Nokia and Smart showcase 'live' 5G for the first time in the Philippines

• Nokia AirScale platform successfully demonstrated 5G-ready capabilities for IoT connectivity, enabling ultra-low latency and providing unprecedented user experience

• Smart's innovation team and Nokia Manila Technology Center will conduct joint 5G research and development

• Smart gears up to be 5G-ready by 2020 through massive efforts in network infrastructure today

16 December 2016

Manila, Philippines - Nokia and Smart, a wholly-owned subsidiary of PLDT, have achieved 5G speeds of 2.5 Gigabits per second (Gbps) using 100 MHz with latency of just 1 millisecond for the first time in the Philippines over a 'live' network. With its capability to deliver extremely high speeds coupled with low latency, 5G opens up exciting possibilities for Internet of Things (IoT) applications for Filipinos, particularly in healthcare and smart cities. Nokia Manila Technology Center and Smart's innovation team will collaborate to conduct joint 5G research for the development of 5G technology.

The 5G demo was conducted at Nokia Manila Technology Center in Quezon City, one of its global Research and Development powerhouses for 5G technology. Nokia is at the forefront of 5G research and standardization, and its R&D centers across the globe including the Manila facility, are helping to bring the company's 5G vision closer to reality.

With extremely low latency, 5G will enable a huge number of new use cases, such as remote surgery, real-time responsive robots for automated industrial production, virtual and augmented reality and autonomous driving. Utilizing content created with the Nokia OZO virtual reality (VR) camera, the demo showcased the possibilities enabled through the broadcast of rich, immersive 3D 360 VR content. The demo also leveraged the Nokia AirFrame Data Center platform to support high performance and low latency requirements. Smart has a proven record of investing in the Internet of Things and Machine-to-Machine applications, and 5G will be critical in realizing their full vision.

Manuel V. Pangilinan, chairman and CEO of PLDT and Smart, said:

"We are excited to work with Nokia in conducting cutting-edge research and development for 5G. This is a key part of our efforts to transform the PLDT and Smart network into the country's most future-ready data infrastructure delivering a wide range of gigabit digital solutions."

Joachim Horn, chief technology and information advisor at PLDT and Smart, said:

"Smart is committed to enriching the lives of Filipinos by bringing them the best-possible technology. This live demo is part of our initiative to develop 5G capabilities by 2020. We look forward to working with Nokia and taking advantage of its leadership and proven expertise in the 5G space. The demo also underlines our commitment to provide the most relevant services and the best experience to our customers."

Sandeep Girotra, head of Asia Pacific and Japan at Nokia, said:

"Smart has been a longstanding partner of Nokia and we are thrilled to be part of their transformation towards 5G. Acquiring the 5G competencies early will enable Smart to lead the market with new offers for their subscribers and improve the customer experience. Nokia is committed to R&D investment through our Manila Technology Center, which plays an important role in the development of 5G solutions and services."

Overview of Nokia solutions provided for the trial:

• The 5G-ready Nokia AirScale Radio Access can run all current technologies at the same time, which enables service providers to save operational cost.

• The Nokia AirFrame Data Center platform supports distributed cloud architectures, which will be critical to meet low latency and high data processing requirements of real time IoT

Did you know?

• Nokia collaborates with leading universities in Europe, the USA and China to expedite the development of 5G technologies.

• There will be up to five billion IoT devices connected through mobile networks by the year 2020, according to Nokia Bell Labs