5G to open new revenue opportunities for telco—Ericsson

as top choices, with local currency bonds becoming increasingly attractive. “Investors are looking into more liquid markets — Hong Kong, Australia and, gradually, Asean. Intra

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to Asean,” the executive added.

Citi noted that intra-Asia trade corridors have the potential to pick up slack from China and US supply chains that may be threatened. “This region represents a much bigger opportunity as it is currently underpenetrated. Industries are well developed, but the long-term savings industry and asset management is not. So we’re seeing bigger allocations towards Asia from fund managers.” said Johanna Chua, head of

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a lot of traction growth. Growth story is there. However, we need more FDI. The

Due to the ongoing “Build, Build, Build” program of the government, infrastructure is considered as a major growth driver. In addition to this, services exports such as tourism, manufacturing with preferential tax treatments, and agricultural development and energy are seen to be growth drivers as well.

energy will potentially be huge growth driv-

head of Markets and Securities Services noted.

According to Citi, last year was a good year for everybody. Despite the many challenges eco-

growth projection this year is 6.9 percent. “There

- pines. It’s one of the only economies without any fuel subsidies and domestic demand story Martin Wiktorin

SWEDISH communications service provider Ericsson estimates a $1.8-billion revenue opportunity for telecom operators addressing industry digitalization with 5G technology in the Philippines by 2026.“5G will open up new revenue streams for operators as they go beyond being connectivity and infrastructure providers to become service enablers and service creators,” Nunzio Mirtilio, senior vice president and head of market area Southeast Asia, Ocenia and India, said in a statement.Ericsson Philippines showcased the 5G technology during a recent press briefing to celebrate its 30th anniversary in Shangri La Hotel, Taguig City. The demonstration showed a 5G trial system that has data speed of up to 23 Gbps (gigabyte per second), and the use of 5G in 3D augmented reality, mining and healthcare.Ericsson President and Country Manager of Singapore and Brunei Martin Wiktorin said they are now in the process of rolling out a 5G network in the Philippines.“As soon as the terminals and the networks are available, then we are good to go,” Wiktorin said during the panel discussion. Country’s telco giants Smart and Globe have both announced the roll out of their 5G networks in 2019.Mirtillo said Ericsson’s 5G platform would address ‘the tremendous need’ for the technology to support the traffic and business needs of their customers.“Ericsson has been a key part of the telecom ecosystem in the Philippines for 30 years, bringing voice and data services to millions of customers in the country. We are the first to market with solutions that enable today’s networks to evolve smoothly to the next generation of technologies. 4G is the foundation of 5G, and Ericsson is well poised to help the operators in the Philippines to transition seamlessly from 4G to 5G,” said Mirtillo