The Philippines’ third telco DITO Telecommunity Corp has launched a pilot trial of street level 5G microsites in Dasmarinas Village, in Makati, with the aim of providing ‘comprehensive coverage speed and capacity for the whole of the village’. Claiming a ‘first’ in the Philippines, the company partnered with Huawei to deploy an innovative solution in an area that historically has been anti the deployment of telecoms towers close to homes due to perceived health concerns.

‘These DITO microsites are installed in streetlamp posts in strategic locations in and around the village to provide ‘true’ 5G [i.e. 5G Standalone] connectivity to residents of Dasmarinas Village, and not the hybrid 4G-5G [5G Non-Standalone] currently offered by the two other telcos,’ said DITO CTO Rodolfo Santiago. He added that microsite technology has potential ‘far-reaching effects’ especially for areas where tower-building is prohibited or not allowed.