Philippines DITO's 5G SA Core Network Boosts Business Success Across All Scenarios

MANILA, Philippines, Aug. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- By 2024, more than 50 mainstream operators worldwide have pioneered the commercial use of 5G SA networks, with DITO in the Philippines being a notable example.

The Philippines is currently undergoing a critical period of fast digital economy development, and the rapid growth of mobile communications services are also reflecting this too. As the third largest mobile communications operator in the Philippines, DITO launched the Philippines' first commercial 5G SA network in 2021 to underpin the development of 5G. By 2024, DITO has constructed a fully converged 5G SA core network, which leverages the advantages of the one cloud and distributed network architecture to enable all services. DITO also innovatively launched 5G SA 2C and 2H services and is now promoting the 5G 2B product capability set. In recent years, DITO's users base has rapidly grown to over 10 million, showcasing their network competitiveness and strong brand recognition.

During the early stages of network construction in 2019, DITO proposed the concept of building a network with advanced architecture, excellent experience, and business success. Over the past three years, DTIO has successfully developed a 5G SA core network that is distinguished by its exceptional architecture and outstanding capabilities.

1. Simplified architecture for building an industry-leading fully converged core network: The commercial use of 5G SA networks focuses on the construction of 5G SA core networks, which is difficult and time-consuming. DITO strategically planned its target network well in advance, becoming the first to evolve its core network into an IP-based, fully cloudified system. Additionally, it established one center-edge distributed cloud. This enables a fully converged, simplified network for both PS and IMS services, which effectively reduces the total number of NEs, cuts O&M costs, and improves service experience.

2. Distributed architecture for building a distributed core network with an excellent service experience in the Philippines: Given the Philippines' numerous islands, DITO strategically deployed distributed UPFs and SBCs in five large areas to be closer to users. In this way, user traffic in each area can be processed nearby, and user calls can also be connected nearby, significantly shortening the network latency caused during cross-area service access. Thanks to the distributed 5GC core network, flattened transport network, and ultra-high bandwidth, and multi-antenna wireless network, DITO won 13 mobile experience awards among 15 mobile experience competition items, as indicated in Philippines Mobile Network Experience Report APRIL 2024 released by Opensignal in April 2024.

3. Highly stable architecture for building an ultra-reliable core network with multi-level redundancy capabilities: The Philippines is subjected to numerous natural disasters; therefore, the infrastructure conditions are unstable, and optical fibers break frequently. To cope with network outage risks, hierarchical and multi-level reliability capabilities are introduced to the core networks there. Specifically, full DC-level redundancy is offered across DCs in an area, and node-level redundancy is provided for data backup and multi-channel load sharing within a DC in an area. Furthermore, the core network does not solely rely on the reliability of the I layer. Instead, it employs network-level redundancy, NE-level redundancy, storage bypass, and fast fault recovery capabilities to ensure high service availability anytime, anywhere.

4. Agile architecture for building a multi-service-capable core network for multiple purposes: To achieve fast business monetization, the core network is able to enable multiple services. The network allows 4G/5G SA services for 2C users to be quickly commercialized, and FWA series services for 2H users to be quickly launched. The uplink capability of the 5G SA network and the spectral efficiency of RedCap CPE are fully leveraged, which effectively boosts the prosperity of the 5G CPE industry in the Philippines, promotes the maturity of the 5G FWA industry in the Philippines, and improves service experience of home users.

The pace of innovation never stops, and DITO is currently making strides in this strategic area. They have successfully completed 5G VoNR verification and are now exploring various innovative services, including 5G E2E slicing, 5G SA international roaming, 5G WLAN, and 5G enterprise private network. DITO is committed to becoming a leading 5G SA operator that offers 2C, 2H, and 2B services in the future.

As 5G technology evolves and DITO continues to invest directly in it, users will experience smoother and more efficient communications services. This will not only foster growth in the Philippines' communications industry but also significantly contribute to the development of the country's digital economy.