SmartNet success propelled with more than 320,000 users

SmartNet on the Samsung Galaxy Y Netphone Edition

Two weeks after winning the prestigious Innovation Award at the 2012 Asia Communications Awards in Singapore, SmartNet, the world-first suite of applications developed by wireless leader Smart, is celebrating yet another milestone as it tops the 320,000 user mark.

According to Smart Head of Products Gio Bacareza, there are over 320,000 registered SmartNet users as of end June, majority of which use the service for free on Smart’s network.

“We are now growing at a rate of over 23,000 new users every week,” said Bacareza. “Breaking down that figure, over 3,000 more people are enjoying SmartNet’s brilliant services every week, he added.”

SmartNet debuted as the technology behind the Smart Netphone 701, launched September last year. It enables users to chat with fellow SmartNet users, search and add contacts from the cloud, check on their favorite social feeds, post updates, and read articles.

This February 2012, it was made available for free on the Google Play! online app store for Android devices and pre-installed on Smart Android phones.

The rise in the number of users, however, is only part of SmartNet’s success as usage numbers show that it encourages mobile subscribers to visit sites outside of the SmartNet ecosystem.

Bacareza discloses that Smart prepaid subscribers in particular are three times more likely to pay for data usage as they explore sites and services beyond SmartNet.

“It could be a link that a friend posted on Twitter or an interesting story from the ‘Headlines’ news aggregator—the fact is, SmartNet is encouraging subs to maximize the potentials of their smart devices,” said Bacareza. “This type of behavior could potentially change the average Filipino’s attitude toward mobile Internet especially with our Safe Browse technology,” he added.

Safe Browse is a SmartNet feature which allows users to access only whitelisted websites and services without turning off their phone’s data connection.

As part of its plans to reach more smartphone users, SmartNet has recently been made available on the Apple App Store while a Windows edition has been submitted for approval to the Microsoft Windows Marketplace .

“We expect even better numbers once we open up SmartNet to more smartphone users,” Bacareza said. “Best of all, SmartNet services are free to use on Smart’s network until December 31, 2012,” he added

For more information on SmartNet, visit www.smartnet.ph or www.netphone.ph.

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