Smart Communications Inc. said Friday it deployed more than 3,000 5G sites across the country as of this month, solidifying its hold as the Philippines’ fastest and widest 5G network.
“Our accelerated 5G rollout is part of our continuous efforts to upgrade and expand our network, ensuring that we deliver the best data experience to our customers in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao,” said Mario Tamayo, head of technology at PLDT and Smart.
From the initial selected sites covering Metro Manila, Angeles City, Baguio City, Cavite City, Cebu City, Clark City, and Davao City, Smart’s Unli 5G offer is now available to customers at over 3,000 Smart 5G locations around the country, including Batangas, Bacolod, Boracay, Cagayan de Oro, Laguna, Pampanga, Pangasinan and Quezon.
The Unli 5G offer is available exclusively via the GigaLife App. To make the most of Unli 5G, Smart subscribers should have a Smart 5G-certified device and be in a Smart 5G-covered location. The Gigalife app has a feature which shows the location of 5G coverage in the country.
All Smart LTE SIMs are already 5G-ready.
These developments come at the heels of Smart’s recent award for having the fastest 5G network in the Philippines by Ookla, the global leader in internet testing and analysis.
Based on consumer-initiated tests taken using Speedtest by Ookla, Smart consistently posted the fastest 5G speeds in the first quarter of 2021, with median download speeds of 190 megabits per second—more than double the competition’s speeds for the same period.
Smart 5G complements Smart’s continuous expansion of its 4G/LTE network, which was also recognized as the fastest mobile network in the country by third-party analytics firms including Ookla and Opensignal.
Smart’s mobile networks serve 96 percent of the population from Batanes to Tawi-Tawi.
Enabling Smart’s mobile networks is PLDT’s fiber infrastructure, the country’s most extensive at over 478,000 kilometers as of end-March 2021.