Smart Communications, Inc. has officially launched its LTE service, which is offered under Smart LTE Plan 3500. As a special treat and to promote the adoption of LTE use among consumers, Smart is offering the LTE service to early subscribers on unlimited basis.
Smart LTE Plan 3500 enables its subscribers to enjoy wireless download speeds of up to 42 megabits per second (Mbps) or approximately a download speed of 10 minutes for a two-hour movie, according to Noel Lorenzana, Smart Wireless Consumer Division Head. He said Smart LTE Plan 3500 subscribers are free to use their high speed Internet services to their heart’s content until October 25.
This “unlimited LTE” announcement temporarily suspends the 10 GB monthly that comes with the initial Smart LTE service.
Lorenzana said Smart’s LTE service will be an addition to the telco giant’s portfolio of mobile broadband services that includes HSPA+, HSPA, and 3G. Smart’s LTE service will be targeting consumers with far greater demand for Internet speed, particularly users who play online games and those who download multimedia content and watch a lot of videos. Due to the low latency of the LTE 4G technology, which allows sending and receiving heavy files at a fraction of a time or running online games smoothly or watching an online video without buffering, the Internet experience is astoundingly faster and seamless than what 3G networks could offer.
Lorenzana said the benefits of an LTE technology to the country will be far reaching. It could help create a society whose workforce could be more productive similar to what has happened to countries such as Korea and Japan, which have already implemented 4G technologies such as LTE. Quoting a study, he also mentioned that countries which enjoy better broadband will likely increase their GDP.
Smart’s LTE deployment is nationwide covering key cities and municipalities–the farthest is Davao in Mindanao and Baguio in Luzon. In Metro Manila, specially-marked LTE signs will be posted in various establishments to indicate the availability of the service. But in the absence of an LTE signal, the dongle is able to connect to Smart’s 4G HSPA+, 3G, and 2G services.
The LTE experience will be enjoyed in several high traffic areas across Metro Manila including the Makati Central Business District and the number of areas will soon increase before the end of the year, said Roland Pena, PLDT-Smart Network and IP Systems Head.
Smart’s rollout of its 4G mobile broadband service complements the deployment of parent company PLDT’s Fiber-to-the-Home fixed broadband services, which is capable of delivering speeds of up to 100 Mbps.