Smart intensifies speeds of broadband products

CEBU, Philippines - In its effort to provide the internet-savvy Filipinos with world class service accessing the world-wide-web, Smart Broadband, Inc. (Smart Bro) announced its increased maximum speeds capacity for its popular portable products by as much as 70 percent.

Smart Broadband Internet and Data Services head Giovanni Bacareza bared that Smart Bro Starter Ply-It users can now experience speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps (up from 2.0Mbps) while Power Plug-It and Pocket WiFi users can experience speeds of up to 5Mbps (up from 3.6Mbps) at no extra cost.

Bacareza said the increase in download speeds are a result of Smart and parent company Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) continuing network upgrades.

“Our Starter and Power Plug-it are now able to reach such speeds thanks to the billions we’ve invested in improving our network,” said Bacareza.

“Our customers have attested to this improvement and even 3rd party entities have verified that fact,” he added.

Bacareza refers to the recent round of speed tests conducted by independent engineering firm NESIC Philippines, Inc. which revealed that Smart Bro’s connection speeds beat the competition with an average of 0.74Mbps.

NESIC’s tests were conducted in 100 sites across the country and were held during various times of the day.

PLDT and Smart’s network upgrades are scheduled to continue until 2013. A total of P67.1 billion has been earmarked for the endeavour which, includes the upgrading and installation of network elements such as cell sites, fiber optic cables, and international gateways.

“It’s easy to say that you have the fastest devices and the fastest wireless connection speeds, but if you don’t have a solid infrastructure working in the background, you can’t deliver quality service to your subscribers” said PLDT and Smart Technology Group Head Rolando G. Peña.

The Smart Bro Starter Plug It (P995),the Smart Bro Power Plug-It (P1,245), and Smart Bro Pocket WiFi (P3,895) are available in all Smart Wireless Centers and in leading electronics stores nationwide.

Various affordable prepaid load and pricing schemes also complement the Smart Bro Plug-It family. Choose from packages ranging from as little as P10 per 30 minutes of use to P200 for 5 days unlimited surfing (Unlisurf 200).

Also available from Smart is the 4G HSPA+ Smart Bro Rocket Plug-It (P3,995), the fastest wireless broadband in the country today which is capable of speeds of up to 12Mbps.

Smart Broadband, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Smart Communications, Inc. — (FREEMAN)