THE Smart Communications, Inc., one of the telecommunications giants in the country, has completed the optimization of all the cell sites to Long-Term Evolution (LTE)-enabled sites.
"Almost 100 percent of all our cell sites here in Davao City has been transformed and optimized to LTE-enabled sites. With the completed transformation of the network, Davao became a smarter city," Gia Palafox, head of distributors' sales group of Smart, said at the sidelines of the Project Eagle Davao Jr. Launch of the network Saturday, October 15, at the Smart/ PLDT Compound Gym, C. Bangoy St. (Ponciano), Davao City.
Palafox did not disclose the total numbers of optimized cell sites in the city for confidentiality purposes.
She said they completed the optimization first in Davao City while Cebu and the rest of the country will follow in the coming days and weeks.
Arnold Dellosa, Regional Development Head for Mindanao, for his part, said this move will strengthen the position of the city as hub for major trade, enterprise, and tourism.
The optimization process of the telecom started last August.
"This program will extend our coverage and will increase our data services in terms of speed and quality, because LTE and/or 4G or 4th Generation, which we will be focusing for the next three years were really designed for faster data connection," Ramon Isberto, Smart and PLDT head of Public Affairs earlier said.
Under the three-year network rollout plan of the telecommunications company, the number of its LTE-capable sites in the entire Davao Region will be tripled by the end 2016 pursuant to its goal to cover 95 percent or 1,551 cities and municipalities in the country with LTE service by the end of 2018.
For boosting its data coverage and capacity for the entire country, PLDT, Smart's parent company has earmarked P43 billion in total capital expenditure (capex) for this year.
An additional of US$100 has been allocated to utilize the additional frequencies acquired from the San Miguel Corp. (SMC).
The plan was committed by Smart after the three-year rollout plan was submitted to National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) last July 22.
LTE, the 4G mobile phone technology, is an all-Internet Protocol (IP) network that delivers a superior data service experience to customers compared to 3G technologies as it provides the fastest wireless data service commercially available.
This year, Smart will focus its deployment of 700 megahertz (MHz) covered by co-use arrangement, to roll out LTE in 360 cell sites in Metro Manila, Cebu and Davao and neighboring key cities and municipalities, some 40 percent of the country's 1,634 cities and municipalities by the end of 2016.
With this milestone, comes the challenge of how Filipinos can fully take advantage of the company's bent towards fast-speed connection.
"Big number of our customers is still using 3G handsets, we urge the public to use 4G handsets to enjoy these services," Isberto said.
Complementing the aggressive LTE deployment, Joachim Horn, chief technology and information advisor of PLDT/Smart said they are working with device manufacturers to introduce medium-to-low-priced 4G/LTE handsets, tablets, and pocket WiFis.
"This weekend (October 15 and 16), in all the three major malls (SM Lanang, Gaisano Mall and NCCC Mall) we will offer LTE phones at P2,188 and for LTE pocket wifi, we offered P500 less discount, in order for all the Dabawenyos to take full advantage of this development," Dellosa said.
Smart has already fired up five 700MHz-powered sites in Davao City located in Matina, Barangay Ma-a near DBP Village, along San Pedro Street near Osmena Park, PLDT building along Ponciano St. and Kilometer 4 near Davao City Golf Club.
Part of the three-year plan was the deployment of the next stage of development of LTE dubbed as LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) or 4.5 G.
The LTE-A has a feature called carrier aggregation combining two or more frequency bands (700MHz plus 1800 MHz, for instance).
At the Matina cell site, Smart has combined 700 MHz and 1800 MHz frequency bands and has resulted in peak speed of up to 200 mbps. Peak speeds, as defined, is the maximum possible data rate that may be achieved on a single user basis.
"We want Dabawenyos to experience the best customer services by strengthening our data connection. It is of our top priority," Palafox said.
