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| Smart Completes LTE and LTE-A Rollout Across Bulacan |
Covering cities and municipalities of Malolos, San Jose Del Monte, Obando, Balagtas, San Ildefonso, San Miguel, San Rafael, Pulilan, and Dona Remedios Trinidad which receives LTE coverage for the first time, the rollout is slated to benefit students, employees, families, local governments, and industries in the said province.
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“Our network upgrades in Bulacan are part of our nationwide efforts to bring better connectivity across the country, in order to improve the lives of our customers and their families, and to enhance the productivity of Bulacan’s businesses and enterprises,” said Mario G. Tamayo, Senior Vice President for Network Planning and Engineering for PLDT and Smart.
Aside from this, Smart is also currently boosting the implementation of the carrier aggregation (CA) across the Philippines. One of the best features of LTE, CA combines two or more separate bands of radio frequencies for a bigger pipe, thus bringing in faster data rates, improved user experience for video streaming, file sending, and online access to information.
Sharing her testimony about the rollout, Jenelyn Cabardo who owns a sari-sari store in Pulilan, Bulacan, said her loading business has felt the boost from the recent network upgrades. “Aside from loading up for their calling and texting needs, my customers now top-up for their mobile data use,” she said.
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Putting the connection to test, Smart has recorded speeds ranging from 40Mbps to 70Mbp using LTE-A capable smartphones in the areas of Bulacan State University in Malolos, San Rafael, and Santa Maria.
“Mobile internet experience is best experienced with LTE, and with the appropriate devices, the frequency bands and carrier aggregation that our network supports,” Tamayo said.
“We encourage our Smart, Sun and TNT customers in Bulacan to upgrade their SIMs to LTE and use LTE-capable phones, so they can enjoy better mobile experience to stay connected with family through video calls and photo sharing, discover new things on YouTube, or access important online services,” Tamayo added.
As of September, Smart has planted more than 5,700 base stations with LTE nationwide. This puts the total count of LTE base stations at over 14,400, a 65-percent increase from the end-2017 count. The company is also on track in completing its commitment to the National Telecommunications Commission to cover 90 percent of the country’s cities and municipalities with 3G/LTE coverage by the end of the year.