Smart three-peats as the Philippines’ Fastest and Best Mobile Network
Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart), PLDT‘s wireless unit, has done something unique again. For the third time in a row, Ookla, an internationally recognized leader in network measurement and connectivity intelligence, has named Smart the Philippines’ Fastest and Best Mobile Network.
Ookla’s latest Q1–Q2 2023 report shows that Smart has kept giving customers the fastest mobile speeds and best mobile coverage. This helped Smart win the prestigious “Best Mobile Network” award, which is given to only a few mobile operators around the world.
Smart first made history when Ookla named it the “Best Mobile Network” for Q1-Q2 2022. Smart was the Philippines’ first and only mobile operator to get this honor. Then, it kept doing well in Q3 and Q4 of 2022, and most recently in Q1 and Q2 of 2023.
“It’s our pleasure to congratulate Smart for their exceptional accomplishment of winning the Speedtest Award for Best Mobile Network three times in a row,” said Stephen Bye, President and CEO of Ookla, a division of Ziff Davis. “This remarkable feat showcases Smart’s dedication to enhancing connectivity in the Philippines and ensuring consumers receive the best possible internet experience.”
“True to our Purpose at PLDT Group, I am proud of how we are able to evolve with our customers’ increasingly digital lifestyles and enable meaningful connections – as attested by our awards from Ookla. As the driving force behind these recognitions, our Fixed, Mobile, and Enterprise customers can rest assured that they can count on us to continuously provide them with the best network possible,” said Alfredo S. Panlilio, President and CEO of PLDT and Smart.
The most recent report from Ookla showed that Smart has better Speed and Coverage Scores.
With a Speed Score of 64.25, Smart was named the “Fastest Mobile Network.” Its closest competitor had a Speed Score of 39.04.
Smart posted a median download speed of 34.08 Mbps and a median upload speed of 7.34 Mbps to get this Speed Score. On the other hand, the average download speed of its closest competitor was 22.52 Mbps and the average upload speed was 5.38 Mbps.
Smart also won the award for “Best Mobile Coverage.” Its Coverage Score of 786 was higher than that of its closest competitor, 769. Ookla says that the Coverage Score considers the number of places where an operator offers service and the quality of service in each area.
The “Fastest Mobile Network” award is based on more than 2.4 million user-initiated tests, while the “Coverage” award is based on more than 3.7 million scan counts.
With Smart’s fastest speeds and the widest coverage, users can share special moments in real-time on social media or through crystal-clear video calls with their loved ones. Subscribers can also get more out of their jobs or hobbies, like sending huge files and presentations instantly, promoting their business online, attending virtual meetings and classes, streaming their favorite shows, and playing high-bandwidth mobile games.
The performance of Smart’s mobile network is based on how well PLDT and Smart’s fixed and wireless networks work together. By the end of March 2023, PLDT’s total fiber footprint had grown to more than 1.1 million kilometers. This included more than 231,000 kilometers of international fiber and 874,000 kilometers of domestic fiber. Smart’s 2G, 3G, 4G/LTE, and 5G networks, which cover 97 percent of the country’s population as of the end of March 2023, are also supported by this fiber infrastructure.
