Philippines telecom operator Now Telecom has signed a partnership with Cisco to enhance 5G communication systems and networks in the country.
The deal aims to help NOW in deploying highly secure and reliable 5G services and applications for the public sector, key enterprise verticals and consumers.
The telecommunications industry in the Philippines is dominated by two major players, PLDT and Globe Telecom, which collectively account for over 80 percent of the market share.
With the government encouraging the entry of new players Now is one of the companies that have been given the authority to operate as a new player in the telecom industry by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) in 2018.
Now's chairman Mel Velarde said the group is determined to bring about true 5G and national broadband network (NBN) technologies in the Philippines.
"Cisco will play a significant role in enabling Now's network infrastructure transition," he added.
With the ongoing digitisation of businesses, mobile carriers require advanced capabilities of 5G networks such as high speed, low latency, reliability, and dynamic provisioning. Using Cisco's solutions as-a-service, the telco plans to offer speed, agility, and scalability with on-demand end-to-end solutions adapting to customers' specific business needs.
According to Now, Cisco will help them to offer the latest solutions in connectivity, cybersecurity, cloud computing, and other advanced technologies to enable businesses and organisations to securely connect, communicate, and collaborate.
The alliance is expected to support monetising 5G solutions, especially for customers in manufacturing, logistics, port operations, banking, and BPO industries.
More recently, the telecom operator has also signed a deal with the Finnish vendor Nokia to pilot a 5G network across multiple sites in the capital city of Manila. The project enabled through a grant provided by US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) to Now Telecom is all set to begin with a proof-of-concept expected in July.
