Smart Communications Inc. said more subscribers are using Long Term Evolution and LTE-Advanced-capable devices to connect to its mobile network, following an expanded network rollout across the country.
The number of LTE-capable devices on Smart’s network grew 78 percent year-on-year. These include those that support at least one of Smart’s LTE frequencies. Of these LTE-capable devices, about one in every five is an LTE-A-capable device.
The number of LTE-A devices on Smart’s network also rose 72 percent, compared to the first quarter of last year. These include devices capable of two-component (2CC) up to five-component (5CC) carrier aggregation.
“Alongside our accelerated network rollout, we are also partnering with device manufacturers to help our customers access capable devices, in order to take full advantage of the network that we are putting in place,” said PLDT-Smart senior vice president for network planning and engineering Mario Tamayo.
Smart has teamed up with popular smartphone manufacturers in getting more affordable LTE-capable handsets out in the market, like the Samsung J2 Core, Oppo A37 and Starmobile Play Click, which are available with Smart. Also available with the data-packed Smart Giga X plans are the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, Huawei Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro, and the latest iPhones XS and XS Max, which are all LTE-A capable devices.
“Today, the quality of customer experience (is) dependent not only on the network but also on the devices being used by our customer. To fully utilize the network we are rolling out”•whether it’s LTE, LTE-A today or 5G in the future”•it is important for customers to adopt the devices that can fully tap the network’s capabilities,” Tamayo added.