Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart), wireless and mobile arm of the PLDT group, emerged as the ‘clearly dominant operator’ in the Philippines in terms of consistent quality, download and upload throughput, latency and 5G/4G coverage, according to the latest report by independent crowdsourced data company Tutela Technologies Ltd.
In citing Smart Communications for providing the Best Mobile Network Experience in the Philippines, Tutela said: “Smart Communications delivered the highest percentage of Excellent Consistent Quality in Tutela’s tests.”
This means that compared to its competitor, a greater proportion of Smart’s customers experience quality connectivity sufficient for 1080p video streaming on Netflix or YouTube or for multiplayer gaming.
In its report Southeast Asia: State of Mobile Experience for March 2021*, Tutela analyzed over 55 million speed and latency measurements, conducted on the smartphones of real-world users of national mobile operators within Common Coverage Areas, between August 1, 2020 and January 31, 2021 in six countries: the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia.
The findings in the Philippines included more than 39 million measurements from real-world smartphone users collected over the same period.
“These findings demonstrate the results of our continuous investments in expanding and upgrading our networks nationwide,” said Smart Communications President and CEO and PLDT Chief Revenue Officer Alfredo S. Panlilio. “With customer-centricity as our North Star, we remain committed to providing world-class customer experience, at par with neighboring countries,” he added.
Mario G. Tamayo, Head of Technology at PLDT and Smart, emphasized the importance of delivering a better mobile experience for customers at a time when the internet is crucial to many.
“Our customers are increasingly turning to the internet to conduct their daily business. We continue to expand and upgrade our network so our customers can have better mobile internet experience as they go online to keep in touch with their loved ones, work from home, participate on online learning platforms, and run their online businesses,” he said.
In terms of 5G/4G coverage, Smart also emerged ahead of competition and scored better than operators in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Smart customers also spent a higher percentage of time on LTE, according to Tutela’s report.
In terms of median download speed in “common coverage areas”–defined by Tutela as “parts of the country where all national operators offer service”–Smart also posted better speeds than operators in Malaysia, Thailand, and most operators in Indonesia.
This level of performance is enabled by PLDT’s fiber infrastructure, the country’s most extensive at 429,000 kilometers. This fiber network supports Smart’s mobile networks, which cover 96% of the population.
Tutela Technologies, Ltd., headquartered in Victoria, British Columbia, is an independent crowdsourced data company with a global panel of over 300 million smartphone users.
