Mobile Internet to enhance bottomline – Smart

Smart Communications Inc., a unit of dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), sees mobile Internet

Emmanuel Lorenzana, head of the wireless consumer division of Smart, said in a statement that rising mobile data usage would power continued growth even as the cellular penetration rate approaches 100 percent in the second half of 2012.

Lorenzana said mobile Internet usage of Smart subscribers

Smart traced the surge in mobile Internet usage to the leap tems including iOS, Android and Windows Phone.

the huge growth of mid- to low-end devices is just as important, if not more so, to our objective of putting the power of mobile

The net income of Smart rose 15 percent to P28.9 billion in the smart phones, driving wireless Internet data usage.

As of end-March, Smart had 50.5 million subscribers on its mobile network while its broadband subscriber base stood at 1.6 million.

He explained that a big chunk of mobile Internet usage con

its award-winning web-based platform called SmartNet that debuted as the mobile web service platform behind the Netphone in September 2011.

SmartNet enables users to chat with fellow SmartNet users, search and add contacts from the cloud, check on their Facebook and Twitter feeds, post updates and read articles.

Data showed that the number of SmartNet users had risen to

To support the proliferation of smartphones and data-capable Online services.

Smart chief wireless advisor Orlando Vea said the P67 billion network modernization program of PLDT and Smart would be starting to roll out.

tion in making our network the most extensive, reliable and

Smart has the largest and most pervasive cellular and broad cellular or mobile broadband base stations providing coverage to over 99 percent of the population.

their network modernization efforts to support both call and text, and mobile broadband services.