Smart sole Phl finalist at int’l LTE Awards

CEBU, Philippines - The country’s Long Term Evolution (LTE) pioneer Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) was recently named a finalist at the prestigious LTE Awards, organized by international industry publication Telecoms.com.

Smart was the only Philippine operator shortlisted by the award-giving body, joining the ranks of industry leaders including Cisco, Samsung Electronics, and Huawei Technologies.

Smart made it to the finals under the category “Most Innovative LTE Launch,” for the highly successful August 2012 launch of Smart LTE, the first commercially available high-speed data technology in the country.

Initially deployed in select areas across five Metro Manila cities, Smart LTE now covers close to 1,000 sites in 115 cities and municipalities all over the Philippines.

The country’s largest LTE network is supported by more than 54,000 kilometers of fiber optic cables connecting Smart’s base stations to the core network. This infrastructure enables Smart and parent company PLDT to deliver the best data services at the speed of light.

Smart LTE allows users to enjoy speeds of up to 42 Mbps on LTE-enabled devices such as the iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S4, Sony Xperia Z, Nokia Lumia 920, iPad mini, fourth generation iPad, LTE USB dongle, and LTE Pocket WiFi.

Smart has unveiled a wide array of LTE packages, some of which allow selected postpaid subscribers to enjoy the service for as low as P50 a day. Smart LTE usage is expected to grow further with the recent launch of the country’s first and only prepaid LTE service.

Winners of this year’s LTE Awards will be presented during the LTE World Summit in June in Amsterdam, Netherlands.