Smart leads in Opensignal’s analysis of PH mobile experience

PLDT wireless subsidiary Smart Communications Inc. (Smart) delivers the best video experience across the Philippines and in 18 regions and provinces, based on the latest independent report from mobile analytics company Opensignal.

The Philippines Mobile Network Experience Report September 2019, which covered the period May 1 to July 29, 2019 and independently analyzed over 533 million measurements from over 190,000 devices, found that Smart won in four categories— video experience, download speed experience, upload speed experience and latency experience—and scored a draw in 4G availability.

Smart’s video experience score was 47.6, well ahead of the competition’s score of 30.4.

“Smart’s video experience score of 47.6 out of 100, places it comfortably in our fair ranking bracket (40 to 55), which means its users may be able to watch videos with reasonable load times and minimal stalling at low resolutions,” Peter Boyland, Opensignal senior analyst, said.

In terms of overall download speed experience, which factors in both 3G and 4G download speeds along with the availability of each technology, Smart posted 9.4 Mbps, ahead of the competition’s 6.5 Mbps. In terms of 4G download speed alone, Smart scored 12.7 Mbps, compared to the competition’s 8.3 Mbps.

In terms of overall upload speed experience, Smart posted 3.3 Mbps, ahead of the competition’s 1.7 Mbps.

In terms of latency experience, which is measured in milliseconds and refers to the delay users experience as data makes a round trip through the network, Smart also scored better at 61.9ms, compared to the competition’s 64.2ms. When measuring latency experience, a lower number is better.

Smart dominated video experience in 18 provinces, leading by as much as 29.4 points and 21.4 points in Nueva Ecija and Metro Manila, respectively.

In terms of latency experience, both operators scored a draw in most areas, with Smart leading in Metro Manila and Quezon province.

“These results are a testament to Smart’s commitment to continuously improve and expand our network across the country in order to support our customers’ growing appetite for mobile data,” said Mario Tamayo, PLDT-Smart senior vice president for network planning and engineering.

CONTRIBUTED FOTO WINNER. Smart wins four awards in the latest Opensignal report. PLDT chairman and chief executive officer Manuel Pangilinan (center) received the awards from Opensignal executives Andy Burns (second from right) and Rob Lerner (right). Also present during the ceremonies were Smart president Al Panlilio (left) and PLDT-Smart chief technology and information advisor Joachim Horn (second from left).