Globe pilot tests narrow band technology
Globe Telecom Inc. is enabling its network to support emerging Internet of Things (IoT) services through the pilot of narrow band (NB)-IoT technology and utilization of the 700 megahertz (MHz) and other Long Term Evolution (LTE) spectrum assets.
In a statement, Globe said it has started the pilot of the NB-IoT technology given its inherent advantage of long reach and range, while enhancing mobile data services.
NB-IoT is a standards-based low power wide area technology developed to enable a wide range of new IoT devices and services. It improves the power consumption of user devices, system capacity and spectrum efficiency.
Globe is working with technology partners Huawei and Nokia in preparing the network for supporting IoT services.
“Given new business requirements in a highly digital environment, Globe is gearing up to deploy emerging IoT services relevant to various enterprises including the public sector. This is all part of our commitment to enable enterprises take advantage of the latest technological innovations, which is vital in driving economic competitiveness and growth in the country,” Globe president and chief executive officer Ernest Cu said.
He said, the Philippines has a need for a number of emerging IoT services including parking sensors, water meter reading, lighting control, garbage collection and flood control, among others.
“Fundamentally, IoT is about creating a digital ecosystem for services that are being used by various organizations. The use of IoT-related services is growing significantly around the world and it is time that we adopt them in the Philippines so that local enterprises can take advantage of the business benefits derived from these new technologies,” Cu said.
Apart from the pilot of the NBIoT technology, Globe has also been ramping up deployment of LTE sites nationwide.
In particular, it has deployed around 1,750 LTE sites across the country using the 700 MHz band to date.
Globe has also rolled out the massive MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) technology which allows a mobile network to multiply the capacity of a wireless connection without requiring more antennas.