and Smart.

During the 2022 World Telecom Smart City Conference, PLDT Vice President & Head of Enterprise Innovations Melvin Jeffrey Chan shared how emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), data analytics, and automation, powered by underlying advanced communication technologies, will help improve quality of life.

This is tied to PLDT’s vision of leading and inspiring Filipinos to go further and create a better tomorrow.

“From PLDT’s perspective, we believe that the next generation of communication, namely 5G and IoT, will be the key components helping us achieve that vision,” he said.

Since the group demonstrated the first 5G use case in 2016, it has been shaping the country’s digital ecosystem by advancing 5G’s capability to deliver high bandwidth and low latency to open endless possibilities for IoT use-cases to Filipinos.

Smart is currently the country’s undisputed fastest 5G mobile network, based on the latest report of Ookla®, the global leader in mobile and broadband network intelligence, based on Q3 to Q4 results in 2021.

Additionally, PLDT Enterprise had also launched the first IoT platform in the Philippines earlier this year, the Internet of Possibilities (IoP), which enables companies to facilitate effective connectivity and usage management of a multitude of connected IoT devices within an organization.

“I believe 5G and IoT are two sides of the same coin, one interdepends on the other: 5G enables low latency, high-performance communication, which in return, enable our network to support more data and more devices, enable smart city and industries, immersive experience, application sensitive network performance, and hybrid connectedness. And through this, it’s our way of how we provide [our services], using next-generation and connectivity to power smart cities.”

These technologies will be beneficial to power various industries, including manufacturing, healthcare, communications, transportation and logistics, retail, agriculture, and finance, among others.

In 2018, PLDT Enterprise and Smart launched the first 5G Smart City at the Clark Freeport Zone (CFZ), firing up its first 5G cell site. Later that year, it also launched the first Smart 5G campus, through Ateneo de Manila University, which aimed at exploring the uses of 5G to foster inclusion, resilience, and sustainability.

The group had also succeeded in firing up commercial 5G Standalone (SA) sites in Makati City last year, which was one of the first 5G SA networks in the world. Furthermore, the group also partnered with Samsung to test 5G-SA and make a successful video call using a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G via Voice over New Radio (VoNR).

Chan said that 5G and IoT are emerging technologies that are still new to local companies. It will require the ramping up of information drives on its use-cases and how it would benefit enterprises.

“IoT and 5G are relatively new concepts in this country to the point that a lot of people don’t fully understand what IoT is or never heard of it. We need to channel thought leadership, educate them, and finally find an angle where we can co-innovate together,” Chan noted.

 Chan is PLDT Enterprise’s specialist in 5G and IoT, holding extensive expertise in preparing industries for an IoT-enabled world. For more information, visit https://www.pldtenterprise.com/solutions/internet-of-things/iot-platform. 

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