PLDT, vHive & Amdocs Launch Drone-Aided Site and Inventory Audits
Amdocs, a leading provider of software and services to communications and media companies, today announced that it has completed, in a collaboration with Amdocs partner vHive, a proof of concept (PoC) with Philippines-based PLDT’s wireless subsidiary Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) that showcases how service providers can harness autonomous drone technology to transform how they manage and maintain network towers, while also reducing their carbon footprint.
The PoC provided Smart with an advanced, safe, sustainable way to replicate their network towers by digitizing Smart’s portfolio. Working with vHive, Amdocs’ Drone-Aided Site and Inventory Audits solution powers autonomous drone flights to simplify data capturing, effectively creating a digital twin of towers quicker than manual inspections.
Multiple teams such as network planning, optimization, engineering, and operations typically send out tower-climbing teams when they need to survey a site. This leads to duplication of effort and unnecessary truck rolls. Through the PoC, Smart was able to dramatically reduce truck rolls, minimizing its environmental impact while achieving greater operational efficiency and improved data accuracy and analysis in support of its vision of transitioning to AIOps and Autonomous Network Operations.
By leveraging the digital twin and wider solution, which integrates with Amdocs’ network inventory offering to ensure a single source of truth for the tower, Smart can also gain ongoing value around other use cases, from planning and design to compliance reviews and mount mapping/inspections.
“As we maximize the network we have put in place across the country and aim for better customer experience – we also need to empower our people and processes with the right technology to continuously improve. Digital Inspection is a good example of how we are holistically transforming every aspect of our network to a future state through new ways of working and using automation to evolve our operations,” said Eric Santiago, FVP and Head of Network at PLDT and Smart. “This is a step towards Smart’s vision of being the best in customer experience by building a fully automated, intelligent, highly efficient network, and putting in place sustainable network and operations.”
“We are excited to work with Smart to showcase this innovative solution and empower Smart on its automation and digitization journey,” said Anthony Goonetilleke, Group President of Technology and Head of Strategy at Amdocs. “At a time when service providers across the globe are looking to reduce their carbon footprint and become more efficient, this project highlights the vast potential of new technologies to enable agility and accelerate business outcomes.”
About Amdocs:
Amdocs helps those who build the future to make it amazing. With our market-leading portfolio of software products and services, we unlock our customers’ innovative potential, empowering them to provide next-generation communication and media experiences for both the individual end user and enterprise customers. Our 31,000 employees around the globe are here to accelerate service providers’ migration to the cloud, enable them to differentiate in the 5G era, and digitalize and automate their operations. Listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market, Amdocs had revenue of $4.58 billion in fiscal 2022. For more information, visit Amdocs
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PLDT has successfully tested 50G PON, the technology that powers the company’s fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) service across the Philippines.
“After successfully testing XGS PON in 2021, we are testing the latest 50GPON, which will allow five times faster speeds than XGSPON and 20 times faster speeds than GPON, which is the most widely used technology by fiber providers in the Philippines,” said Arvin Siena, vice president and head of network strategy and transformation office at PLDT and Smart.
As of end-September 2023, the PLDT Group has expanded its total fiber footprint to over 1.1 million cable kilometers, consisting of over 0.2 million cable kilometers of international fiber and about 0.9 million cable kilometers of domestic fiber.
According to PLDT, its network has reached more than 17.3 million homes in 69% of the country’s municipalities/towns, while PLDT’s total number of fiber ports rose to 6.15 million covering over 18,000 barangays nationwide. [Editor’s note: A barangay is the smallest local government unit in the Philippines.]
“This latest milestone is a testament to the Group’s commitment to always be ahead in harnessing the best technologies and innovations to deliver enhanced services and elevated customer experience to the Filipino public,” said Eric Santiago, head of network at PLDT and Smart, in a statement.
“While we have been offering boosted speeds to our customers even before the pandemic, this new technology further ensures that we can provide the best and fastest service to homes nationwide,” he added.
https://www.lightreading.com/broadband/pldt-first-to-trial-50g-pon-in-the-philippines