Globe launches fixed wireless 5G service

Globe Telecom Inc. commercially launched its fifth-generation (5G) fixed wireless broadband service, making the Philippines the first country in Southeast Asia to experience the latest network technology.

Globe launched Globe At Home Air Fiber 5G postpaid plans late Thursday in Taguig City.

The  Globe At Home Air Fiber 5G will enable the Ayala-led telco to connect more Filipinos at home given the external challenges of rolling out fiber optic cables in the country, according to Globe president and CEO Ernest Cu.

“The arrival of 5G has caused excitement in the global world of telecommunications. Today, we made a crucial step in fulfilling our goal of connecting more Filipino homes, and our vision of bringing first-world Internet to the Philippines,” Cu said.

The Globe At Home Air Fiber 5G postpaid plans offer “fiber-like” speeds up to 100 Mbps and data packages of up to 2 terabytes.

The latest service will be initially available in select areas in Pasig, Cavite, and Bulacan.

Cu said the Globe At Home Air Fiber 5G will reinforce the efforts to achieve the company’s goal of connecting two million homes by 2020.

“Prior to Air Fiber 5G, we have aggressively utilized fixed wireless solutions to connect more homes and businesses to the internet over airwaves. This strategy resulted in home broadband subscriber base increasing by 55.1% to 1.7 million in the first three months of 2019 from 1.1 million in the same period in 2016,” Cu said.

Globe at Home Air Fiber 5G will be available to eligible customers in July 2019.

Plans come at P1899 per month for speeds of up to 20 Mbps, P2499 for up to 50 Mbps and P2899 for up to 100 Mbps. All come with up to 2TB data capacity.

“Globe At Home Air Fiber 5G makes use of fixed location wireless radios instead of fiber optic cables which enables the company to go over the circuitous approval process of deploying a fiber optic cable—a task which proves to be arduous and involves securing multiple permits from local government units (LGUs),” Cu said.

“The right of process can sometimes take years to obtain, causing drastic delays in fiber optic roll-out completion,” he added.

The telco has been spending over 21% of its annual revenues to upgrade and expand its telecommunication and information technology infrastructure since 2012.

“We have been ramping up our capital spend from P20.3 billion in 2012 to P43.3 billion in 2018, in order to provide our customers better broadband services,” Cu said. —VDS, GMA News