Smart tops mobile video performance in Philippines — report

MANILA, Philippines — PLDT wireless arm Smart Communications Inc. has been cited by independent mobile analytics company OpenSignal for providing its customers the best video experience in the country.

Smart said OpenSignal has published an independent analysis of the customer experience for video services by telecom carriers in Asia, showing that the company garnered a video experience score of 42.2, well ahead of competition in the Philippines and well above the national average.  

OpenSignal’s video experience metric uses an International Telecommunication Union-based approach for measuring video quality.

It is derived from several underlying parameters based on real-world measurements of video streams from the world’s largest video content providers. 

“Our ‘YouTube Everyday’ promo was part of our initiative to unlock the billions of hours of content online for every Filipino. We were confident that our customers would enjoy the experience because we built a world-class network that can cater to their demanding video needs. This report from OpenSignal validates not just our strategy, but the work put in by the entire company to build our network,” PLDT-Smart chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said.  

Smart launched in April its YouTube promo, under which subscribers get to enjoy an hour of YouTube for free daily if they purchase various mobile data packages.  

“Our customers love watching YouTube, Netflix, and other videos on their smartphones. This is the reason why we invested heavily into making the country’s fastest LTE network, Smart, the best network for watching videos on-the-go. This recognition from an independent global and analytics firm, OpenSignal, affirms our commitment to our customers to be their trusted and preferred digital and technology partner,” PLDT-Smart executive vice president and chief revenue officer Ernesto Alberto said.

To meet this growing demand for mobile data, Smart has continued its stepped-up deployment of Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced and carrier aggregation technology across the Philippines through re-equipping cell sites with low-frequency and high-frequency bands for improved coverage, capacity and speeds. 

As of end-September, Smart has equipped over 5,600 base stations across the country with LTE, not only to expand LTE coverage, but also to lay the ground for LTE-A, which can provide even greater capacity and speeds to users with LTE-compatible smartphones.This puts the total count of LTE base stations at over 14,300.

PLDT’s fiber footprint, which now the most extensive in the country at 221,000 kilometers, also supports Smart’s mobile network by providing high-capacity fiber connections for LTE base stations.