LTE to hit half of world population by 2017, says Smart

Manila, Philippines-  In the recent press release of Smart Communications, Asia's best operator and Philippines no. 1 telco company it says that around 3.4 billion people will have ready access to super-fast wireless broadband speeds of up to 100Mbps in 5 years’ time.

Smart LTE dongle market
Photo: Smart LTE to hit market

The latest Traffic and Market Report by global telecommunications equipment provider Ericsson shows that Long Term Evolution (LTE) – the technology being pioneered locally by wireless leader Smart, has a 5% world population coverage which translates to about 344 million people as of end 2011.

In the next half decade, the report predicts that a tenfold increase in potential reach is in the horizon as technology continues to gain mainstream acceptance worldwide.

Furthermore the same study reveals that the Asia Pacific (APAC) region which the Philippines is part of, is a prime candidate for an “uptake” citing strong population and improving GDP growth. An estimated 1.5 billion new mobile subscribers is predicted to emerge from the region alone.

“Super-fast Internet for All—this is Smart’s renewed battle cry we enter the age of LTE,” said Smart Chief Wireless Advisor Orlando Vea.  “With the fastest 4G technology, we will continue to enable Filipinos to Live More as they enjoy the power of next generation mobile Internet at the palm of their hands,” he added. 

Fresh from completing its P67.1 billion modernization program, Smart, together with parent company PLDT boasts of having the country’s first and only LTE-ready network. With all network elements in place, Smart can make available LTE and High Speed Packet Access Plus (HSPA+) services to areas where connectivity is needed “at the push of a button.”

To date, Smart has demoed LTE in several events including festivals such as the Sinulog in Cebu City and the Araw ng Dabaw in Davao City. Smart also concluded a 6-month long beta test of its LTE network composed of over 100 participants from different sectors of society, earlier this year.

“We are ready to show the world why Smart is Asia’s best mobile operator as we launch this so-called ‘first-world’ technology in a developing nation,” said Vea. “We shall be coming out with our commercial offering very soon,” he ended.



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