Smart, Sun Cellular link up in Mindanao

MANILA, Philippines - Dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) has completed the infrastructure link-up between Smart Communications Inc. and Digitel Mobile Philippines Inc. (DMPI) in Mindanao, benefitting close to 74 million subscribers all over the country.

The network synergy project involving the co-usage of infrastructure of Smart and Sun Cellular covers 25 provinces in Mindanao including Tawi-Tawi and Sulu.

Smart co-founder and chief wireless advisor Orlando Vea said the subscribers of the PLDT Group are expected to benefit from the completion of the series of network synergies in Mindanao that started only last April.

“This supercharged network is what allows us to effectively serve the combined Smart, Talk ‘N Text, and Sun Cellular subscriber base, despite its sheer size, and offer services that are extremely high in value but very easy on the pockets,” he said.

Vea, who is also president and chief executive officer of DMPI, pointed out that the network synergy project was a logical course of action for both mobile services providers after the PLDT Group acquired the parent firm of Sun Cellular in October 2011.

“While still separate companies, more and more we are leveraging on the combined strengths of Smart and DMPI, and translating them into a tri-net strategy that benefits our subscribers with the most relevant, most reliable mobile services,” he said.

The project is expected to result in a marked improvement in network coverage, as each operator gets to use cell sites of the other operator and vice versa. It optimizes the resources of participating networks, and reduces the need to build new infrastructure.

Both Smart and Sun Cellular are expected to leverage on the use of close to 1,300 sites in Mindanao. The project boosted by 2G coverage of Sun Cellular by 152 percent and its 3G coverage by 64 percent.

For its part, Smart expanded its existing capacity by 35 percent for its 2G coverage and by 57 percent for its 3G coverage in Mindanao.