Globe Taps Huawei to Deploy Commercial FDD Massive MIMO in the Philippines

Philippines Globe Telecom has partnered with Huawei to commence the trial of the world's first FDD Massive MIMO commercial product.

FDD Massive MIMO is expected to boost cell capacity by a factor of two to three times based on legacy terminals compared to the current LTE deployment.

This enhancement in cell capacity will provide a better experience for more consumers.

Globe began building LTE networks in 2013 and is utilizing LTE technology to provide mobile broadband and fixed wireless broadband services. Mobile data traffic has been growing rapidly driven by increased smartphone penetration.

LTE networks have been the major contributor to this growth over the last few years. Massive MIMO technology can enhance network capacity without adding additional spectrum resources and deferring to the construction of new sites. Massive MIMO is also seen as one of the key technologies for the future 5G era network.

Robert Tan, Chief Technical Advisor of Globe Telecom, said, "We are committed to provide users with high-quality and high-speed connectivity to support their digital lifestyle. Video and rich multimedia content is driving the growth in data demand and the need for a better customer experience. The Massive MIMO technology utilizes spectrum more efficiently and enables us to deliver superior customer experience with a tremendous boost in data capacity to support the exponential growth in wireless data consumption from our increasing base of MBB and WTTx customers. We are glad to see the timely introduction of Huawei's FDD Massive MIMO commercial products. It is a natural evolution of our network towards the 5G era."

Veni Shone, President of Huawei’s LTE Product Line, emphasized that "Since the release of commercial TDD Massive MIMO products two years ago, such products have been deployed by over 40 operators. This shows Huawei's technology accumulation and experience in Massive MIMO deployment. Now, Huawei is launching the FDD Massive MIMO commercial product. This is the most compact product available in the industry, and provides excellent performance and high reliability. We are pleased to see that Globe has chosen Huawei's Massive MIMO solution to cope with its growing wireless data traffic. It is our hope that Huawei's active-antenna technologies supporting all RATs and multiple bands can effectively help global operators embrace the era of massive connections and maximize spectral efficiency. We also hope it can effectively facilitate operators' digital transformation and further support a continuous evolution towards the 5G era."