Smart’s LTE to cover major cities, 25 towns

MANILA, Philippines - Smart Communications Inc., the wireless arm of dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), is expanding its 4G (4th Generation) long-term evolution (LTE) footprint as part of the PLDT Group’s P32 billion capital expenditures this year.

Rolando Peña, technology head for PLDT and Smart, said the expansion would allow the company to cover all major cities as well as 25 more municipalities all over the country.

“This move is seen to extend the reach of Smart’s 4G LTE network to close to 50 percent of the country’s population, maintaining its position as the mobile company with the most extensive 4G LTE network in the Philippines,” Peña said.

4G refers to the fourth generation of mobile communications technology, which includes HSPA+, Wimax and LTE, with LTE being the fastest commercially available mobile Internet service in the world, offering data speeds of up to 20 times more rapid than 3G connections.

With such data speeds, users are able to stream high definition (HD) videos, download large files or upload photos and videos on their mobile devices without lag or delay.

“We are expecting a tremendous growth in data traffic, and we hope to sustain the pace of our aggressive LTE roll-out in order to keep up with the demand of our subscribers,” he said.

He pointed out that the expansion of the 4G network is being pursued in response to the growing demand for faster mobile broadband services.

“Around the world, telecommunications companies are strategically shifting their focus to data services, and Smart is no exception. We are beefing up our systems and investing in the latest technologies to future-proof our network and keep our services relevant,” Peña said.

PLDT president and chief executive officer Napoleon Nazareno said the company is spending between P31 billion and P32 billion for its capital expenditures this year.

Aside from expanding its 4G LTE coverage, Nazareno said the amount would be used to boost Smart’s 3G coverage to 100 percent from 71 percent of the population and at the same time increase the PLDT Group’s fiber footprint to 90,000 kilometers from 78,000 kilometers.