PLDT, SMART Communications and Clark Development Corp. have signed a memorandum of understanding to launch Clark Freeport Zone (CFZ) as the Philippines’ first Smart 5G City.
Under the MOU, PLDT and Smart with technology partner Ericsson will fire up the first 5G cell site in the city in November. They are also ramping up the roll-out of LTE in key areas in CFZ and equipping all of them with 5G facilities in the coming months.
With its capability to deliver extremely high speeds coupled with low latency, 5G opens up exciting possibilities for IoT applications for Filipinos, as well as smart applications for the transport sector, traffic management, manufacturing, airport and mall operations, logistics and warehousing, retail, customer support, and smart homes, among others.
“By piloting 5G in Clark, we are making this zone even more attractive to foreign investors,” said Juan Victor Hernandez, Senior Vice President and Head of Enterprise for PLDT and Smart. “Through this pilot, we are putting the possibilities of 5G closer to industries, businesses and enterprises operating in the city.”
Earlier in August, SMART and Ericsson signed an MoU to deploy the country’s first 5G pilot netwok by the first half of 2019. Under the MoU, the 5G network will be first deployed in Luzon, the country’s largest and most populous island where about a third of the population work and live.
The 3GPP compliant 5G Trial System that will be deployed in SMART includes Ericsson 5G RAN, Core and Transport solutions. The 5G pilot deployment will allow SMART to explore industry partnership engagements, collaborate with schools and universities, and further develop competence in 5G.
“We are happy to be working with CDC in building the city of the future, equipped with smart services and powered by 5G infrastructure, right here in Pampanga. This will benefit not only Clark but the country as well by demonstrating that we are in step with the rest of the world in adopting advanced intelligent technologies,” said PLDT and SMART Chairman and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan.
Alongside the MoU signing, Ericsson also showcased possible use cases for 5G in an exhibit that featured Ericsson’s Robotic Arm, Balancing Robot, Connected Mangroves and Connected Fleet technologies.
