I remember the first time Smart Communications introduced LTE. I was one of the bloggers who tested this great technology in the island of Boracay. Back then, I was so amazed at what it can do!
I ask myself now, could this get even better? The answer is YES!
Two years after the deployment of Long-Term Evolution (LTE) or 4G technology in the country, Smart just announced that 5G wireless technology LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) is now running in the Philippines' largest and strongest network.
Smart switched on LTE-A at the Smart Jump Center in Mandaluyong City recently, setting the next phase of mobile communication technology beyond 4G LTE standards.
LTE-A, also referred to as ‘5G’ by reports on leading global mobile operators AT&T and T-Mobile, delivers data from between 100 megabits per second (mbps) to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps), or ten times faster than 3G services and more than twice as fast as 4G services.
Co-founder and Chief Wireless Advisor of Smart Orlando B. Vea (first from left) during the tests of 5G LTE-A in Smart last year, where speeds reaching 209.66 mbps were recorded.
By firing up LTE-A technology on its network, Smart joins only a handful of carriers around the world with an LTE-A network, along with leading mobile operators in South Korea, United States, Singapore, Australia, and Hong Kong.
- a 10MB file takes less than a second to download
- YouTube videos no longer have to buffer
- video calls are almost lag-free
- capability to allocate more network resources to users when the need arises.
Smart started testing LTE-A across the country in August last year, delivering results of more than 100Mbps in Makati City, in Boracay, and in Davao City during the Kadayawan festival.
Well, that was fast! But it's definitely going to be a huge step for our country. I wonder how much this would cost on the consumer's end, though?
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