Smart eyes data bundles for mobile access to videos

MANILA, Philippines - Smart Communications Inc., the flagship wireless arm of dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), is set to launch a set of data bundles allowing both postpaid and prepaid subscribers to enjoy videos on their mobile devices.

Charles Lim, executive vice president and Wireless Consumer Division head at Smart, said in a statement that the new data bundles would allow subscribers to watch YouTube videos as well as content from Dailymotion, Vimeo and Viewstream on their mobile phones for as low as P5.

 “Smart’s groundbreaking online video offer for YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion and Viewstream reinforces our campaign to provide more affordable access to the content our subscribers love,” Lim said.

He pointed out that the company is committed to “provide users with the best content and entertainment services available at great value so that they can enjoy videos on their mobile devices anytime, anywhere.”

Google Southeast Asia and India vice president and managing director Rajan Anandan said the partnership with Smart would create a more affordable way for people to watch videos on mobile

 “We want to make sure we are making YouTube as enjoyable as possible for our growing base of mobile users in the Philippines. We hope Filipinos will be able to enjoy a better YouTube experience across devices, either at home or on the go,” Anandan said

This is just the latest in Smart’s bid to provide the Internet for all of its subscribers’ needs, enabling them to get access to the content that they want by offering a fast, fun, and worry-free Internet experience each and every time.

Smart would be announcing its video data bundles in attractive price points for all prepaid, postpaid and broadband users very soon.

According to a report by Ericsson ConsumerLab in 2014, viewing via video-streaming services such as YouTube is set to overtake video viewing via TV channels around the world this year, with the trend being driven by the younger subset of the market.

“We’re seeing more of our users viewing videos on their mobile devices, and this has contributed in the rapid increase of mobile data traffic within our network over the past year,” Lim said.

In fact, according to a Cisco report, mobile video is predicted to generate more than 69 percent of mobile data traffic by 2019.