MANILA, Philippines - The widespread deployment of Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology in the Philippines, coupled with the growing appreciation of Filipino consumers for ultra-fast mobile broadband services, marked a defining year for the country’s mobile industry in 2013.
“It was a banner year for LTE in the Philippines, which is home to the most engaged netizens in the world,†said Rolando Peña, technology head of Smart Communications Inc., the forerunner of LTE in the country.
“Because of our aggressive LTE rollout, many Filipinos are now able to optimize the use of their smartphones and continue their online engagement wherever they go,†he said.
The global standard for fourth-generation (4G) technology, LTE is the fastest commercially available mobile Internet service in the world, which is able to provide high-speed data transmission that is up to 20 times faster than 3G connections.
With such rapid data rates, users are able to stream high-definition videos, download large files or upload photos and videos on their mobile devices without lag or delay.
Widest 4G LTE network
“Through much of 2013, Smart focused on expanding our LTE footprint to over 1,200 sites, thus providing the most extensive LTE network in the land,†Peña said.
Apart from LTE, Smart also offers HSPA+ and WiMax in its suite of 4G connections. So far, Smart has over 10,000 sites that offer the country’s widest 4G coverage — double the size of competition and covering 85 percent of the country’s population or 78.4 million Filipinos.
“Anticipating an explosive growth in data traffic, Smart aims to capitalize on this lead in 4G LTE footprint and invest more on its wireless network,†Peña said.
Citing a Cisco Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast early this year, Peña said 4G connections around the world are expected to generate eight times more traffic than non-4G links by 2017.
The same study puts a spotlight on the Asia-Pacific region, which is projected to have among the strongest annual mobile data growth rate of 76 percent within the next four years, or close to a 17-fold increase over the forecast period.
Looking beyond LTE
But even as LTE is gaining ground around the country, Smart has started to look beyond it and explore new technologies that could expand the capabilities of its robust infrastructure.
Last August, Smart led the first successful trials of LTE-Advanced, dubbed the next stage of development of LTE.
In tests held in Davao, Metro Manila and Boracay, Smart achieved speeds of up to 209.66 Mbps using the new technology, over twice the 100 Mbps top speed of LTE.
In the actual usage and test, a 10MB file download took just about a second to finish. This means that a typical 700MB movie file should take just over a minute to download with LTE-Advanced.
Roaming on LTE
To extend the LTE experience of its subscribers when they travel abroad, Smart also forged last October a partnership with Starhub, a leading info-communications firm in Singapore, for the first commercial LTE roaming service between the Philippines and the Lion City.
The strategic partnership allows Smart LTE subscribers to use the extensive StarHub LTE network and enjoy consistent and reliable Internet whenever they roam in Singapore.
Eyeing similar arrangements, Smart is currently in talks with its co-members under the Conexus Mobile Alliance so that Smart subscribers may continue enjoying the same fast and reliable Smart LTE experience when they step out of the country.
Video over LTE
In November, Smart made another history when it held the country’s first successful video multicast over LTE connection, through the use of evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services (eMBMS).
When fully developed, this emerging technology will allow people to watch clear, lag-free live video on their LTE-capable smartphones and tablets.
The eMBMS technology caters well to the growing chunk of mobile users who use their devices to watch online videos, which is expected to constitute a third of all Internet traffic by 2015, based on a report by the World Newsmedia Network.
The successful LTE multicast trial is the first in Southeast Asia, and the world’s first over 2.1 GHz frequency, according to Huawei Technologies, which provided network equipment for the momentous trial.
It also puts Smart’s network at par with global industry leaders Verizon in the United States and Telstra in Australia, which have both kicked off trials on their own LTE networks.
Supercharged network
“All these successful efforts showcase the readiness of our network to deliver the services of the future,†said Orlando Vea, chief wireless advisor of Smart.
Smart’s network is backed by its fiber optic cable connection that is four times more expansive and more powerful than competitors, enabling Smart and its parent company PLDT to deliver data services literally at the speed of light.
“Moving forward, Smart aims to broaden our LTE footprint further and cater to the increasing demand for broadband-heavy applications. With Smart’s supercharged network, we are honored to hit milestone after milestone for the future of mobile technology in the country, hinged on our commitment to provide our subscribers with fast and reliable mobile connection,†Vea said.