Nokia's modular antennas to accelerate 5G in the Philippines

Nokia has announced that it is deploying its state-of-the-art, modular Interleaved Passive Active Antennas (IPAA⁺) across the southern islands of the Philippines. The deployment will enable telecommunications provider Global Telecom to accelerate and simplify 4G/5G rollouts in the region, while also delivering a higher level of network efficiency and performance as well as faster return on investment.

While service providers face the challenge of finding additional space on towers and rooftops to add 5G antennas, Nokia’s IPAA⁺ products accelerate the deployment of 5G by addressing this physical issue. Each IPAA⁺ is the size and weight of a standard multiband antenna and has been designed to make it easier and faster for service providers to deploy their 5G networks through just a simple antenna swap.

On top of their light, modular design, the IPAA⁺ devices support all 5G frequency bands in a single antenna, including the 2.6 GHz spectrum band. They inherently have the capability to support other bands, which means investments are protected. Combining 4G passive and 5G active antennas together into a compact solution can also help lower site rental costs and make the acquisition of sites faster.

Nokia and Globe’s engineering team has already successfully trialled a Globe Telecom-specific variant of the IPAA⁺ in the field. The field test was carried out in Tantangan, South Cotabato in the island of Mindanao, making Globe Telecom the first operator in the world to successfully test the 2.6 GHz IPAA⁺ variant.

“We are thrilled that Nokia’s state-of-the-art products will be deployed in the Philippines,” said Joel Agustin, SVP and Head, Network Planning and Engineering at Globe Telecom. “Our enduring pain points in site acquisition and TCO efficiency are being addressed by the features and design of the IPAA⁺. Simplifying the rollout of 4G and 5G services will greatly improve our customer experience especially in the southern region of the Philippines.”

Jeciel Nuyda, President at Nokia Shanghai Bell Philippines, added, “We are delighted to partner with Globe Telecom on this deal that will see our state-of-the-art IPAA⁺ products being deployed in the Philippines. These products are lighter, more modular and cover all sub-6 GHz 5G frequency bands. We look forward to collaborating closely with Globe on this important deployment.”

Here in Australia, Optus has already started rolling out an IPAA⁺ variant that incorporates a 2.3 GHz 8T8R array, while TPG Telecom plans to commence deployment later this year.