Athletes from PLDT-Smart Omega and Cignal Ultra Warriors from the first franchise-based esports league in the Philippines – The Nationals played the country’s first 5G-powered esports exhibition match at the PLDT headquarters in Makati City.
The two teams battled it out in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang armed with 5G devices – Huawei Mate 30 Pro 5G, OPPO Reno 5G, and the ZTE Axion 5G using the 5G network of Smart. PLDT-Smart Omega emerged victorious at the end of the 10-minute exhibition match.
Smart is also set to deploy indoor 5G coverage to support the training grounds of the various teams under The Nationals.
“5G is very promising and I am very excited to know that it will be promising for The Nationals. The athletes would surely love the lower latency which would allow them to maximize their response times and teams will benefit from other use cases like an instant download of replays and access of VODs for their reviews and strategy phases,” said Darren Vitug, Commissioner of The Nationals.
“We were excited to play using these new 5G handsets and the 5G network. We were surprised by how fast our connection was. It enabled us to level up our game—as if we were in an actual tournament,” said Kenneth “Kenji” Villa, Team Captain for PLDT-Smart Omega.
Smart has steadily deployed 5G, starting with Makati and Pampanga in 2018. Last year, Araneta City became the first Smart 5G Lifestyle Hub and 5G shopping mall. PLDT and Smart have also launched 5G at the Ateneo de Manila University.
Ram found his love and appreciation for writing in 2015 having started in the gaming and esports sphere for GG Network. He would then transition to focus more on the world of tech which has also began his journey into learning more about this world. That said though, he still has the mentality of "as long as it works" for his personal gadgets.
