Telecommunications giant Globe was recently recognized for having the Best Network Reliability Solution at the 5G Core Summit Awards, hosted by leading technology market research firm Informa Tech.

The award recognizes the mobile operator that “has achieved exceptional stability and reliability in its network infrastructure” and “demonstrates excellence in maintaining high performance across diverse regions, understanding and meeting user expectations, and minimizing downtime,” according to the awards website.

The recognition is a nod to Globe’s pioneering efforts to build up its 5G network, with its outdoor coverage reaching 98.45 percent in its capital region and 94.19 percent in key cities across its two other major island groups, Visayas and Mindanao, as of June 2024.

Earlier on, Globe became the first Philippine telco to deploy End-to-End (E2E) Network Slicing Function of 5G Standalone (SA), the most advanced 5G technology, paving the way for a range of applications, including high-bandwidth activities such as video streaming, virtual reality and Internet of Things.

“This recognition affirms our efforts to invest in 5G technology and make it more accessible to our customers. 5G holds great promise as digital adoption in the Philippines continues to accelerate, and our goal is to have our network ready for when the market is ready to fully utilize the benefits of 5G,” said Joel Agustin, Globe Head of Service Planning and Engineering.

The awards were held during the 5G Core Summit (5GCS) in Dubai, where Globe announced its groundbreaking advancements in building a highly stable and resilient 5G core network, ensuring unparalleled service continuity for its customers.

As a pioneer in the Philippines’ 5G rollout, Globe has consistently invested in cutting-edge technologies and continues to expand its 5G network coverage across major cities.

Globe understands the unique challenges of the Philippines, a nation prone to natural disasters. To ensure uninterrupted service for its customers, the company has built a core network architecture designed for exceptional stability and resilience. Globe has embraced a four-layer architecture for high stability, a journey that began in 2013 and continues to evolve with the ever-changing demands of their networks so that each layer will contribute to the overall stability of the network.

Weathering challenges

“We face many challenges in the Philippines, owing to our geography and weather. Our goal is to fortify the resilience of our network and ensure zero service disruption, zero user data loss and minimize human intervention,” Gerard Ortines, Globe vice president for core network planning and engineering, said.

As for the infrastructure layer, Globe’s network of distributed data centers across multiple locations provides geographically diverse redundancy, ensuring seamless service continuity even during storage failures.

This network is built upon three pillars — NF high-reliability, network high-reliability, and data high-availability — helping it withstand significant signaling load increases and seamlessly transition operations between data centers. Globe’s core network is also built for resilience in the face of extreme scenarios such as disasters, ensuring service availability even in the event of multiple failures.

Globe is now exploring new ways to improve network stability by anticipating and preventing potential issues before they happen. This includes predicting problems in real time and automatically identifying the causes to reduce service disruptions. The first step is introducing digital twin technology, which gives real-time insights into the network’s condition. This will allow for proactive monitoring, early problem detection, and faster resolution of any faults.

By using innovative technology and building a strong, resilient network, Globe aims to ensure best-in-class customer experience. Globe will continue to work closely with industry partners and global leaders to set and implement reliability standards for the telecommunications industry.