Smart top Asian finalist at World Communication Awards

MANILA, Philippines - Smart Communications Inc. emerged as the top Asian finalist at the World Communication Awards 2013 (WCA), which recognizes excellence among the world’s leading telcos.

Smart received five nominations, placing second only to French telco Orange that was short-listed in seven categories. Nearly 50 companies made the cut as finalists at the WCA, which is organized by London-based industry publication Total Telecom.

Smart was the only Philippine telco to be named finalist for Best Operator in a Developing Market. Its president and chief executive officer, Napoleon Nazareno, was also nominated as CEO of the Year.

Under Nazareno’s leadership, Smart finished super-charging its network in mid-2012 under a P67.1-billion transformation program.

The company also launched in August 2012 the first commercially available Long Term Evolution (LTE) service in the Philippines, one of the first in Asia.

Smart’s groundbreaking mobile application platform called SmartNet was short-listed for Best Consumer Service at the WCA. SmartNet lets Smart subscribers use popular mobile apps such as Twitter, Facebook, Facebook Chat, and Yahoo! Messenger for free. It also features a widget called Safe Zone that allows users to turn “off” all apps outside of the SmartNet suite of apps, helping them avoid incurring data charges unintentionally.

Meanwhile, Smart’s Customer Ambassador Program was named finalist for Best Customer Care. Customer ambassadors deployed in Smart Stores quickly attend to visitors’ simple concerns, educate subscribers about easy-to-use self-service options, and guide them through processes for over-the-counter transactions.

Smart is also in the running for the Social Contribution Award for Project Zero, an empowering initiative which taps a community of former trash scavengers in Iloilo to turn the company’s used tarpaulin materials into a livelihood source. Aside from donating used tarp which are upcycled into bags, tents, and other materials, Smart also provided funding and helped train the residents to effectively manage their livelihood and market their products.

Winners of the WCA will be announced at a ceremony in London on Dec. 3. Majority of them will be determined by an expert panel of judges. The CEO of the Year recognition will be based on a public vote.