For its efforts to boost its network and make relevant
digital services accessible to Filipinos, PLDT wireless unit Smart
Communications was named Digital Service Provider of the Year at the Asia
Communication Awards (ACA) ceremony held recently in Singapore.
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| Smart, represented by PLDT SG country manager James Melon, receives the first of two awards at the ACA in Singapore. |
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Smart is in the middle of a network transformation program which seeks to bring LTE to 95% of the country’s cities and towns by end-2018.
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Smart is donating digital tools with educational content to underserved areas so their communities can also benefit from digital technologies.
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The ACA recognizes outstanding performance by Asian
carriers, multimedia content providers, vendors, and other communication
service providers. It is conducted annually by London-based industry
publication Total Telecom.
Smart’s Welcome Change campaign – which communicated the
company’s digital pivot and encouraged Filipinos to empower themselves through
mobile innovations – won the Best Brand Campaign recognition.
Janet Watkin, head of the ACA panel of judges and CEO of
a customer experience consultancy, said simply making it to the shortlist was
already an achievement, given the challenges faced by the telecommunications
industry.
“Doing business has become more digital, global, social,
and mobile, and the marketplace is vaster and more crowded than it has ever
been. Alongside changes in technology and competition are the changing
expectations and behavior of customers. As such, making it onto the shortlist
for the Asia Communication Awards is indeed a formidable achievement. To win
requires that something extra special that is a cut above the rest,” she said.
Digital transformation
“We are honored to receive these awards from a
prestigious institution that understands the rapid changes sweeping through the
telco industry. This recognition further inspires us to intensify our pursuit
for digital transformation and to bring the benefits of the digital life to
more Filipinos,” said PLDT and Smart chairman and CEO Manny V. Pangilinan.
Smart has a multi-pronged approach in encouraging
Filipinos to welcome the digital change – it continuously improves and expands
its network while making available devices, relevant content, and value-packed
service offers to its subscribers.
In 2016, Smart and PLDT launched a $1-billion digital
transformation program to enable their fixed and mobile networks to support the
rising demand for digital services. Smart has committed to progressively deploy
LTE services to 95% of the country’s cities and municipalities by end-2018. To
do this, the company is combining low-band frequencies for better indoor
penetration and wider coverage, with high-band frequencies for additional
capacity. These frequencies include those obtained through the acquisition of
the telco businesses of San Miguel Corp.
Smart has finished its LTE deployment in Boracay and
Metro Davao, while efforts are ongoing in Metro Cebu and Metro Manila. Internal
tests show Smart’s LTE service consistently increasing in speeds and
registering improved indoor data coverage. Third-party crowdsourced tests also
show that Smart offers the fastest LTE service in the Philippines.
Because not many Filipinos can afford LTE handsets, Smart
has partnered with various device manufacturers to introduce affordable LTE
devices with network-compatible frequencies.
Welcome Change
To communicate its digital transformation, Smart in
mid-2016 unveiled a new logo resembling the Greek letter Delta which means
change. Smart also launched the Welcome Change campaign to encourage more
Filipinos to discover what the digital life has to offer.
To expand its library of relevant content, the company
has partnered with the likes of iflix, Cignal, ABS-CBN’s iWantTV, and Fox.
On top of these efforts, Smart continues to introduce
affordable and value-packed products such as GigaSurf50 which offers 1 GB of
data plus 300 MB for YouTube and other apps, as well as unlimited SMS to all
networks. All this is valid for three days for only P50.
Digital technology for development
Smart has won several awards at the ACA, including
Operator of the Year in 2011 and 2012.
Last year, Smart TechnoCart – a mobile digital laboratory
donated to public schools to help develop literacy among kindergarten students
– won the Social Contribution Award. This is part of Smart’s efforts to bring
digital technology to underserved communities to aid their development.
Smart’s donation of digital tools and content, even in
remote areas without electricity, enable more Filipinos to be part of the global
knowledge economy. Depending on the terrain, the learning packages come in the
form of the TechnoCart or a backpack called School-in-a-Bag. These contain
devices such as tablets, laptops, projectors, pocket Wi-Fis, and solar
chargers.
More importantly, the devices are preloaded with learning
tools such as the Batibot mobile application co-developed by Smart. This is the
first educational app for kids in the Filipino language that is aligned with
the kindergarten curriculum of the Department of Education.
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