Smart LTE

As its rival continues to play catch-up, Smart Communications has finally completed the rollout of its high-speed broadband long-term evolution (LTE) network in the subscriber-rich Luzon area.

In a statement, Ericsson, which is Smart’s contractor for its LTE rollout in Luzon, said it had completed the installation around 250 LTE sites in North and South Luzon.

What does this mean for Smart’s subscribers? Faster Internet, of course. Here’s even better news: Our sources also say that Smart is set to extend the unlimited promo period for LTE subscribers past the current deadline of June 30.

But we digress. Here’s an excerpt of Ericsson’s statement that went out today:

“LTE sites are expected to help SMART ensure customers of an even better mobile experience, especially with regard to download times and smartphone performance.

The completion expands Smart’s LTE coverage, which is the first and widest LTE network in the Philippines. To date, Smart LTE is enjoyed by subscribers in 46 cities and 69 municipalities all over the country.

Elie Hanna, Ericsson Philippines and Pacific Islands President and Country Manager, says: “We can confirm that some of the sites we tested registered downlink speeds of up to 50MBps, in real time and in the live network. We are pleased to contribute to SMART’s ongoing efforts to provide their customers with the best mobile experience possible.

This was one of the fastest deployments to date for Ericsson in the Southeast Asia region. Hanna explained that Ericsson “wanted to exceed SMART’s expectations and contribute towards their aim of providing LTE service to their customers.”

LTE, or Long Term Evolution, is the global standard for the fourth generation of mobile networks (4G) supported by all major players in the industry. LTE offers the capacity and the speed to handle a rapid increase in data traffic. According to latest market data traffic report, there will be 5 billion mobile broadband subscriptions in 2017. 60% of the world’s population will have LTE coverage 2018.

Ericsson has delivered more than 160 LTE/EPC networks worldwide of which more than 90 have gone live commercially.These include networks for all of the top ten operators ranked by number of LTE subscribers worldwide in 2012. In addition, Ericsson placed into the Leaders Quadrant in Magic Quadrant for LTE Network Infrastructure in 2012 by Gartner, Inc., the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company.”