Smart posts sharp rise in LTE usage

MANILA, Philippines — PLDT wireless subsidiary Smart Communications Inc. has recorded a significant rise in the number of customers using Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A)-capable devices to connect to its mobile network following its ramped-up network rollout across the country.

Smart said the number of LTE-capable devices on its network has risen so far by 78 percent year-on-year, while the number of LTE-A devices on its network also grew by 72 percent.

“Today, the quality of customer experience dependent not only on the network but also on the devices being used by our customer.  To fully utilize the network we are rolling out—whether it’s LTE, LTE-A today or 5G in the future—it is important for customers to adopt the devices that can fully tap the network’s capabilities,” PLDT-Smart senior vice president for network planning and engineering Mario Tamayo said.

Smart has partnered with popular smartphone manufacturers in getting more affordable LTE-capable handsets out in the market, like the Samsung J2 Core, Oppo A37 and Starmobile Play Click. Also available with the data-packed Smart Giga X plans are the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, Huawei Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro, and the latest iPhones XS and XS Max, which are all LTE-A capable devices.

“Alongside our accelerated network roll-out, we are also partnering with device manufacturers to help our customers access capable devices, in order to take full advantage of the network that we are putting in place,” Tamayo said.

According to Smart, LTE is the best technology for mobile data and is easily upgradable to LTE-A, which delivers even better mobile data experience through carrier aggregation.

Smart has fulfilled its commitment to the National Telecommunications Commission to cover at least 90 percent of cities and municipalities to address the growing demand for broadband infrastructure and internet access within three years from the grant of the use of frequencies by the National Telecommunication Commission in 2016.

In the first nine months of 2018, Smart has increased its total LTE base station count across the country by 65 percent. The LTE base stations are, in turn, supported by PLDT’s fiber optic transmission and distribution network, the country’s most extensive fiber network at 221,000 kilometers.