International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI), in partnership with PLDT Inc., is set to operate the country’s first 5G-enabled port at its flagship, the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT).
“It’s very important to us that we constantly drive efficiency and optimization in the cargo flows. And to do that, we also need to push that optimization, beyond the boundaries of the fence of the container terminal,” said Brian Mark Hibbert, ICTSI vice president and chief information officer, during the recent Philippine Digicon 2021.
“To really drive this journey forward, we wanted to deploy a unified backbone of communication across the port. Hence our partnership with PLDT around 5G technology,” Hibbert added.
ICTSI is one of the world’s largest container terminal operators with 34 container ports across 20 countries.
In recent years, it has deployed various Internet of Things solutions in some of the technologies it utilizes in its operations and management.
MICT will be the first in the ICTSI Group and in the Philippine port industry to use 5G technology.
“We see many opportunities with 5G to provide rich communication, not just to the multitude of technologies that we’re deploying inside the port, but to reach out to our customers and partners across the supply chain,” he added.
The ICTSI partnership is under the broad program of PLDT and its wireless unit Smart Communications Inc. to develop world-class 5G technology use cases for industry and enterprise.
To date, Smart has more than 4,000 sites across the country, with the fastest 5G network in the first to second quarter this year, according to Ookla.
PLDT and Smart have been at the forefront of 5G technology in the Philippines since 2016.
