MVP rolls out 5G carpet for PBA
MANILA, Philippines — A year ago, PLDT-Smart set up a pilot plant in the New Clark City complex for its 5G network. Nobody knew at that time the pandemic would strike. Nobody imagined the PBA would suspend its 45th season and restart in the Clark bubble. Perhaps, it was destined to happen because today, the PBA will reboot with a doubleheader at the Angeles University Foundation gym backed up by Smart 5G technology.
PLDT-Smart chairman Manny V. Pangilinan said yesterday 5G connectivity has been extended to cover the bubble from the Mimosa Leisure Estate where the PBA teams are billeted at the Quest Hotel to the playing venue about a 10-minute drive away. “The origin of all this was the pilot plant we put up a year ago,” said MVP. “We’ve now extended its availability to the bubble. Our TV cameras will also be equipped with 5G technology. We’re adapting NBA standards where floor cameras are controlled remotely. We’re using about a dozen cameras for the coverage.” Smart 5G will create fiber-like speeds on mobile devices and make it more efficient to capture basketball action in real time.
MVP said there will be a 94-foot wide LED screen to provide a virtual audience for the games. “We want to give the players a sense of spectators,” he said. Under IATF guidelines, no live audience will be allowed to witness the PBA games. Players, however, are able to see fans cheering on the LED wall where action, as it happens, will be streamed, powered by Smart 5G. “Both technology and basketball are in the DNA of Smart,” said MVP. “In this unprecedented PBA league, we are bringing these two together, paving the way for new exciting experiences for organizers, players and fans of the sport.”
PLDT chief revenue officer, Smart president/CEO and PBA Meralco governor Al Panlilio said the download speed provided by Smart 5G is an amazing 1.1 to 1.2 Gbps. The PBA coverage will be the first 5G-powered sports broadcast in the country, enabling ball-tracking and heat-sensing cameras to monitor the health and safety of players. “The opportunities of applying 5G technology are limitless,” said Panlilio. “I’ve challenged TV5/Cignal, sitting on the Board, to make the PBA coverage a showcase. We won’t adopt everything that the NBA is doing in Orlando but we hope to be close to it. Our support for the PBA is in line with our thrust to bring Filipinos closer to their passions, powered by mobile innovations made simple by Smart.”
Panlilio said FIBA executive director for Asia Hagop Khajirian has reached out to access the PBA coverage so countries, primarily in East Asia, are provided an online platform to view games being played in the bubble. The agreement is for the PBA doubleheaders on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays to be livestreamed on the FIBA Asia Champions Cup Facebook page for eight consecutive weeks starting today. The livestream will be geo-blocked in China and the US. FIBA secretary-general Andreas Zagklis is expected to monitor the PBA games in studying the applicability of creating bubbles to stage the qualifying windows for the various Continental Cups.
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