MANILA -- PLDT wireless subsidiary, Smart Communications, has been recognized by a German technology consultancy firm to have the fastest download speed in the country today.
In a statement on Monday, Smart said it was awarded by P3 Communications GmbH for gaining the highest download speed score in the Philippines based on its study, which was conducted from October to December 2018.
“The crowdsource-based study, which included 121 million samples from 104,000 users collected from October to December 2018, said Smart achieved the highest user download speed score among competitors with 98 points, compared to nearest competitor’s 68 points,” its statement read.
The milestone comes after PLDT and Smart were cited by Ookla to offer the fastest fixed and mobile networks in the country based on its report last year. Smart has likewise consistently led in terms of 4G speeds in studies by OpenSignal since 2017.
“This latest award is further proof that our continuous network upgrades across the country are paying off, and that our customers are feeling the benefits whenever they use mobile data to connect with their families, to access online services like banking and e-commerce, or to stream videos on their phones,” Mario G. Tamayo, PLDT-Smart senior vice president for Network Planning and Engineering, said.
“This year, we are further investing in our networks to build on that competitive edge,” he added.
The recent report by Ookla showed that PLDT recorded a Speed Score of 18.57 during the second half of 2018 with top download speed of 52.28 megabits per second (Mbps) and top upload speed of 55.95 Mbps among fixed line network providers.
Sky came in second with a Speed Score of 11.23 with top download speed of 30.42 Mbps and top upload speeds of 4.8 Mbps followed by Smart Bro and Globe Telecom with Speed Scores of 10.99 and 9.36, respectively.
Fixed Internet services in the Philippines had top download speed of 45.72 Mbps and top upload speed of 44.76 Mbps.
In terms of mobile Internet, Smart topped its rival Globe as it posted an average download speed of 13.85 Mbps and upload speed of 6.35 Mbps compared to Globe that had an average download speed of 11.36 Mbps and upload speed of 4.94 Mbps.
PLDT will be spending a total of PHP 78.4 billion in capital expenditures (capex) this year to finance the expansion of its network and information communication technology capabilities.
The telco will spend most of its capex for expansion of its LTE and 3G mobile services as well as its fixed broadband network. It also eyes to install its last-mile and customer-premises equipment such as modems and optical network units for the delivery of broadband Internet to its residential customers. (PNA)
