Technically, 5G technology in the Philippines is already here. Globe Telecom launched it last week with much fanfare that I thought its commercial rollout will start soon.

I was wrong. It’ll be rolled out in 2Q2019 first for prepaid home broadband customers.

Because, according to Globe President Ernet Cu, the potential for 5G application is limited in a mobile phone so it makes more sense to launch it first for home broadband users. This will also eliminate the need for Globe to lay down more copper wires or fiberoptic cables to reach more customers. All they have to do is to build on top of exisiting cellular towers by installing Massive MIMO on them. Chief Technology Officer Gil Genio said 5G will only be launched in cities because there should be a tower every 250m or so, hence, density is the key for good coverage.

I’m skeptical. We still have sketchy Globe signal in my mom’s house in UP Los Baños, which is not exactly a rural area. So how in the world can Globe boast 2 Gbps over the air?

In a country where the only players that matter are PLDT and Globe? Where the system of infrastructure is stuck in the 20th Century (no third-party tower operators like in…well… like the rest of the world)? Good luck.

Until a third player comes in or PLDT relents and becomes amenable to having third-party tower operators, we are stuck with having 20,000 cellular towers nationwide, serving 106m Filipinos spread out across 7,700 islands. In contrast, Vietnam has 50,000 cellular towers for its 80m citizens. To be fair to Globe, it is open to selling its towers and just lease from tower operators so that much of its capex would be freed and diverted to improving customer experience.

As DICT Secretary Rio said, there should be at least 2.5 carriers in each tower for a tower operator to be viable. Globe and a third telco player makes only 2; we need PLDT to be on board.

Let’s see.

Disclaimer: I both cover Globe and PLDT. My mobile operator is Smart (PLDT) while my home broadband is Globe.