Smart Communications Inc. said it will start rolling out the 700 megahertz frequency as part of a commitment to provide faster and more reliable broadband services throughout the country.
Smart gained access to 700 MHz and other additional frequencies when Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. acquired 50 percent of the telecoms business of San Miguel Corp.
The low-band 700 MHz has a longer range and provides better indoor coverage than high band frequencies.
“Our strategy has two legs. First is the network. Deploying LTE on 700 MHz combines a powerful frequency with the most advanced mobile phone technology,” said PLDT and Smart chief technology and information advisor Joachim Horn.
Horn said LTE on 700 MHz would help expand the coverage and enhance the capacity of the company’s data network at a faster pace.
“Second are the devices. We have been holding discussions with device manufacturers so that more affordable LTE smartphones and tablets using 700 MHz will soon be available in the country. This combination of advanced network and devices will enable allow us to provide the best digital experience to our customers across the country,” he added.
LTE is the fourth-generation (4G) mobile phone technology that currently provides the fastest wireless data service commercially available.
Smart’s statement came after the National Telecommunications Commission warned of terminating the joint use by PLDT and Globe Telecom Inc of the frequency owned by San Miguel, if broadband access and Internet speed failed to improve in a year.
Smart said about 45 percent of its subscribers were using smartphones, up from only 30 percent last year. The majority of these are 3G/HSPA handsets, but the number of LTE handsets is rising fast as the range of available models increases and the handset prices decline.
Globally, according to UK-based global analyst company CCS Insight, shipments of LTE devices rose from 443 million in 2014 to 900 million in 2015. LTE-capable devices this year are expected to account for half of all smartphone shipments worldwide, further rising up to about three quarters of the global market by 2020.
“As LTE devices become more affordable and accessible, we are at the same time stepping up our efforts to deploy our LTE service using the most efficient set of frequencies,” Horn said.
Smart is currently in the middle of a three-year network improvement program that includes its initiative to expand the roll out of Smart’s 3G and 4G services and synergizing the mobile phone networks of Smart and Sun in order to improve the coverage and service quality for subscribers of both brands.