The deal will see Nokia upgrade Globe's existing 4G network, as well as expand the geographical reach of its 5G network at more than 1,000 sites across the country. The deployment will cover the second and third largest islands, Mindanao and Visaya, and will begin in Q2 this year, with completion expected in 2023.
The equipment is from the 5G AirScale portfolio and will be used to build out the Radio Access Network (RAN), including base stations and other radio access products. Globe Telecom will also use Nokia’s high-capacity AirScale massive MIMO Adaptive Antenna, which utilises the latest 64TR radios.
Nokia's NetAct will be used for network management and daily network operations.
Globe's 5G services launched in June last year, and utilising the new 3.5GHz spectrum, it will now be able to provide end-users with high peak speeds typical on 5G network.
Ernest Cu, president and CEO, Globe Telecom, said: “We’re pleased to continue our partnership with Nokia to deliver compelling 5G experiences to our customers. We are going full steam ahead in delivering 5G in more areas, as this technology brings us closer to our goal of providing #1stWorldNetwork in the Philippines.”
The news came within days of Nokia launching its DelOps initiative. It's a new approach to managing the complexity of 5G core software delivery and operations, and includes a new suite of CI/CD Services to help communication service providers realise increased operational efficiencies.
In combination with DelOps, Nokia’s new suite of CI/CD services also reduces the complexity of the full lifecycle management of cloud-native 5G core applications. With three tailored segments for CSPs to choose from that accommodate existing CI/CD frameworks created by the operator, a third-party or by Nokia, operators choose the solution that fits their needs.
Fran Heeran, SVP and head of core networks, cloud and network services at Nokia, said: “Just as DevOps revolutionised the IT and web scale industries, DelOps opens a door to a new way of deploying and integrating new telecom solutions, and rapidly provides for efficient delivery into a wide range of environment types. Working in tandem with Nokia’s CI/CD services, CSPs will be able to innovate and deploy new services faster and more frequently without sacrificing network reliability.”
