Just for the record… Globe Telecom, running the largest mobile network in the Philippines, has “successfully showcased” the country’s first standalone private 5G (5G SA) network at its own INNOVANIA technology and innovation event. It used a core network from Athonet, acquired by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) in February, and pitched the demo as an Industry 4.0 harbinger for serious-minded mission-critical enterprise environments.
Mostly, a press statement just plugged the Athonet solution, calling it an “easy-to-use all-in-one… plug-and-play” bundle featuring a “top-rated mobile core network in a briefcase”, plus SIMs and radios, and both cloud- and edge deployment models; the latter are available with new HPE servers, or on a software licence to go into brownfield compute resources. It supports max-speeds of 780 Mbps and 150 Mbps on the down- and up-links, respectively.
Globe Telecom, as per the HPE lingo, pitches it as a complement to Wi-Fi, and also to public 5G. It stated: “The kit is… designed to work seamlessly with business applications through its N6 interface. A private 5G SA network provides unique advantages for entities, including enhanced security, customization, ultra-low latency, and high capacity. It can handle massive IoT deployments and is particularly beneficial for mission-critical applications.”
But, in the end, the fanfare is only for a regional demo project, to point the way for local enterprises to get connected. “The future of Philippine businesses is being redefined, ushering in an age of increased productivity, cost efficiency, and quality,” said Globe Telecom, while the rest of the global economy starts to move on private 5G in earnest. It didn’t stop Globe Telecom calling it “another innovation for our enterprise customers to experience.”
