Smart takes lead in 4G availability

The analysis also found that Smart is ahead in terms of Download Speed Experience in both rural and urban areas.

PLDT wireless subsidiary Smart Communications Inc. (Smart) has taken the lead in providing superior 4G/LTE availability while continuing to deliver much faster LTE download speeds in both rural and urban areas, according to the latest analysis by independent mobile analytics company Opensignal.

The analysis, which is available on Opensignal’s website and covered the period 1 September to 30 November 2019, found Smart scoring 70.1 percent in terms of 4G availability in rural areas (versus Globe’s 64.8 percent) and 82.5 percent in urban areas (versus 80.3 percent).

In previous Opensignal reports in the past two years, Smart had consistently delivered a better download experience but had lagged in availability.

That deficit had been progressively narrowing as Smart stepped up its LTE and 3G roll out.

The latest report shows these efforts has paid off and that Smart has overtaken Globe in terms of availability.

“Splitting by operator, while we found a tremendous difference in 4G Availability — the time users spend connected to 4G — between rural and urban, we also found notable differences between Smart and Globe in our users’ 4G Availability in both types of area,” Opensignal’s David Nedescu wrote.

In rural areas, Smart is ahead by 5.3 percentage points, while in urban areas, it was ahead by a “narrower but still significant” 2.2 points.

The analysis also found that Smart is ahead in terms of Download Speed Experience in both rural and urban areas, posting download speeds of 8.8 Mbps (vs 6.2 Mbps) and 10.5 Mbps (vs 7.8 Mbps), respectively.

“(O)ur users on Smart enjoyed a Download Speed Experience of almost 3 Mbps faster in both rural and urban parts of the country, or 38 percent faster than our users on Globe,” Opensignal said.

The Opensignal analysis also showed that Smart also offered faster Download Speed Experience in the National Capital Region and in both rural and urban areas in Ilocos, Central Luzon, Cagayan, Davao, Northern Mindanao, SOCCSKSARGEN, Western Visayas and Central Visayas.