Smart’s LTE upgrade now covers 92% of Metro Manila

PLDT wireless subsidiary Smart Communications Inc. said more customers in Metro Manila are now enjoying better mobile internet experience, with over 92 percent upgraded with long term evolution (LTE), a technology that helps bring fast, affordable, and reliable mobile internet services.

Smart said it has completed its most recent round of network upgrades in Quezon City, Marikina, Caloocan, Valenzuela, Navotas, and Malabon.

Latest round of network improvement in Manila and Makati, meanwhile, are expected to be completed by October.

Smart said it has successfully deployed carrier aggregation technology across all of Metro Manila’s 17 cities and municipalities, paving the way for much greater speeds for the over 12 million Filipinos working and living in the area.

The company has also deployed over 2,000 LTE sites across Metro Manila, which use low-frequency bands such as the 700 MHz band for wider coverage and better indoor penetration, and high-frequency bands like 1800 MHz and 2100 MHz bands for additional capacity.

It is also installing multiple LTE base stations in existing cell sites to lay the ground for LTE-Advanced, which can provide even greater capacity and speeds to users with capable smartphones.

To date, it said more than 92 percent of sites in Metro Manila have already been upgraded with LTE.

“In addition to our continuous investments in upgrading our network to improve customer experience in Metro Manila and across the country, we are also working with device manufacturers to make more LTE and LTEA-capable devices available in the market,” Smart senior vice president for network planning and engineering Mario Tamayo said.

“In areas like Metro Manila where there is already a concentration of users with these devices, we are also upgrading our network capacity to better handle our customer’s evergrowing mobile data needs,” Tamayo said.

With these developments, Smart said it is on track to fulfilling its commitment to the National Telecommunications Commission to cover 90 percent of the country’s cities and municipalities with mobile data service by the end of this year.