Smart among world’s best mobile operators

DIVINE S. NGUJO

Smart Communications is one of only three finalists for Best Mobile Operator at the World Communication Awards (WCA), an international recognition program for innovation and outstanding performance in the telecommunications industry.

Smart is competing against Middle Eastern operator Ooredoo and Australian company Telstra in the invitationonly category. Smart was last year’s winner in the said category.

The Philippine operator is also in the running for Best Operator in an Emerging Market, against the likes of Orange and Ooredoo Myanmar.

Smart’s president and chief executive officer Napoleon L. Nazareno was shortlisted for CEO of the Year, along with Timotheus Hoettges of Deutsche Telekom, Johan Dennelind of TeliaSonera, and nine other finalists. Nazareno is the only CEO from Southeast Asia who made it to the final list of contenders.

The Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program (SWEEP) was named finalist for the WCA’s Social Contribution Award. Under this program, Smart partners with colleges and universities to improve engineering and Information Technology education in the Philippines, and to help schools produce industry-ready graduates or future technology entrepreneurs.

Meanwhile, the PowerApp service developed by Voyager Innovations, the digital innovations arm of PLDT and Smart, is in the running for the Innovation Award.

PowerApp is a mobile application that dispenses affordable bite-size mobile data access, enabling subscribers to pay only for the services that are relevant to them.

The WCA is organized annually by London-based industry publication Total Telecom. Winners will be named during an awarding ceremony to be held in London on December 1.

Smart and fellow PLDT wireless unit Sun Cellular had 68.9 million subscribers by the end of the first half of 2015.

The PLDT Group estimates capital expenditures to hit a record P43 billion this year, with allocations for network initiatives that will further strengthen the group’s capabilities of growing its digital services.

Smart is offering a wide and growing array of music, video, and other digital content and services to enable its subscribers to live the “Smart Life.”