More customers of PLDT wireless subsidiary Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) are using long term evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A)-capable devices to connect to its mobile network, following its ramped-up network rollout across the country.

The number of LTE-capable devices on Smart’s network grew by 78 percent year-on-year. These include those that support at least one of Smart’s LTE frequencies. Of the LTE-capable devices, about one in every five is an LTE-A-capable device.

The number of LTE-A devices on Smart’s network also grew by 72 percent, compared to the first quarter of last year. These include devices capable of two-component (2CC) up to five-component (5CC) carrier aggregation.

LTE is the best technology for mobile data.

“Alongside our accelerated network roll-out, we are also partnering with device manufacturers to help our customers access capable devices, in order to take full advantage of the network that we are putting in place,” said Mario G. Tamayo, PLDT-Smart senior vice president for Network Planning and Engineering.

Smart has partnered with popular smartphone manufacturers in getting more affordable LTE-capable handsets out in the market, like the Samsung J2 Core, Oppo A37 and Starmobile Play Click, which are available with Smart. Also available with the data-packed Smart Giga X plans are the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, Huawei Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro, and the latest iPhones XS and XS Max, which are all LTE-A capable devices.

“Today, the quality of customer experience is dependent not only on the network but also on the devices being used by our customer. To fully utilize the network we are rolling out — whether it’s LTE, LTE-A today or 5G in the future — it is important for customers to adopt the devices that can fully tap the network’s capabilities,” Tamayo added.

LTE is the best technology for mobile data. It is easily upgradable to LTE-A, which delivers even better mobile data experience through carrier aggregation. A key feature of LTE-A, carrier aggregation (CA) allows the combination of two or more radio frequency bands in order to deliver much faster data speeds to mobile phone users. For example, 2CC features the combination of two frequencies, while 5CC involves the combination of five bands.

Aside from carrier aggregation, Smart has also activated 4×4 Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MIMO) and 256 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) technologies, which boost speeds by allowing more data to be carried across the network through more efficient use of spectrum.