The NOW Group of Mel Velarde seeks to transform itself  into a digital service and mobile telecom provider under the Philippines' 2030 Vision and National Transformation Plan.

In its most recent move, NOW Corporation and NOW Telecom Company Inc.  partnered with Silicon Valley-based innovator of enterprise private wireless systems, CELONA Inc., to deliver next generation wireless 5G Local Area Network (LAN) solutions to local companies nationwide.

The triumvirate will focus on expanding NOW’s current broadband telecom network by rolling out turnkey stand-alone (SA) private wireless networks specifically engineered for the enterprise market. 

SA technology is considered “true” 5G, meant to ultimately drive new use cases and unlock the advanced capabilities of 5G.

NOW Telecom broke into the local 5G market four years ago.

However, in 2021, the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) penalized the company for misleading the investing public by claiming the National Telecommunications Commission granted it with the “fourth telecommunications player” - one of its three violations sanctioned by the PSE.

The new CELONA-NOW partnership will target key vertical markets such as manufacturing, oil and natural gas, logistics and transportation ports looking to automate business processes, improve productivity and streamline operations.

NOW will leverage on CELONA’s products and technology to bring private wireless network applications to market, streamlining costs, mitigating operational challenges, simplifying the customer experience, and enabling enterprises to scale their connectivity as demands change. 

NOW will use CELONA’s complete end-to-end portfolio of new NR (New Radio) products as part of its private wireless managed service offering. 

Earlier this year, in April, NOW Corporation and NOW Telecom Company, Inc. signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Cisco International Limited to deploy 5G technology nationwide.

The goal is also to bring monetizable 5G solutions to the public sector, key enterprise verticals and consumers.

And the target is NOW’s Enterprise customers in the manufacturing, logistics, port operations, banking, and BPO industries.

"The NOW Group is determined to bring about true 5G and National Broadband Network (NBN) technologies in the Philippines," according to Mel Velarde, NOW Chairman.