Smart mobile data among most affordable in the world

MANILA, Philippines — PLDT Inc. wireless subsidiary Smart Communications Inc. said its mobile data is among the most affordable in the world at about P11 to 12.50 per gigabyte.

Smart cited the result of a recent internet pricing study by UK-based comparative data site, which showed that the cost of mobile data in the Philippines continues to be among the lowest in the world.

The study, which covered data from 5,554 mobile data plans in 228 countries between Feb. 3 and 25, showed that the average cost of mobile data in the country ranks 60th out of 228, and is the sixth most affordable in the Southeast Asian region at $1.42 per gigabyte.

The Philippines has cheaper rates than that of Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea.

India overall has the cheapest mobile data cost, followed by Israel, Kyrgyzstan, Italy, and Ukraine.

Smart, for its part, said its Giga suite of mobile data packages offers even lower prices of P11 to 12.50, or about $0.22 to $0.25 per gigabyte.

Smart’s Giga suite of packages is designed to address the different “passion points” of Filipino data users, such as Giga Stories, Giga Video, Giga Games, Giga Work, and Giga Study.

Smart senior vice president and head of consumer business Jane Basas said the design and pricing of the Giga suite of offers are meant to encourage the “GigaLife” among Filipinos.

“GigaLife is all about easy access to services they need, so they can enjoy doing more of what they love. As gigabyte becomes common speak for us when referring to our daily data consumption, it made perfect sense for us to espouse the GigaLife for our customers with specific Giga offers attuned to their passions and lifestyle,” Basas said.

Smart has over 70 million subscribers nationwide.

Smart LTE is regarded as the country’s fastest mobile data network, according to third-party analytics firms such as Ookla and Opensignal.