Nokia, NOW Telecom, and USTDA announce partnership to improve 5G in PH!

In a press statement, Nokia Bell Labs Consulting announced that it will be creating the 5G network design and Proof of Concept (POC) for NOW Telecom.

File photo: NOW Telecom, Nokia, and USTDA logos

NOW Telecom 5G coming? Finally?

Basically, the main purpose of this is to help create a nationwide network design of 5G Standalone (SA) and design + planning for a national broadband network.

The goal of the partnership is to help accelerate 5G deployment in the Philippines.

Part of the agreement revealed that Nokia will also design and implement a pilot 5G network at multiple sites in Metro Manila. The initiative is facilitated by the grant received by NOW Telecom from the US Trade and Development  Agency (USTDA) to support the development of 5G mobile and fixed wireless networks in the country.

The consulting work will start next month and the POC will be carried out in July of this year (2023).

With the help of Nokia, NOW Telecom "may now have the capacity" to address the growing demand for reliable and secure digital services from both household and enterprise customers.

Once implemented, NOW Telecom plans to offer Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) and enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) 5G services "to connect the unconnected" and provide superior network speed and latency improvement. 

Stefan Wilhelm, Head of Bell Labs Consulting at Nokia, said:

We are excited that our expertise will make a critical contribution to the development of digital infrastructure in the country. The study by our Bell Labs Consulting will provide NOW Telecom with the required analysis, designs, and plans for the phased implementation of the 5G SA network.

To recap, the PSE penalized NOW Corporation over a misleading "4th telco player" claim last 2021. But it appears that the company is now back on track the grant it received from USTDA and Nokia's help.

What do you guys think?