OOKLA: Smart three-peats as PH’s fastest mobile network

Ookla has recognized Smart Communications, Inc. as the Philippines’ fastest mobile network for three consecutive years.

As per Ookla, the telco clinched a three-peat as the country’s fastest mobile network. The telco surpassed Globe in terms of Speed Score and average upload and download speeds for three years in a row since 2018, based on millions of consumer-initiated tests performed on Speedtest on LTE-capable devices in the country.

“This award recognizes Smart’s commitment to delivering fast speeds to their customers across the Philippines. With this latest win, Smart has won the Speedtest Award for Fastest Mobile Network in the Philippines three consecutive years in a row,” said Ookla CEO Douglas Suttles in a statement.

Smart was first awarded as the Philippines’ Speedtest Awards Winner for mobile network speed in 2018 when it got a Speed Score of 15.06 compared to Globe’s Speed Score of 9.9. In the said year, Smart also achieved average download speeds of 17.24 Mbps (versus Globe’s 11.10 Mbps) and average upload speeds of 8.11 Mbps (versus Globe’s 5.01 Mbps).

Additionally, Smart won the Philippines’ Speedtest Awards for mobile network speed with a Speed Score of 17.4 versus Globe’s 10.65 in 2019. In the said period, the company also achieved average download speeds of 19.62 Mbps (versus Globe’s 12.04 Mbps) and average upload speeds of 9.45 Mbps (versus Globe’s 4.92 Mbps).

In 2020, Ookla awarded Smart as the Speedtest Awards Winner in both the first and second half of the year. Smart dominated in Q1-Q2 2020 with a Speed Score of 18.33 (versus Globe’s 12.35). The telco also obtained average download speeds of 15.94 Mbps (versus Globe’s 11.96 Mbps) and average upload speeds of 7.57 Mbps (versus Globe’s 4.03 Mbps).

Ookla awarded Smart as the Speedtest Awards Winner in Q3-Q4 2020 with a Speed Score of 24.99 (versus Globe’s 15.30). Smart posted average download speeds of 20.08 Mbps (versus Globe’s 15.25 Mbps) and average upload speeds of 7.42 Mbps (versus Globe’s 4.11 Mbps).

Furthermore, PLDT recently announced that it was prepared to invest between PHP 88USD 1INR 127EUR 1CNY 11 billion and PHP 92USD 2INR 133EUR 1CNY 11 billion in capital expenditures this year. Smart mentioned that this supports the telco’s continuous expansion of its 4G/LTE network across the country, as well as its accelerated rollout of Smart 5G.

Currently, Smart has fired up over 2,300 Smart 5G sites across the Philippines.