Smart to roll out LTE to more areas this year

PLDT wireless subsidiary Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) is stepping up its network improvement program this year and increasing its 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) coverage to include a total of 785 municipalities by the end of 2017, in line with its commitment to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

This is about half of the target indicated in the three-year network rollout plan that PLDT submitted to NTC last year, where it said that Smart is focusing on accelerating its LTE deployment and will make it progressively available to users in 1,551 cities and municipalities across the country by the end of 2018.

For 2017, Smart targets to roll-out 2,165 sites with LTE in low spectrum bands and 3,568 sites in high spectrum bands, according to Joachim Horn, chief technology and information advisor for PLDT and Smart.

“We will also continue to invest in our 2G and 3G networks to meet customer demand and ensure best customer experience,” he added.

The backbone of the PLDT group’s digital pivot, this comprehensive network modernization and expansion program features re-equipping cell sites to use lowfrequency bands such as 700 MHz and 850 MHz to improve LTE and 3G services, as these frequency bands travel farther than high-frequency bands and provide better coverage, including indoors.

The rollout also includes deploying high-frequency bands like 1800 MHz and 2100 MHz, to increase the capacity of each Smart cell site to handle more calls, texts, and ever-increasing mobile data traffic.

Smart’s network rollout took a big bulk of parent company PLDT’s rampedup capital expenditure program of P42.8 billion for 2016, which included the utilization of the new frequencies freed up with the acquisition of San Miguel Corporation’s telco assets.

PLDT chair and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan has announced a total capital expenditure of P46 billion this year, inclusive of carry-overs from last year.

“We are improving customer experience through better network services and by offering progressively more relevant and targeted products and services,” Pangilinan said.