SMART Communications, the wireless arm of the Philippines’ largest integrated telco PLDT, has once again surpassed competition in terms of 4G Availability, Video Experience and Download and Upload Speeds, according to the latest country report by third-party mobile analytics firm Opensignal. This report is based from OpenSignal Global Mobile Network Experience Awards and it covered the period July 1 to Sept.28, 2020 and independently analyzed over 1,186 million measurements from over 336,000 devices, also showed that SMART won Opensignal’s inaugural 4G Coverage Experience award — a measure of how mobile subscribers experience 4G coverage on an operator’s network. It analyzes the locations where customers of a network operator received a 4G signal relative to the locations visited by users of all network operators.
“In simple terms, 4G Coverage Experience measures the mobile coverage experience in all the locations that matter most to everyday users — i.e. all the places where they live, work and travel. It considers all the areas that Opensignal users visit, the portion of locations that 4G is available to them, and locations that more users visit have higher importance to them,” Opensignal Senior Analyst Sam Fenwick wrote.
“We have been constantly improving our services by expanding our network to reach more customers, and we will continue to invest so that they can have the best wireless experience,” said Mario G. Tamayo, Senior Vice President for Network Planning and Engineering at PLDT-Smart.
Opensignal said that both operators have made gains in terms of 4G Availability, with Smart continuing to widen its lead over its competitor.
ALSO READ: OpenSignal Awarded to SMART for Best Video Experience in PH
“While both Smart and Globe have made significant gains in 4G Availability since our last report, Smart has extended its lead in this measure of the mobile experience. Our Smart 4G users saw the proportion of time they spent connected to 4G services rise by 3.5 percentage points, taking the operator above the 85% mark and increasing its lead over Globe,” Fenwick said.
“Overall, Smart users had access to 4G in more locations and for more of the time than Globe users because Smart has won both Opensignal’s 4G Coverage Experience and 4G Availability awards,” Fenwick added.
Opensignal also noted that SMART has continued to dominate in speed and the mobile video experience. “Smart users have consistently had the fastest download speeds and the best mobile Video Experience in the Philippines,” Fenwick wrote, adding that ever since they first analyzed Video Experience in a Philippines Mobile Network Experience Report back in March 2019, Smart has won every Video Experience award alongside their Download Speed Experience and Upload Speed Experience awards.
“Smart’s lead in Video Experience and Download Speed Experience has increased since our previous report — the operator’s scores in these two metrics were 16.6 points (43.9%) and 4.1 Mbps (55.2%) higher than those of Globe,” Fenwick noted.
These improvements happened despite difficulties presented by COVID-19 lockdowns in terms of limiting network crew movements. “Despite 2020’s challenges, our Smart users’ download speeds have risen by 8.1%. This is extremely impressive, given the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Fenwick wrote.
SMART ‘s achievements in the Opensignal Global Mobile Network Experience Awards can be found HERE.
