Globe Telecom more than doubled the number of locations across the Philippines with 5G service, as it stepped up an aggressive rollout of the next-generation technology to meet rising demand for high-speed connectivity.

In a statement, the operator noted it ended 2022 with coverage in parts of 70 cities and towns, up from 29 at end-2021.

It claimed 5G service is available across nearly all of the country’s three largest cities: Manila, Davao City and Cebu. Coverage also reached up to 97 per cent of the population in another ten cities.

The company didn’t disclose the number of 5G users or sites deployed at end-2022, but Q3 2022 figures showed it ended September with 1,887 sites nationwide.

Ookla’s Speedtest clocked the median download speed of the network in Q1 and Q2 2022 at 15.5Mb/s.

Globe Telecom allocated $1.9 billion on capital expenditures in 2022, up from $1.7 billion the previous year.

In December 2022, the company announced plans to cut capex in 2023 by 30 per cent to $1.3 billion and target bringing capital spending down to $1 billion by 2024.