PLDT Group said Wednesday it is further enhancing its fixed and mobile network to better support activities during the country’s historic hosting of the world’s biggest basketball tournament, the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.
It said in addition to boosting Smart LTE and 5G networks at FIBA Basketball World Cup venues, including Smart-Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City and the Philippine Arena in Bulacan in partnership with technology partners Huawei and Ericsson, the group is also establishing a command center at Smart Tower and mobilizing dedicated teams to monitor network performance during the event, which runs from Aug. 25 to Sept. 10.
Smart said that in anticipation of basketball fans sharing their experiences at the games, it improved download and upload speeds as well as latency at the venues, with initial speedtests yielding download speeds as fast as 1Gbps on Smart 5G.
Aside from the game venues, Smart also boosted connectivity at the venue of the FIBA World Congress at Sofitel, at the hotels of delegates and international media guests and at the venues of the practice games.
Smart also rolled out additional Multi-Element on Wheels facilities to further enhance network coverage and capacity in key areas.
“With Smart as the FIBA Basketball World Cup’s global partner, the entire PLDT group continues to work hard to enhance our fixed and mobile network to ensure the country’s smooth hosting of the much-anticipated games,” said Eric Santiago, PLDT and Smart Network head.
“Whether it is to support the needs of the audience attending the games at the venues, or to enable our subscribers to stream the games and follow the tournament via the Smart Livestream App, our network is ready to help provide an overall enhanced FIBA hosting, best experienced with a Smart SIM,” he said.