MANILA – Telecoms firm Smart has been named as one of the “global rising stars” on 4G availability improvement during the Global Mobile Network Experience Awards 2021 of independent analytics firm Opensignal.
Smart’s 4G availability—defined as the proportion of time 4G users spend connected to 4G or LTE—was said to have improved by 7.2 percent between the second half of 2019 and the second half of 2020, higher than the global average of 4.2 percent.
“Other operators in the same category include Free Mobile in France, Vodafone in New Zealand, O2 in Germany, MobiFone in Vietnam, U Mobile in Malaysia, and Iliad in Italy,” Smart said in a statement Thursday.
It touted its position as one of the “top 30 operators where users have seen the greatest improvement in mobile network experience” out of the over 150 operators from over 50 countries that Opensignal included in its report.
Mario Tamayo, head of technology at PLDT and Smart, said the achievement was made possible through “significant investments” in its mobile network.
“As we continue to expand and improve our LTE network across the country, covering even far-flung areas like Pag-Asa Island in the West Philippine Sea, we are bringing this enhanced data experience to more Filipinos," Tamayo said.
He noted that Smart would invest in new technologies and expand the rollout of its 5G network “to provide an even better experience to our customers”.
To date, Smart’s mobile network covers 96 percent of the country’s population and is supported by PLDT’s fiber infrastructure at over 429,000 kilometers.
As of December 2020, Smart has also increased the number of its base stations to over 59,000, an increase of 20 percent compared to the end of 2019. (PNA)
