SMART Communications, Inc. on Thursday said the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) will support its fifth-generation (5G) deployment in the country through a training assistance.
The USTDA 鈥渁warded a grant鈥 for training to Smart, the wireless arm of PLDT, Inc., to advance its plan 鈥渢o expand 5G services to 96% of the country鈥檚 population,鈥 the telco said in an e-mailed statement.
The US agency made the award to support the telco鈥檚 investment in equipment and services from Cisco Systems, Inc.
The training grant is expected to help the company in providing better cloud-based products and services to its customers throughout the Philippines.
鈥淭his grant builds on previous USTDA assistance that is advancing PLDT and Smart鈥檚 efforts to modernize the company鈥檚 national fiberoptic network and prepare the Philippines for the transition to 5G,鈥 Smart said.
USTDA said it is committed to supporting 鈥渃utting-edge鈥 information and communications technology infrastructure in the country.
鈥淸The project] will strengthen digital connectivity and bring faster, higher quality, and more affordable digital services to the people of the Philippines,鈥 USTDA Acting Director Vinai Thummalapally said.
Alfredo S. Panlilio, president and chief executive officer of PLDT and Smart, said: 鈥淎 well-trained technical team is vital to the success of our overall digital transformation, which will enable us to elevate the experience of our customers.鈥
鈥淥ur people must be trained and prepared to make full use of the power of these transformative new technologies,鈥 he added.
Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in 大象传媒 through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. 鈥 Arjay L. Balinbin
