Smart is 'operator to beat' in the Philippines – Opensignal

MANILA, Philippines — Mobile services provider Smart Communications Inc. (Smart) has won the most number of citations in the latest Mobile Network Experience Awards by Opensignal, underscoring Smart’s superiority as the operator to beat with the widest 5G reach and best 4G coverage experience. 

Opensignal's April 2022 report, which covered the period Jan. 1 to Mar. 31, 2022, showed that Smart won a total of 11 awards, covering the essential aspects of service, especially speed and experience.   

These awards include Best Overall Video Experience, Games Experience, Voice App Experience and Download Speed Experience across all technologies; Best 5G Games Experience, 5G Voice App Experience, 5G Download Speed and 5G Upload Speed Experience; Best 5G Availability, 5G Reach and 4G Coverage Experience.   

"These citations are a testament to our sustained investments in our network and our combined efforts to continuously improve our customers' experience," said PLDT Inc and Smart Communications President and CEO Al S. Panlilio.    

"As the economy reopens, our customers’ shifting needs will entail higher mobile usage. Opensignal’s report validates that we are best positioned to enable hybrid workplaces and online learning, the use of e-commerce and digital payments and empower businesses to thrive in the post-pandemic next normal," he added.   

According to Opensignal, their users had their best experience when streaming video over mobile connections on Smart's network, making Smart the outright winner of the Video Experience award.   

The Opensignal study also showed that Smart users observed the fastest average 5G download speeds — 149.9 Mbps, making Smart the winner of the 5G Download Speed award and giving it a lead of 38.8 Mbps (35%) over its nearest competitor. 

Smart has also continued its dominance in terms of 4G Coverage Experience. Opensignal said that Smart users were able to find a 4G signal in the most locations out of all the locations visited by their Filipino users and that as a result, Smart is the outright winner of the 4G Coverage Experience award. 

"For the first time, we have directly compared the mobile network experience and the 5G experience of our Filipino users in the same report and in another first, we have also analyzed the consistency of our users’ experience. Smart is once again the operator to beat in the Philippines," said Sam Fenwick, senior analyst for Opensignal and author of the report.  

To support growing mobile data traffic, Smart has deployed base stations nationwide as of end-December 2021, supporting its 4G/LTE and 5G subscribers from Batanes to Tawi-Tawi. This includes around 16,900 3G base stations, 38,600 4G/LTE base stations and 7,200 5G base stations. 

Reference:

Opensignal Awards – Philippines: Mobile Network Experience Report April 2022, based on independent analysis of mobile measurements recorded during the period January 1 – March 31, 2022 © 2022 Opensignal Limited.

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