Smart leads with most number of mobile data users in PH amid string of fastest mobile network awards

Mobile services provider Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) continues to lead with the most number of mobile data users in the Philippines amid a string of fastest mobile network awards.

Smart’s mobile data users increased to 39.5 million by the end of June 2021, up by 6.1 million or 18 percent compared to the same period last year. In comparison, Globe ended June with 38.6 million mobile data users.

Moreover, Smart’s mobile data revenues grew by 12 percent to Php35 billion in the first half of 2021 compared to the same period last year, ahead of competition's 7 percent growth over the same period.

Since the start of the pandemic-related lockdowns in the first quarter of 2020, total mobile data traffic on Smart’s network has also reached a total of 4,460 petabytes, ahead of competition for the same period.

Mobile network of choice of data users
Smart’s sustained growth makes it the network of choice of most Filipino mobile data users, a distinction that coincides with a series of awards from third-party analytics firms like Ookla and Opensignal citing Smart as the country’s fastest mobile data network.

“As many Filipinos have shifted their daily activities online over the past few months, we are glad that most mobile data users have chosen Smart for a much faster and more reliable digital experience – whether to connect with loved ones, work or study from home, avail of essential services, or to temporarily keep their worries at bay by streaming online shows or playing mobile games,” said Jane J. Basas, SVP and Head of Consumer Wireless Business at Smart.

“The growth of our mobile data users keeps us inspired and committed to our goal of simply providing them with the best customer service so they can pursue their passions and purpose,” she added.

String of fastest mobile network awards
Ookla, the global leader in internet testing and analysis recently cited Smart as the country's fastest mobile network for the fourth consecutive year based on analysis by Ookla of tests taken with Speedtest covering the first half of 2021. Ookla’s latest report also cited Smart as the country's fastest 5G network in the Philippines over the same period.

Moreover, a recent evaluation by Ookla found that users of Samsung and Apple devices in the Philippines can expect their devices to perform at their fastest on the Smart network, based on Ookla’s analysis of Speedtest Intelligence data for Q2 2021.

On the other hand, Smart scored a rare sweep in the April 2021 Philippines Mobile Network Experience Awards by independent analytics firm Opensignal, beating the competition across all metrics in three essential aspects of service, including Coverage (4G Coverage Experience, 4G Availability), Speed (Download and Upload Speed) and Experience (Games, Video and Voice App).

As of end-June 2021, Smart had increased the number of its base stations to over 68,500, an increase of 16 percent compared with end-2020. This includes more than 4,500 LTE base stations deployed in the first half of the year alone.

Smart's 5G network has also been fired up in over 4,000 sites nationwide making it the country's first, fastest, and widest 5G network.