The Philippines’ market leader has announced it will switch on its new LTE service on 25 August. Smart is the country’s first operator to offer the technology, but rival operator Globe is also looking to roll-out similar services this year.
The rapidity of the switch-on following the announcement comes as little surprise as Smart had been testing LTE services in areas like metropolitan Manila for the best part of a year. To make deployment possible, Smart’s parent company has made significant investments in the nation’s infrastructure.
The PLDT Group invested PHP67.1 billion (US$1.6 billion) in renovations to make 4G possible. Over 9000 base stations have been built nationwide to support LTE. Land and overseas fibre capacities have also been upgraded.
Many observers feel that 4G services, given affordable handsets, will be a boon to Filipino operators. The affinity of Philippines consumers for social networking and the low rate of fixed-line uptake leaves little doubt that subscribers will take advantage of the facilities available if the price is right.
