Manila: The Philippines’ Globe Telecom said yesterday it will launch Southeast Asia’s first 5G broadband service next month using Huawei technology.
The system uses wireless radios instead of fibre optic cables to deliver service to thousands of customers in a nation that suffers from a lack of fast connections.
Manila is a historic Washington ally, but Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has pulled away to attract Chinese business and investment.
Globe president and chief executive Ernest Cu said in a statement: “We made a crucial step in fulfilling our goal of connecting more Filipino homes, and our vision of bringing first-world Internet to the Philippines.”
US Defence Secretary Mike Pompeo earlier warned the Philippines and other nations during a visit to Manila in March against using technology from Huawei. A Philippine police spokesman said last month that they investigated espionage allegations against the Chinese firm, but “have not uncovered any evidence to confirm that Huawei is actually spying”.
Apart from Globe, Huawei is also contracted to supply video surveillance gear to a $400 million Philippine police project to deter crime in several cities.
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